Chart blow for Eminem's rap group

Eminem: Member of D-12 with five other Detroit rappers

The ambitions of D12, the rap group featuring Eminem, to have a number one single may have been thwarted because of a sticker given away with the CD.

The single, Purple Hills, was released on Monday, 9 July, but has fallen foul of rules that say a single is not eligible for the charts if it contains a free gift.

D12's record company Polydor only found out that Purple Hills would be barred from the charts a week ago, and spent the weekend removing stickers from as many CDs as they could.

But the single, which at one point looked to be challenging Robbie Williams for the number one spot, is now likely to enter Sunday's chart at number three.

Polydor was successful in getting the sticker removed from the CD in most shops, a spokesman for the Chart Information Network told BBC News Online.

"By the time it went on sale on Monday morning, if you went top the specialist shops such as HMV or Virgin, there were no stickers," he said.

"But they were less successful in stores such as Woolworths and WH Smith, so we've had to deduct sales of the CD format from those outlets. So it will affect its chart position at the end of the week."

The only gifts allowed are posters or a set of four postcards, he said.

"It was looking like going in at number two and being very safe there, and possibly even challenging for the number one position. But that will not happen by the end of this week."

Robbie Williams' Eternity is expected to be number one, with Wyclef Jean at number two.

D12 - short for the Dirty Dozen - includes Eminem and five other hip-hop artists from Detroit.

The single is seen as a breakthrough release for the band, whose debut album Devil's Night recently entered the UK chart at number two and is number one in America.

They have already had to change its name - from Purple Pills - allowing it to get heavy exposure on the radio and MTV.

Its drug references were deemed to be too strong to mention pills in the title.

Lyrics include: "I take a couple uppers/I down a couple downers/But nothing compares to these blue and yellow purple pills."