"Detox, it's coming baby."

Dr. Dre at the 2007 VMAs.

Legendary hip-hop producer Dr. Dre's recent declaration at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards about his long-delayed first album in seven years revived the roller-coaster ride of hype that the album's arrival was imminent.

Not so fast.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times over the weekend--his first in three years--Dre said the album was being pushed back to 2008 because a new album from Eminem will take up the bulk of his time for the rest of 2007.

"I was really hoping to have it out this year, but it's going to be pushed back a while because of some other things I've got to work on," the 42-year-old Dre--real name Andre Young--told the paper. "We'll be trying to get [Eminem's] thing done and work on a few things on my own project."

Dre said he has two or three more songs to finish on Detox, which he claims will be his final solo album. He hopes to continue making music as a producer and hopefully avoid some of the aspects of the music business he would like to bypass, particularly interviews and promotional appearances.

"I think it's time to move on," he told the Times, calling rhyming "a young man's game."

But in addition to his production work for a litany of artists, including Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, and countless others, Dre has also recently inked a multiyear production pact with New Line Cinema, under which he will join longtime collaborator, director Phillip G. Atwell, to score and possibly direct films.

"When I think of the future, I think a lot of Quincy Jones and how he is an inspiration," Dre said. "Look at the quality of his work over so many years. He didn't even make his best record, Thriller, until he was 50. That gives me something to look forward to. Nothing pulls you back into the studio more than the belief that your best record is still ahead."