US rapper 50 Cent has said fellow hip-hop star Eminem's two new albums will “tie together”.

Eminem is due to release his first album, 'Relapse', in May, and a follow-up effort later in the year.

They will mark the rapper's first new studio output since 2004's 'Encore'.

Speaking to MTV, 50 Cent, who also plans to release two new records in 2009, said there was nothing more exciting in hip-hop “than two Eminem albums”.

"One is great. It's a treat. But the second one is exciting,” he said.

"Actually, it was my idea for him to release two albums, because he had so much material over a time period.

“The [second album] kind of feels like a sequel. They're both written to one album topic almost, that it felt like part one and part two of the [same album]. They tie together."

50 Cent's first album of the year, 'Before I Self Destruct', will be released in June, with his next effort coming a month after Eminem's second release.

Both Eminem and 50 Cent's new albums have been produced by Dr Dre.

(by Jason Gregory)