by Ifè Oshun

Talk to almost any rap celebrity with major plans for 2005.

50 Cent and G-Unit, Eminem, Eve, or newcomer The Game...

You'll see they all have one thing in common. They all belong to the Aftermath roster. And behind them all is the man himself, super-producer-major-player Dr. Dre. The same guy who, after getting sucker-punched before receiving a lifetime achievement at the 2004 Vibe Awards, took the stage, accepted his award and proclaimed "They can't stop me!"

Now, in 2005, big things are in store for rap music. Word is Dre and his crew intend on decimating the competition with straight fire scheduled to burn steadily throughout the year. No sucker punches here, we're talking full-frontal arson.

The fire started in November with the release of Eminem's Encore, which was critically panned but still managed to break record sales within a mere week of its release.

Now folks eagerly await the heat of the upcoming release scheduled to come from 50 Cent, whose smoldering single "Disco Inferno" is making the charts "shake that ass."

"I went out to L.A. and worked with Dre," 50 Cent told MTV. "We got some special joints so I'm excited right now. I know I'm gonna exceed everyone's expectations on this project because they feel like Get Rich or Die Tryin' was the best I could do. I got something up my sleeve."

There is also crazy buzz surrounding The Game, the newest member of Aftermath/G-Unit and penned as the "hope of the West." His first single, "How We Do" featuring 50 Cent, from his highly anticipated Aftermath debut, The Documentary, has convinced many that he is The One... the hottest rapper to step off the West coast in years. With all the hype surrounding him, though, The Game is surprisingly calm... and stone-facedly humble.

"When I was a little kid I just admired this man a lot," Game said of Dr. Dre. "I never thought that I would be sitting here amongst these legends, but I am here now."

"When I was younger I grew up in a boys' home and I was taken away from my parents when I was like 8 years old," he continued. "Here I am, 24. When my album drops I will be 25 so that's 17 years I have been going through my struggle by myself. There are 17 tracks on my album and every track sheds light on a different situation I went through the last 17 years."

Sharing in the humble pie, Eminem, who participated in the production of The Documentary, acknowledged there is no room for ego in the Aftermath.

"That's just how sh-- falls apart," he said. "It's exactly how sh-- falls apart, [when] everybody feels like, 'I'm not getting my shine that I deserve.' If somebody's album comes out and it doesn't do well, whether it's mine, or 50's or Obie [Trice's] or whoever's album, next time we will get them. It's always that, that's going to keep us grounded and rooted."

G-Unit member Lloyd Banks agreed with the team sentiment.

"I count my blessings every day," he said, "because it might not be the same as it is now, but I don't think we'll ever go away.

"We're going to try to control the whole year," boasted coach Dre. "We're going to try to control it and run the airwaves."

No easy promise to make come true, but with it coming from the man himself, you'd best believe.

Get the 411 on what each of these artists have planned for 2005, a year that will see the comeback of Dre as a performer and a rumored re-union album with Snoop Dogg.

Aftermath artists with 2005 releases in the works:

The Game
50 Cent
Eve
Busta Rhymes
Dr. Dre
G-Unit