Eminem's baseball cap

Eminem has sparked speculation he will release a new album next year.

'The Real Slim Shady' hitmaker has hinted his eighth record will come out in 2013 by having the date sewn into a piece of official merchandise.

Ahead of this weekend's baseball World Series showdown between the Detroit Tigers and the San Francisco Giants, a post on Eminem's Facebook page read: ''For a limited time only in honor of the big games and the hometown team's return to The D, we are pleased to offer the Eminem Baseball Tribute Hat in both home and away colors.

''Side panel is dedicated to the landmark Eminem solo albums. A portion of the proceeds will go to The Marshall Mathers Foundation. Get them here. (sic)''

The hat features Eminem's logo on the front and at the side is the proclamation 'World Champion' followed by eight years.

The first seven dates: 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2009 and 2010 were all years in which the rapper released an album.

A final date, 2013, follows underneath, leading fans to conclude he will release new material in the coming months.

The rapper has previously said he has recorded a song with New York rapper Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga for his new album.

He said: ''Yeah, I got this crazy record with Gaga and Kendrick for the upcoming LP. Its called 'Street Lights', and its just a real upbeat record.''

More musical news and notes...

Duff McKagan says Guns N' Roses had to "play their way out" of the Los Angeles club scene.

The legendary rockers' former bassist remembers a time in the early 80s when the group were poor but determined to learn their instruments properly in order to stop living in poverty.

Speaking at an impromptu show he staged for wounded soldiers in London for charity Help for Heroes, Duff told BANG Showbiz: "When I met [Guns N' Roses guitarist] Slash when I was 19, that guy was like an old bluesman on the guitar, people could really play, you had to, you had to play your way out of whatever it was."

Duff - who is set to host the Classic Rock Magazine Roll of Honor awards at London's Roundhouse venue on November 13 - isn't sure things are the same these days, with people able to easily make music at home and popular genres changing with the rise of dance music and hip-hop.

He added: "And maybe now things are programmable this, and you can edit things on the computer, I don't know if we're just going through a phase, or what, but it seems... Different. But there is still great rock 'n' roll out there."

Duff, 48, also paid tribute to the wounded veterans he had met on the day, where he read extracts from his book and sang songs backed by his group, following the previous night's concert where his current band, Loaded, played with Alice Cooper.

He said: "These guys are incredible. I'm scared performing for such a small crowd. I played Wembley last night but this is much scarier."

© Bang Showbiz