Interscope head Jimmy Iovine has come forward to explain the delay of Dr. Dre's highly anticipated, upcoming album.
According to Billboard, the music mogul claimed the super producer's follow-up release to 1999's multi-platinum selling album The Chronic 2001 was originally prepped to drop in late 2008. However, the return of Eminem prompted Dre to alter his schedule.
We only tried to put [Em] out this year to replace Dr. Dre, but we got into a quagmire," Iovine told Billboard. "Eminem was always coming next year. But what happened was, I lost Dr. Dre to Eminem."
Assuring there were no personal issues involved, the music exec said Em's surprising work ethic forced Dre to move his solo project into 2009.
"Dre had to stop making his album to finish Eminem's album," Iovine added. "Eminem hit a streak, and when a guy like Eminem gets on fire, you stop everything. That's how we lost Dre."
While not offering an exact date, Jimmy promised the producer would be on hand to finish Em's new release and complete his own at the start of next year.
"Dre's going back in in January," Iovine continued. "He'll be finished with Eminem by then, and he'll finish his album."
Em's forthcoming solo project, Relapse, was recently pushed back to next year due to the rapper's diligent work ethic.
"Eminem has been through a lot," an insider told the New York Post. "He is being a perfectionist and is completely obsessive-compulsive about this album."
Reps for the Shady Records label head later confirmed the album's delay and are estimating a release date in early 2009.
The whole interview - http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/exclusive-iovine-talks-axl-u2-dre-eminem-1003896147.story
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
50 Cent, Eminem & Dre-“three-headed monster”
Two of the most anticipated hip hop releases of the year, Eminem's Relapse and 50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct have both been pushed to 2009 release dates. Although neither release date has been specified, the usual reliable insiders and record label sources say that both can be expected sometime in the first quarter.
Eminem’s Relapse, which the rapper announced earlier this year, on his Sirius Satelite radio show Shade 45, was produced by Dr. Dre, and will be his first album of new material since 2004’s Encore, which sold 5 million copies.
50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct was originally set for a December release date, but has been postponed until 2009 in order to better set up retail marketing and advertising plans according to Billboard.com.
The album prominently featuring both Eminem and Dr. Dre.
With Dr. Dre’s own also expected in the first quarter of 2009, the “three-headed monster” (as described by 50 Cent himself) of releases by three of hip-hop’s biggest superstars could prove to be a recession proof answer to prayer for the ailing record industry.
http://www.cinemablend.com/music/50-Cent-Eminem-Albums-Pushed-to-2009-13426.html
Eminem - Im having a relapse
Eminem’s Relapse, which the rapper announced earlier this year, on his Sirius Satelite radio show Shade 45, was produced by Dr. Dre, and will be his first album of new material since 2004’s Encore, which sold 5 million copies.
50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct was originally set for a December release date, but has been postponed until 2009 in order to better set up retail marketing and advertising plans according to Billboard.com.
The album prominently featuring both Eminem and Dr. Dre.
With Dr. Dre’s own also expected in the first quarter of 2009, the “three-headed monster” (as described by 50 Cent himself) of releases by three of hip-hop’s biggest superstars could prove to be a recession proof answer to prayer for the ailing record industry.
http://www.cinemablend.com/music/50-Cent-Eminem-Albums-Pushed-to-2009-13426.html
Eminem - Im having a relapse
Friday, 14 November 2008
Dr Dre & Anthony Hamilton made one track
Words by Joseph "JayRich" Robinson
What his record sales don't show are the people who appreciate his work. Anthony Hamilton keeps getting calls from various artists and even Hollywood producers. He's worked with Dr. Dre, in hopes of making the long-awaited Detox, and made a cameo singing in the critically acclaimed movie "American Gangster." When you want soul, you call Anthony Hamilton.
BallerStatus.com: You also worked with Dr. Dre recently, are you on Detox?
Anthony Hamilton: I don't know. We did one song. I did my thing, got my fingers crossed and I'm praying.
http://www.ballerstatus.com/article/fea ... 8/11/5804/
What his record sales don't show are the people who appreciate his work. Anthony Hamilton keeps getting calls from various artists and even Hollywood producers. He's worked with Dr. Dre, in hopes of making the long-awaited Detox, and made a cameo singing in the critically acclaimed movie "American Gangster." When you want soul, you call Anthony Hamilton.
BallerStatus.com: You also worked with Dr. Dre recently, are you on Detox?
Anthony Hamilton: I don't know. We did one song. I did my thing, got my fingers crossed and I'm praying.
http://www.ballerstatus.com/article/fea ... 8/11/5804/
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
50cent talks
Published August 2008
"I recorded material with Dr. Dre for the Detox," 50 Cent told MTV News in New York. "It's great. I want it back. I want the records back."
50 was just joking. He doesn't really want the songs he did with Dre back, but he does want some material the Doc just has laying around.
"He has the music. It's right there in the computer," Fif divulged. "I stop by [his studio] every time and get something that adds something significant to my project each time [I'm about to put a record out]. And I spend three or four days there. To me, he's the best producer in the game.
"When I walk in the studio, I record the first [beat] that comes on regardless if I think it's a hit record or not," he added. "We get in work mode, get comfortable and go through the material that's in the computer. Dre always has hit records. Sometimes, artists that need producers, they need someone to create a direction for them musically. I need the jewels he's just got laying around. He don't gotta tell me what to do with it. All he has to do is say, 'Track six.' Or, 'Go to track eight.' He'll have hits playing there. You just have to get in and get them."
The G-Unit's team captain doesn't know when the album is coming out, but he's anticipating it just as much as everybody else.
"Hopefully he'll get it done and put it out," 50 said. "I'm waiting for the Detox. All I can say is, Dr. Dre is the best producer in my eyes. Just the consistency over the years. ... He knows what he wants. He's such a perfectionist that it becomes difficult for him to put it out." ...
Source - http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1592026/20080801/id_0.jhtml
"I recorded material with Dr. Dre for the Detox," 50 Cent told MTV News in New York. "It's great. I want it back. I want the records back."
50 was just joking. He doesn't really want the songs he did with Dre back, but he does want some material the Doc just has laying around.
"He has the music. It's right there in the computer," Fif divulged. "I stop by [his studio] every time and get something that adds something significant to my project each time [I'm about to put a record out]. And I spend three or four days there. To me, he's the best producer in the game.
"When I walk in the studio, I record the first [beat] that comes on regardless if I think it's a hit record or not," he added. "We get in work mode, get comfortable and go through the material that's in the computer. Dre always has hit records. Sometimes, artists that need producers, they need someone to create a direction for them musically. I need the jewels he's just got laying around. He don't gotta tell me what to do with it. All he has to do is say, 'Track six.' Or, 'Go to track eight.' He'll have hits playing there. You just have to get in and get them."
The G-Unit's team captain doesn't know when the album is coming out, but he's anticipating it just as much as everybody else.
"Hopefully he'll get it done and put it out," 50 said. "I'm waiting for the Detox. All I can say is, Dr. Dre is the best producer in my eyes. Just the consistency over the years. ... He knows what he wants. He's such a perfectionist that it becomes difficult for him to put it out." ...
Source - http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1592026/20080801/id_0.jhtml
Snoop listens to some Detox tracks
Published June 2008
Hip-hop fans have waited for the new Dr. Dre album, Detox, for years now, and maybe they'll soon get it.
In a recent interview, MTV UK was told by Snoop Dogg that is complete, and it's coming, and it's incredible.
"That record is real, it's coming," confirmed Snoop. "You know me, I was starting to doubt it myself and then I went up in there and he played so much music for me, it knocked my head off."
Right now, the Long Beach rapper says, Dre is just selecting tracks for the long-awaited album.
"I see what he got them waiting for, it's on and poppin," Snoop Dogg said. "He got records, he got heat."
Also during Snoop's visit to Dre's studio, he got some other good news. He and Dre talked it out, and Dre will be sitting in the driver's seat to help produce Snoop's next solo album.
The Cali rapper says the plans are mapped out. He'a even got a titled for it, but didn't really any further information.
Source http://www.ballerstatus.com/article/news/2008/06/4975/
Hip-hop fans have waited for the new Dr. Dre album, Detox, for years now, and maybe they'll soon get it.
In a recent interview, MTV UK was told by Snoop Dogg that is complete, and it's coming, and it's incredible.
"That record is real, it's coming," confirmed Snoop. "You know me, I was starting to doubt it myself and then I went up in there and he played so much music for me, it knocked my head off."
Right now, the Long Beach rapper says, Dre is just selecting tracks for the long-awaited album.
"I see what he got them waiting for, it's on and poppin," Snoop Dogg said. "He got records, he got heat."
Also during Snoop's visit to Dre's studio, he got some other good news. He and Dre talked it out, and Dre will be sitting in the driver's seat to help produce Snoop's next solo album.
The Cali rapper says the plans are mapped out. He'a even got a titled for it, but didn't really any further information.
Source http://www.ballerstatus.com/article/news/2008/06/4975/
Dre's protege Bishop Lamont interview
Published March 2008
Dubcnn: So tell us about what a typical session is like working on “Detox”…
Man, where do I begin? The mysterious thing that people always hear about is how hard dude goes. It’s amazing to watch dude work. [He has] 22 years in the game, and this dude, most of the time, is the last dude that leaves the studio. I’ve finally started to master being the last one to leave the studio with dude. But it’s just hella concentration man. You have Hittman in one room working on a record, me in another room working on a record, and the homeboy Sly in the other room working on a record. There’s a lot of different cats that’s going hard in each studio writing records, and Dre’s producing beats in the front main studio. So it’s just like a sweatshop for rhymes and for beats, and the concepts.
It’s a constant workforce, and we don’t let up. We’re not supposed to let up, because the whole thing is to give y’all the meanest shit, go out with a bang, [and] for this to be his last album. So it’s crazy, and you don’t get much sleep. You shouldn’t want to get much sleep, when you’ve got an opportunity of a lifetime like that.
Dubcnn: Yeah! So did you say Hittman? He’s coming back for “Detox”?
Oh, Hittman’s been back man…Mel-Man, you name it! I mean, there’s a lot of surprises. I’m not at liberty to say too much, but I’ll say what I can so I won’t get beat up. Dre is serious about that, Area 51 with this shit to the utmost! But it’s beautiful to see Hitt, be able to work with Hittman, and vibe with Hittman, vibe with Mel-Man, vibe with Focus, and vibe with Busta. You know, it’s cats you look up to and cats that’s been doing it before you was doing it. They’re the same people that’s making you do what you do.
It’s a lot of fun at the same time. It’s family; there ain’t no hater shit. That’s the most beautiful thing about being able to work in those kinds of environments. It’s just about the music. It’s just it’s an experience man, and what it does is it upgrades what I’m doing with “The Reformation”. I’m glad it happened this way, because I get to be a fly on the wall, and see how this nigga’s moving. Then this nigga be making beats, and is like “Ehh.” That shit will be crazy [though], and I’ll snatch that shit! So I’m putting “The Reformation” on serious-ass steroids right now.
It’s a great thing because I’m allowed to see what he’s doing for his album, and then double or triple up on mine. These are solid efforts that are going to be amazing.
Dubcnn: So do you think that by the time “Detox” drops, you’re going to change up a lot of the tracks that were supposed to be on “The Reformation”, and replace them with new ones?
Man, that’s always been going on. That’s another [reason] why it’s been taking so long, because he’s like, “Dude, this shit’s gotta be so crazy.” I feel the same way, and his perfectionist attitude is starting to rub off on me. So now it’s just a sick, twisted, “Fight Club” level of schizophrenia when it comes to the records, because your best ain’t good enough. I felt that way before, but now it’s even so much more, being in here doing like we’re doing it. So it’s crazy man. It’s been always changing. I cut like two or three records in a day. I think they’re crazy, but something just pulls at me like, “You need to go harder than that, go back in there and re-cut some shit.”
[Dre] is the kind of cat that… a lot of cats don’t understand this, but we were doing this seminar the other day and was explaining to cats about the work ethic. They were like, “How many songs do you think you’ve cut?” I’m like, “Shit, over 500 records!” They’re like, “Wow!” I’m like, “Yeah, nigga! And counting!” Imagine working on the same record for two weeks, having to change words in a hook or do a pre-intro, or tighten this up. Everything is down to a science, and everything has to be perfect.
Then the mixing is a whole other level. Dude gives me so much magic and so much insight as to how to put a record together. Most cats go in two or three takes and they’re good with a record. It can be great, but with dude it’s like, “Naw. Look at it this way. Look at it that way. OK, try this. OK, that feels pretty good, but I don’t know. We’re gonna sleep on it.” Then he’ll call me the same fuckin’ night, like three or four in the morning, and go, “I don’t know. Let’s try something different in the morning.” That kind of steady hand and skill makes you like a physician almost. So you’re gonna see growth that you don’t even know is growth. You know what I mean? You can’t be in there with me, but believe me. What it’s done to my mind, my ear, and approach towards records is phenomenal.
Dubcnn: How close do you think “Detox” is from being released?
I can’t really say anything, but this nigga’s been going hard. The craziest thing is, I’m used to seeing him do beats, but to see him cut vocals? Fuckin’ crazy man! To walk in and see this nigga in the booth before you get there in the morning, and he’s already going hard, sittin’ on a chair bussin’? He’s going hard, going hard like a new artist, and it’s dope to see that after that many years, he still has that hunger and that discipline. So it’s crazy. But we’ve already cut a lot of records and he’s still cutting records. But you know with him. We’ll probably do 115 records before he’s got what he wants for “Detox”. Straight up! I mean, that’s that dude though, and that’s why he’s the dude that he is.
Dubcnn: Does Dre ever check out any of those crazy “Detox” discussions on the internet forums?
He don’t pay attention to none of that shit! This dude’s got his own headphones coming out. You think that a dude that’s got his own headphones coming out has got time to look on the internet? What did he say one day? This is how far this nigga’s on another planet. He said, “I was having a conversation with such and such, and the nigga said ‘Coinstar’. I said, ‘What the fuck is a Coinstar?’ I haven’t been to a market in I don’t know how long.”
He didn’t know what a Coinstar was! That’s how bossy he is. I said, “Nigga, I’ve knowing Coinstar for years. I took all the pennies in there and got gas money!” That’s the level that he’s on man. It’s crazy to see it at that altitude. I’ve become used to it because I’m a part of it, but you still have to take a step back and realize this dude himself is an institution, and this dude is really on another fuckin’ planet!
Dubcnn: Here’s another question from a fan. This one’s from Brewster in Barcelona, Spain.
What up Brewster? Pimp ass nigga!
Dubcnn: “What is the most valuable thing that you’ve learned from being around The Good Doctor so far”?
Patience. Patience is the biggest one. But what I’ve learned from looking at him and being around him is how he’s retained a beautiful spirit. We’re family; that’s my big bro. Dude has done the most in my life on so many levels I can’t even talk about. But, through all the bullshit he’s been through, he’s still a good motherfucker that will give you the shirt off his back. He’s got a billion shirts, but it’s just the point that he will bend over backwards to make sure you’re good. I’ve learned [that] through all the bullshit, and all the success, you can still remain you.
I’ve learned patience and integrity from him. He still has fun with it like a motherfucker, and he’s still a big kid. That’s dope to me. No matter what the success level, how many records sold, or how much money is at stake, he only cares about the music at the end of the day. That’s why he takes however the fuck long he wants. He wants this shit to be right.
There’s so many more things, I’d be long winded! Just having an ear man. I’ve been watching him mix, and I’m starting to learn how to mix. I’ve got a crazy ass ear now. I’ve been real spoiled, having the opportunity to be in there and learn how to put records together. It’s crazy! [I’ve learned the] same with Focus. It’s stupid. I’m spoiled to be in the position I’m in.
Dubcnn: This one is from Chadrick. “Will your album ‘The Reformation’ have more of a commercial appeal to it than your street albums, or will Dre allow you to have the same style that you’ve been doing”?
Dre allows you to be you, as long as your shit is hot. Of course it’s going to be commercial in the sense that it has to be sold. You know what I’m saying? But they [the fans] have to make that transition. I used to talk like that, when I was unsigned and didn’t understand the business. Anything that’s a video is a commercial for a product. Any album that’s packaged and put in stores is a product, so there has to be a commercial to make people want to go out and buy it. So in that aspect, yeah, it’s gonna be commercial. I want that motherfucker to sell like a motherfucker for people to receive it and get the nutrients that’s in it.
But as far as the music material inside, it’s gonna be me all day. I don’t back down on that shit for nothing. That’s why me and Dre’s relationship is what it is, because if I don’t like something or feel something, I’m gonna say I don’t. He’ll want to pimp slap me for it, say I’m hard-headed, but he respects me for it at the end of the day because I’m honest and he knows I’ma shoot from the hip.
Published March 2008
Dubcnn: So tell us about what a typical session is like working on “Detox”…
Man, where do I begin? The mysterious thing that people always hear about is how hard dude goes. It’s amazing to watch dude work. [He has] 22 years in the game, and this dude, most of the time, is the last dude that leaves the studio. I’ve finally started to master being the last one to leave the studio with dude. But it’s just hella concentration man. You have Hittman in one room working on a record, me in another room working on a record, and the homeboy Sly in the other room working on a record. There’s a lot of different cats that’s going hard in each studio writing records, and Dre’s producing beats in the front main studio. So it’s just like a sweatshop for rhymes and for beats, and the concepts.
It’s a constant workforce, and we don’t let up. We’re not supposed to let up, because the whole thing is to give y’all the meanest shit, go out with a bang, [and] for this to be his last album. So it’s crazy, and you don’t get much sleep. You shouldn’t want to get much sleep, when you’ve got an opportunity of a lifetime like that.
Dubcnn: Yeah! So did you say Hittman? He’s coming back for “Detox”?
Oh, Hittman’s been back man…Mel-Man, you name it! I mean, there’s a lot of surprises. I’m not at liberty to say too much, but I’ll say what I can so I won’t get beat up. Dre is serious about that, Area 51 with this shit to the utmost! But it’s beautiful to see Hitt, be able to work with Hittman, and vibe with Hittman, vibe with Mel-Man, vibe with Focus, and vibe with Busta. You know, it’s cats you look up to and cats that’s been doing it before you was doing it. They’re the same people that’s making you do what you do.
It’s a lot of fun at the same time. It’s family; there ain’t no hater shit. That’s the most beautiful thing about being able to work in those kinds of environments. It’s just about the music. It’s just it’s an experience man, and what it does is it upgrades what I’m doing with “The Reformation”. I’m glad it happened this way, because I get to be a fly on the wall, and see how this nigga’s moving. Then this nigga be making beats, and is like “Ehh.” That shit will be crazy [though], and I’ll snatch that shit! So I’m putting “The Reformation” on serious-ass steroids right now.
It’s a great thing because I’m allowed to see what he’s doing for his album, and then double or triple up on mine. These are solid efforts that are going to be amazing.
Dubcnn: So do you think that by the time “Detox” drops, you’re going to change up a lot of the tracks that were supposed to be on “The Reformation”, and replace them with new ones?
Man, that’s always been going on. That’s another [reason] why it’s been taking so long, because he’s like, “Dude, this shit’s gotta be so crazy.” I feel the same way, and his perfectionist attitude is starting to rub off on me. So now it’s just a sick, twisted, “Fight Club” level of schizophrenia when it comes to the records, because your best ain’t good enough. I felt that way before, but now it’s even so much more, being in here doing like we’re doing it. So it’s crazy man. It’s been always changing. I cut like two or three records in a day. I think they’re crazy, but something just pulls at me like, “You need to go harder than that, go back in there and re-cut some shit.”
[Dre] is the kind of cat that… a lot of cats don’t understand this, but we were doing this seminar the other day and was explaining to cats about the work ethic. They were like, “How many songs do you think you’ve cut?” I’m like, “Shit, over 500 records!” They’re like, “Wow!” I’m like, “Yeah, nigga! And counting!” Imagine working on the same record for two weeks, having to change words in a hook or do a pre-intro, or tighten this up. Everything is down to a science, and everything has to be perfect.
Then the mixing is a whole other level. Dude gives me so much magic and so much insight as to how to put a record together. Most cats go in two or three takes and they’re good with a record. It can be great, but with dude it’s like, “Naw. Look at it this way. Look at it that way. OK, try this. OK, that feels pretty good, but I don’t know. We’re gonna sleep on it.” Then he’ll call me the same fuckin’ night, like three or four in the morning, and go, “I don’t know. Let’s try something different in the morning.” That kind of steady hand and skill makes you like a physician almost. So you’re gonna see growth that you don’t even know is growth. You know what I mean? You can’t be in there with me, but believe me. What it’s done to my mind, my ear, and approach towards records is phenomenal.
Dubcnn: How close do you think “Detox” is from being released?
I can’t really say anything, but this nigga’s been going hard. The craziest thing is, I’m used to seeing him do beats, but to see him cut vocals? Fuckin’ crazy man! To walk in and see this nigga in the booth before you get there in the morning, and he’s already going hard, sittin’ on a chair bussin’? He’s going hard, going hard like a new artist, and it’s dope to see that after that many years, he still has that hunger and that discipline. So it’s crazy. But we’ve already cut a lot of records and he’s still cutting records. But you know with him. We’ll probably do 115 records before he’s got what he wants for “Detox”. Straight up! I mean, that’s that dude though, and that’s why he’s the dude that he is.
Dubcnn: Does Dre ever check out any of those crazy “Detox” discussions on the internet forums?
He don’t pay attention to none of that shit! This dude’s got his own headphones coming out. You think that a dude that’s got his own headphones coming out has got time to look on the internet? What did he say one day? This is how far this nigga’s on another planet. He said, “I was having a conversation with such and such, and the nigga said ‘Coinstar’. I said, ‘What the fuck is a Coinstar?’ I haven’t been to a market in I don’t know how long.”
He didn’t know what a Coinstar was! That’s how bossy he is. I said, “Nigga, I’ve knowing Coinstar for years. I took all the pennies in there and got gas money!” That’s the level that he’s on man. It’s crazy to see it at that altitude. I’ve become used to it because I’m a part of it, but you still have to take a step back and realize this dude himself is an institution, and this dude is really on another fuckin’ planet!
Dubcnn: Here’s another question from a fan. This one’s from Brewster in Barcelona, Spain.
What up Brewster? Pimp ass nigga!
Dubcnn: “What is the most valuable thing that you’ve learned from being around The Good Doctor so far”?
Patience. Patience is the biggest one. But what I’ve learned from looking at him and being around him is how he’s retained a beautiful spirit. We’re family; that’s my big bro. Dude has done the most in my life on so many levels I can’t even talk about. But, through all the bullshit he’s been through, he’s still a good motherfucker that will give you the shirt off his back. He’s got a billion shirts, but it’s just the point that he will bend over backwards to make sure you’re good. I’ve learned [that] through all the bullshit, and all the success, you can still remain you.
I’ve learned patience and integrity from him. He still has fun with it like a motherfucker, and he’s still a big kid. That’s dope to me. No matter what the success level, how many records sold, or how much money is at stake, he only cares about the music at the end of the day. That’s why he takes however the fuck long he wants. He wants this shit to be right.
There’s so many more things, I’d be long winded! Just having an ear man. I’ve been watching him mix, and I’m starting to learn how to mix. I’ve got a crazy ass ear now. I’ve been real spoiled, having the opportunity to be in there and learn how to put records together. It’s crazy! [I’ve learned the] same with Focus. It’s stupid. I’m spoiled to be in the position I’m in.
Dubcnn: This one is from Chadrick. “Will your album ‘The Reformation’ have more of a commercial appeal to it than your street albums, or will Dre allow you to have the same style that you’ve been doing”?
Dre allows you to be you, as long as your shit is hot. Of course it’s going to be commercial in the sense that it has to be sold. You know what I’m saying? But they [the fans] have to make that transition. I used to talk like that, when I was unsigned and didn’t understand the business. Anything that’s a video is a commercial for a product. Any album that’s packaged and put in stores is a product, so there has to be a commercial to make people want to go out and buy it. So in that aspect, yeah, it’s gonna be commercial. I want that motherfucker to sell like a motherfucker for people to receive it and get the nutrients that’s in it.
But as far as the music material inside, it’s gonna be me all day. I don’t back down on that shit for nothing. That’s why me and Dre’s relationship is what it is, because if I don’t like something or feel something, I’m gonna say I don’t. He’ll want to pimp slap me for it, say I’m hard-headed, but he respects me for it at the end of the day because I’m honest and he knows I’ma shoot from the hip.
Published March 2008
Finally a real Detox release date????
USA TODAY
The wait for Detox is almost over. Dr. Dre says his long-anticipated third solo album is starting to take shape in the studio and could arrive before the end of the year.
"I'm just now — over the last couple of months — starting to feel that it's going to be right and it's something I can be proud of, and everybody is going to love it," says Dr. Dre (aka Andre Young). "In a perfect world, I'm shooting for a November or December release."
If that happens, it will come nine years after his six-times-platinum 2001, which was itself a long-awaited follow-up to his revered 1992 debut, The Chronic That album's bass-fueled G Funk sound dominated rap for years and propelled Snoop Dogg to superstardom. Both albums raised the bar for hip-hop production values.
"I've never set out to do that," says Dre, 43. "I just make the music feel the way I want it to feel and I don't put it out until I'm totally happy with it. Then it does what it does."
Expectations for the album are high, thanks to Dre's pedigree and perfectionist reputation, says Chuck Creekmur, co-founder of the music news site allhiphop.com.
"He's a master of crafting a complete album, which is rare these days with everything being singles-driven," Creekmur says. "We've been waiting on this almost a decade, and that ridiculous level of anticipation will translate saleswise. It would be on par with Lil Wayne (whose Tha Carter III recently sold 1 million copies its first week out), if not more."
Detox has been the subject of speculation since Dre first hinted at the project in 2002. He has been working on the album, which will be released on his Aftermath/Interscope Records label, on and off for four years. He says he has assembled a new crew of musicians, and the beats will be heavily driven by live drums. "We have an entirely new thing going with the drums that's incredible, and we're still developing that." All "the usual suspects" will make guest appearances, including Nas, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne.
As long as the wait for the upcoming album has been, Dre says it'll be even longer before there's another one. "I'm going to put this record out, promote it, tour and then become a hermit. I'm going to stay in the studio and produce."
But he says he isn't interested in producing albums for established artists. Dre, who previously helped launch Eminem and 50 Cent, says his goal is to find who's next.
"All I want to do is sit in the studio with that person for a year and try to create another masterpiece."
Published July 2008
Source - http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news ... etox_N.htm
The wait for Detox is almost over. Dr. Dre says his long-anticipated third solo album is starting to take shape in the studio and could arrive before the end of the year.
"I'm just now — over the last couple of months — starting to feel that it's going to be right and it's something I can be proud of, and everybody is going to love it," says Dr. Dre (aka Andre Young). "In a perfect world, I'm shooting for a November or December release."
If that happens, it will come nine years after his six-times-platinum 2001, which was itself a long-awaited follow-up to his revered 1992 debut, The Chronic That album's bass-fueled G Funk sound dominated rap for years and propelled Snoop Dogg to superstardom. Both albums raised the bar for hip-hop production values.
"I've never set out to do that," says Dre, 43. "I just make the music feel the way I want it to feel and I don't put it out until I'm totally happy with it. Then it does what it does."
Expectations for the album are high, thanks to Dre's pedigree and perfectionist reputation, says Chuck Creekmur, co-founder of the music news site allhiphop.com.
"He's a master of crafting a complete album, which is rare these days with everything being singles-driven," Creekmur says. "We've been waiting on this almost a decade, and that ridiculous level of anticipation will translate saleswise. It would be on par with Lil Wayne (whose Tha Carter III recently sold 1 million copies its first week out), if not more."
Detox has been the subject of speculation since Dre first hinted at the project in 2002. He has been working on the album, which will be released on his Aftermath/Interscope Records label, on and off for four years. He says he has assembled a new crew of musicians, and the beats will be heavily driven by live drums. "We have an entirely new thing going with the drums that's incredible, and we're still developing that." All "the usual suspects" will make guest appearances, including Nas, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne.
As long as the wait for the upcoming album has been, Dre says it'll be even longer before there's another one. "I'm going to put this record out, promote it, tour and then become a hermit. I'm going to stay in the studio and produce."
But he says he isn't interested in producing albums for established artists. Dre, who previously helped launch Eminem and 50 Cent, says his goal is to find who's next.
"All I want to do is sit in the studio with that person for a year and try to create another masterpiece."
Published July 2008
Source - http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news ... etox_N.htm
Focus contributes to Detox
He was also tight-lipped about his work on Dre's long-gestating final album Detox which Focus said should definitely be coming out this year. "We're heavy into Detox now," he said. "I'm trying to get some tracks on there and give him whole songs so he can keep everything moving. Detox is coming this year. I know that's what he's been working very hard on. I want my tracks to be as big as Dre's name and legend are."
Published - Feb 2008
Source - http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/158250 ... ocus.jhtml
Published - Feb 2008
Source - http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/158250 ... ocus.jhtml
DJ Khalil Speaks On "DETOX"
"I'm a staff producer so I'm basically responsible for turning tracks in to him every month," Kahlil says of his relationship with Dr. Dre. "At the moment I'm working on Detox. I have a lot of records slated for that album. And that's probably the most highly anticipated album in Hip Hop...almost in music. Everybody's waiting for Dr. Dre's next record."
Published February 2008
Source - http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6 ... and-nigger
Published February 2008
Source - http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6 ... and-nigger
Dre gets written stuff from Lil Wayne
Lil' Wayne spoke with MTV News recently about working on Dr. Dre's highly anticipated album, Detox. "I'm trying to get Eminem on this song for my album," said Weezy . "I did a little something for Dr. Dre's new album [Detox]. When you're busy like us, you just send the song. I just wrote some stuff for [Dre], and hopefully he'll like it."
Published February 2008
Source - http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6 ... mpionships
Published February 2008
Source - http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6 ... mpionships
Dre appears in the media - interview and an awards appearance
Dre rarely gives any interviews, however in on his Birthday (Feb 2007) he gave an exclusive interview.
Listen - http://power106.com/audioalbum/dre.aspx
He also presented the main award the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, where he received a standing ovation and he took the moment to mention Detox.
Listen - http://power106.com/audioalbum/dre.aspx
He also presented the main award the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, where he received a standing ovation and he took the moment to mention Detox.
September 23, 2007
The studio-obsessed producer has left his mark on Eminem and 50 Cent, to name-drop a few. And he's not about to rush his final solo CD.
By Robert Hilburn, Special to The Times
"We go until it happens," rap producer Dr. Dre says about all the time he spends in the recording studio searching for hits, once as long as 79 hours in a single stretch. "When the ideas are coming," says the man who is one of the half-dozen most influential producers of the modern pop era, "I don't stop until the ideas stop because that train doesn't come along all the time."
Some hip-hop fans, however, must be wondering if this particular train isn't off the track. Dre (real name: Andre Young) has been working on his third solo album, "Detox," for nearly eight years, a time frame that invites uncomfortable comparison with such earlier pop music train wrecks as Phil Spector, Brian Wilson and Axl Rose. All three were fabulously successful artists who found it so hard to live up to their own expectations that they each ran into creative paralysis.
But there are differences between Dre and the others, he and those close to him say. The 42-year-old Compton native hasn't just been working on his own album all these years.
As a producer and head of Aftermath Entertainment, Dre has also contributed to albums by Eminem, 50 Cent, the Game and others. Plus, he has "mixed" tracks -- fine-tuning the musical dynamics -- for more than a dozen other artists, including Gwen Stefani, Eve and Mary J. Blige.
Dre will now devote two months to working on Eminem's new album. "We'll be trying to get his thing done and work on a few things on my own project," Dre says.
It's an exhausting pace and it's possible only because of what Dre calls his obsession with the studio.
To achieve his level of success -- Dre has put his seductive hip-hop stamp on albums that have taken in more than $1 billion worldwide -- you obviously need musical talent.
"Dre is 'the Natural,' " says Interscope Records chief Jimmy Iovine. "Lots of producers have hits, but he does far more than that. He's a creator who has moved popular culture three times . . . with gangsta rap, G-funk and Eminem."
Yet the more you talk to Dre, the more you realize that another key element has been a mental toughness that enabled him to walk away from fast-lane excesses and a runaway ego.
Dre's greatest gift, in fact, may be the strong will that has helped him to recognize the most important things in his life -- the recording studio, his family and, most recently, weight training -- and strip away everything that doesn't serve those priorities.
In the early '90s, Dre was being hailed as the new king of hip-hop for defining gangsta rap with N.W.A and then expanding rap's mainstream appeal with the alluring G-funk style that combined melodic, old-school R&B and hard-core hip-hop sensibilities.
But amid the sudden fame, Dre appeared to be spending as much time partying and in court as he did in the studio. The turning point came after he served time in jail in 1995 for violating the probation he received after breaking another rap producer's jaw in 1992.
He jettisoned the bad behavior and, among other things, severed ties with trouble-plagued Death Row Records, signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Interscope Records and the Universal Music Group that resulted in Dre's Aftermath label.
The accompanying hoopla and dollar signs led to another hazardous period. After closing the deal, Dre went on a signing spree, convinced he could turn out hits with virtually anyone. He admits the move took a personal and professional toll.
"When we started Aftermath, we had something like 20 artists and it was driving me crazy," the 6-foot-1 producer said on the patio of his English-style country estate in the West San Fernando Valley. "I couldn't sit down and focus on any of it, plus it was doubly hard because you ended up crushing these people's dreams when you had to let them go."
On the strength of his name, "Dr. Dre Presents . . . The Aftermath," a 1996 album, was certified platinum (1 million sold), but it had little lasting effect. The humbling experience taught Dre that even with his talents he, as a producer, needs quality artists and a top support crew to make noteworthy records. Aftermath too went through a stripping back process. Its roster now includes fewer than a dozen artists.
"People are always coming up to me, thinking I've got some magic wand that can make them a star and I want to tell them that no one can do that," he says. "Making hit records is not that easy. But it took me time to realize that myself."
Now, Dre is planning another dramatic move, one designed in part to give him even more time in the studio. The long-awaited "Detox," he says, will be his final solo album.
Though claims of "final albums" have often proved to be as short-lived as farewell tours, you sense a burden lifting as Dre talks about saying good-bye to the solo career. He loves being in the studio, whether working on his songs or someone else's. But he doesn't enjoy the other duties that go along with a solo career, including interviews, live shows and other promotional activities. By eliminating all that, Dre is further sharpening his focus on his studio obsession.
"The actual making of a record is the most exciting part of this business," he says. "I don't make records so I can sit down afterward and listen to them. I make them so other people can sit down and listen to them."
Talk about hits
DRE appears as relaxed as can be on the grounds of his gated mansion on a weekday afternoon, refreshed from a couple of hours at the gym and looking forward to going into the studio later in the day. You'd never know from his easygoing manner that the rap kingpin dislikes interviews so much that this is his first one in three years.
He's a wonderful storyteller who delights in the surprising details behind some of his hits. At the moment, he's in the middle of a story about how he found Snoop Dogg, whose silky vocal style contributed greatly to the G-funk classic, "Nuthin but a 'G' Thang."
Dre was at a bachelor party in the early '90s when he heard Snoop's voice on an amateur tape. He liked the way Snoop rhymed over the beats and invited him into the studio.
"I was mainly interested in how he responded to directions," Dre continues. "That's always an important test with me. Talent gets you in the door, but there are other things I consider, like, 'Do I want to work with this guy? Can we click? Can we laugh and talk in the studio?' If not, I'd rather work with someone else."
Seriously? Would Dre really pass up a sure-fire hit if it was brought into the studio by an absolute jerk?
Dre pauses briefly at the question, then laughs. "Well," he says, finally. "I'd probably take the song and then have him sit out in the lobby while I worked on it."
It's the music that matters
DRE has been talking freely for nearly 90 minutes about the studio. The only pauses are to talk to Nicole, his wife of 11 years, about spending the weekend with their kids at their house in Malibu.
For Dre, spending as much time as possible in the studio is as important as keeping your ears open, a point that leads to the matter of interviews. Nothing personal, he says, they're just another distraction.
Dre was blessed with a gift for music, a mom who encouraged him to pursue that gift rather than gangs and an aunt who just happened to live down the street from another young hip-hop fan, O'Shea Jackson, who adopted the professional name Ice Cube.
"I always loved the way music made me feel," Dre says, sipping water from a bottle. "I did sports at school and all, but when I got home, it was just music. Everybody in my neighborhood loved music. I could jump the back fence and be in the park where there were ghetto blasters everywhere."
By the time Dre and Ice Cube hooked up in the mid-'80s, both had spent countless hours honing their skills. Dre, four years older, was a master of turntables, his confidence boosted by all the nights he played records for the dance crowd at the Eve After Dark nightclub in Compton. Cube's forte was lyrics.
After they joined N.W.A, Dre supplied the sonic explosiveness, while Cube wrote the key raps for "Straight Outta Compton," the alternately angry and witty late-'80s album that made gangsta rap a sensation. The success of N.W.A showed Dre the importance of following your instincts and not worrying about the latest trends.
"I mean, think about it," he says. "We couldn't have done anything more unlikely in music business terms. We were making a record that we knew no one would play on the radio because of the language and that no major label would even release."
Dre followed his instincts again with 1992's "The Chronic" by using live instruments when the vogue in rap was building tracks around turntable dynamics and "samples" from old recordings. "There is some sampling on my records and a lot of what I call replays, where I'd have musicians come in the studio and replay the sample from the original record," he says. "But mainly, we'd come up with our own music."
Dre's favorite moment during the making of "The Chronic" may have been the time Snoop Dogg phoned the studio from jail while Dre happened to be working on "Nuthin' but." "I can't even remember why he was in jail, but I thought his voice would be perfect for the song," Dre says, smiling. "So, I told him to stay on the line while I duct-taped the receiver of the phone to the microphone. That's how he did vocal for our demo for ' "G" Thang.' I wish I could find that demo now. You could hear all the jail sounds in the background. It was crazy."
Fifteen years after that recording session, Dre still seems to savor the moment -- as much as the success of the record itself, which was named single of the decade by Spin magazine.
For Dre, a hit record starts with a hit sound, which sounds simple. But the search is what requires those long hours in the studio. The producer normally heads into the studio around 3 p.m. weekdays, the weekends being reserved for the family and for his hobbies, which include sports and photography. Because the studio in Sherman Oaks is like a second home, Dre likes the atmosphere to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible.
"One of the most important things for a producer is to realize you don't know everything," says Dre, whose studio techniques are largely self-taught. "I love having people in the studio that I can feed off and who can feed off each other."
When putting together a track, lyrics and themes are important, he says, but you've first got to catch a listener's ear with a melody or a beat. To create that beat, he either starts from scratch or builds on something he heard on an old recording, which he did when he worked a few seconds of Leon Haywood's "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" into "Nuthin' but." He used a piano riff from Joe Cocker's "Woman to Woman" to jump-start "California Love," the spectacular 1996 single he made with the late Tupac Shakur.
On "California Love," Dre went into the studio in his former Chatsworth home and played a sample from the Cocker single over a drum beat. He then had some horn players come in to fill out the sound and finally stacked some strings on top.
While recording the track, Dre remembered a festive line -- "California knows how to party" -- from another song ("West Coast Poplock") and he brought in Roger Troutman, from the old Zapp band, to deliver the vocal line on the record.
As Dre recounts the process, you can imagine his head racing through ideas with the speed of a computer. Does this work? What else can I do? What's missing? Is that too much? Seeing him amid his arsenal of state-of-the-art equipment brings home the complexity of his approach.
But everything he does is rooted in the age-old search for a hook. In looking for musical ideas, Dre sometimes goes randomly through crates of old records to see if anything catches his ear, something as short as five to 10 seconds of music. Most of the time, however, he'll sit in the studio with a couple of other musicians and simply start playing, hoping one of them will come up with a key riff. Dre usually sits at a synthesizer or drum machine, joined by, say, a bassist and/or guitarist.
"It's great when everybody is working together and feels something is happening," he says about his time in the studio. "That's when it's all smiles in the studio. You don't want to see any clock or any daylight or hear any phone. You just cut yourself off from the rest of the world and make music.
"I don't necessarily even call it work. I call it fun. I even like the pressure, it makes me work all the harder if I know people out there are waiting for the record."
The quality Dre looks for in a recording artist is uniqueness -- a distinct voice that will stand out from the crowd. Sometimes the writing will catch Dre's ear, other times the rap delivery.
Dre's biggest star, Eminem, came from as far out in left field as Snoop Dogg. An intern at Interscope Records had heard Eminem on an L.A. radio show and passed a tape along to Interscope's Iovine, who in turn played it for Dre.
Dre was so excited that he got together with Eminem the next day. He was surprised to see that the young artist was white, which might have led some industry figures to think twice, given the bad name Vanilla Ice gave white rappers. But Dre swears -- holding his hand up playfully as if testifying -- he knew that Eminem had the goods.
"His writing is like no other," Dre says, "the way he puts together certain words and the way he makes certain words rhyme that to me most of the time don't even seem like they are supposed to rhyme. I also loved the fact that Eminem, I think, was setting out to be shocking. I love it as dark as it can get, and I thought the public would feel the same way."
In turn, Eminem has been lavish in his praise for the producer. "Dre showed me how to do things with my voice that I didn't know I could do," Eminem told me early in his career, such as "the way to deliver rhymes. . . . I'd do something I thought was pretty good, and he'd say, 'I think you can do it better.' "
It was Eminem who introduced Dre to 50 Cent, whose first three Aftermath albums have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. "I loved his delivery more than anything," says Dre, who produced two tracks on 50 Cent's latest CD. "He had so much authority and strength in his voice."
When it came to the Game, the Compton rapper who has become another multimillion-album seller, Dre heard something in the rapper's raw voice that reminded him of the N.W.A days. The Game's Aftermath debut, "The Documentary," was produced by Dre and 50 Cent, and it has sold more than 2.5 millioncopies in the U.S., but the Game has moved onto Interscope's sister label Geffen after a nasty, public feud with 50 Cent. There has been much speculation in hip-hop that the Game was shifted to Geffen after Dre picked 50 Cent, the larger seller, but he denies it.
"I told them, 'I love working with both you guys. I don't have a problem with either of you,' " he says. "It was more like what is going to be the best move under the circumstances. I don't even remember who came up with the idea of putting Game on Geffen, but it was absolutely not me picking 50 over him."
A little heavy lifting
DRE made a rare public appearance this month when he announced the video of the year winner on the MTV Video Music Awards telecast in Las Vegas.
For fans, the appearance was notable for two things: Dre didn't give a release date for "Detox," renewing fears that the album may be lost in some twi- light zone, and his arms and chest were notably buff.
"That's another of my obsessions," he says a few days later of the new look. "I go in the gym two to 2 1/2 hours Monday through Friday. It makes me feel better and look better."
Before Dre started on the weights about four years ago, he often went out drinking and eating after leaving the studio at night, and his weight swelled to 270 pounds. It's back to 220, and he has cut his body fat from 29% to around 6%. Playfully pumping his arms, he says, "I feel like I can kick a brick wall down now."
And what about the album release date?
"I was really hoping to have it out this year, but it's going to have to be pushed back a while because of some other things I've got to work on," he continues, sitting in the lounge of the recording studio where he spends all those hours behind the buttons. He's still two or three tracks away from calling it finished, he says.
Any second thoughts about "Detox" being his final solo album? No, he says emphatically. "I think it's time to move on," he adds, calling rap performing "a young man's game."
More important, the move will free him to pursue his long-standing interest in films. He has signed a multiyear production pact with New Line Cinema. Dre, who will team with director Philip G. Atwell, is also interested in scoring films and eventually directing.
But he expects recording studios to continue to be the center of his world, and he's optimistic.
"When I think of the future, I think a lot of Quincy Jones and how he is an inspiration," Dre says. "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."
Robert Hilburn, former pop music critic of The Times, is writing a pop music history.
Source - http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/ne ... ertainment
The studio-obsessed producer has left his mark on Eminem and 50 Cent, to name-drop a few. And he's not about to rush his final solo CD.
By Robert Hilburn, Special to The Times
"We go until it happens," rap producer Dr. Dre says about all the time he spends in the recording studio searching for hits, once as long as 79 hours in a single stretch. "When the ideas are coming," says the man who is one of the half-dozen most influential producers of the modern pop era, "I don't stop until the ideas stop because that train doesn't come along all the time."
Some hip-hop fans, however, must be wondering if this particular train isn't off the track. Dre (real name: Andre Young) has been working on his third solo album, "Detox," for nearly eight years, a time frame that invites uncomfortable comparison with such earlier pop music train wrecks as Phil Spector, Brian Wilson and Axl Rose. All three were fabulously successful artists who found it so hard to live up to their own expectations that they each ran into creative paralysis.
But there are differences between Dre and the others, he and those close to him say. The 42-year-old Compton native hasn't just been working on his own album all these years.
As a producer and head of Aftermath Entertainment, Dre has also contributed to albums by Eminem, 50 Cent, the Game and others. Plus, he has "mixed" tracks -- fine-tuning the musical dynamics -- for more than a dozen other artists, including Gwen Stefani, Eve and Mary J. Blige.
Dre will now devote two months to working on Eminem's new album. "We'll be trying to get his thing done and work on a few things on my own project," Dre says.
It's an exhausting pace and it's possible only because of what Dre calls his obsession with the studio.
To achieve his level of success -- Dre has put his seductive hip-hop stamp on albums that have taken in more than $1 billion worldwide -- you obviously need musical talent.
"Dre is 'the Natural,' " says Interscope Records chief Jimmy Iovine. "Lots of producers have hits, but he does far more than that. He's a creator who has moved popular culture three times . . . with gangsta rap, G-funk and Eminem."
Yet the more you talk to Dre, the more you realize that another key element has been a mental toughness that enabled him to walk away from fast-lane excesses and a runaway ego.
Dre's greatest gift, in fact, may be the strong will that has helped him to recognize the most important things in his life -- the recording studio, his family and, most recently, weight training -- and strip away everything that doesn't serve those priorities.
In the early '90s, Dre was being hailed as the new king of hip-hop for defining gangsta rap with N.W.A and then expanding rap's mainstream appeal with the alluring G-funk style that combined melodic, old-school R&B and hard-core hip-hop sensibilities.
But amid the sudden fame, Dre appeared to be spending as much time partying and in court as he did in the studio. The turning point came after he served time in jail in 1995 for violating the probation he received after breaking another rap producer's jaw in 1992.
He jettisoned the bad behavior and, among other things, severed ties with trouble-plagued Death Row Records, signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Interscope Records and the Universal Music Group that resulted in Dre's Aftermath label.
The accompanying hoopla and dollar signs led to another hazardous period. After closing the deal, Dre went on a signing spree, convinced he could turn out hits with virtually anyone. He admits the move took a personal and professional toll.
"When we started Aftermath, we had something like 20 artists and it was driving me crazy," the 6-foot-1 producer said on the patio of his English-style country estate in the West San Fernando Valley. "I couldn't sit down and focus on any of it, plus it was doubly hard because you ended up crushing these people's dreams when you had to let them go."
On the strength of his name, "Dr. Dre Presents . . . The Aftermath," a 1996 album, was certified platinum (1 million sold), but it had little lasting effect. The humbling experience taught Dre that even with his talents he, as a producer, needs quality artists and a top support crew to make noteworthy records. Aftermath too went through a stripping back process. Its roster now includes fewer than a dozen artists.
"People are always coming up to me, thinking I've got some magic wand that can make them a star and I want to tell them that no one can do that," he says. "Making hit records is not that easy. But it took me time to realize that myself."
Now, Dre is planning another dramatic move, one designed in part to give him even more time in the studio. The long-awaited "Detox," he says, will be his final solo album.
Though claims of "final albums" have often proved to be as short-lived as farewell tours, you sense a burden lifting as Dre talks about saying good-bye to the solo career. He loves being in the studio, whether working on his songs or someone else's. But he doesn't enjoy the other duties that go along with a solo career, including interviews, live shows and other promotional activities. By eliminating all that, Dre is further sharpening his focus on his studio obsession.
"The actual making of a record is the most exciting part of this business," he says. "I don't make records so I can sit down afterward and listen to them. I make them so other people can sit down and listen to them."
Talk about hits
DRE appears as relaxed as can be on the grounds of his gated mansion on a weekday afternoon, refreshed from a couple of hours at the gym and looking forward to going into the studio later in the day. You'd never know from his easygoing manner that the rap kingpin dislikes interviews so much that this is his first one in three years.
He's a wonderful storyteller who delights in the surprising details behind some of his hits. At the moment, he's in the middle of a story about how he found Snoop Dogg, whose silky vocal style contributed greatly to the G-funk classic, "Nuthin but a 'G' Thang."
Dre was at a bachelor party in the early '90s when he heard Snoop's voice on an amateur tape. He liked the way Snoop rhymed over the beats and invited him into the studio.
"I was mainly interested in how he responded to directions," Dre continues. "That's always an important test with me. Talent gets you in the door, but there are other things I consider, like, 'Do I want to work with this guy? Can we click? Can we laugh and talk in the studio?' If not, I'd rather work with someone else."
Seriously? Would Dre really pass up a sure-fire hit if it was brought into the studio by an absolute jerk?
Dre pauses briefly at the question, then laughs. "Well," he says, finally. "I'd probably take the song and then have him sit out in the lobby while I worked on it."
It's the music that matters
DRE has been talking freely for nearly 90 minutes about the studio. The only pauses are to talk to Nicole, his wife of 11 years, about spending the weekend with their kids at their house in Malibu.
For Dre, spending as much time as possible in the studio is as important as keeping your ears open, a point that leads to the matter of interviews. Nothing personal, he says, they're just another distraction.
Dre was blessed with a gift for music, a mom who encouraged him to pursue that gift rather than gangs and an aunt who just happened to live down the street from another young hip-hop fan, O'Shea Jackson, who adopted the professional name Ice Cube.
"I always loved the way music made me feel," Dre says, sipping water from a bottle. "I did sports at school and all, but when I got home, it was just music. Everybody in my neighborhood loved music. I could jump the back fence and be in the park where there were ghetto blasters everywhere."
By the time Dre and Ice Cube hooked up in the mid-'80s, both had spent countless hours honing their skills. Dre, four years older, was a master of turntables, his confidence boosted by all the nights he played records for the dance crowd at the Eve After Dark nightclub in Compton. Cube's forte was lyrics.
After they joined N.W.A, Dre supplied the sonic explosiveness, while Cube wrote the key raps for "Straight Outta Compton," the alternately angry and witty late-'80s album that made gangsta rap a sensation. The success of N.W.A showed Dre the importance of following your instincts and not worrying about the latest trends.
"I mean, think about it," he says. "We couldn't have done anything more unlikely in music business terms. We were making a record that we knew no one would play on the radio because of the language and that no major label would even release."
Dre followed his instincts again with 1992's "The Chronic" by using live instruments when the vogue in rap was building tracks around turntable dynamics and "samples" from old recordings. "There is some sampling on my records and a lot of what I call replays, where I'd have musicians come in the studio and replay the sample from the original record," he says. "But mainly, we'd come up with our own music."
Dre's favorite moment during the making of "The Chronic" may have been the time Snoop Dogg phoned the studio from jail while Dre happened to be working on "Nuthin' but." "I can't even remember why he was in jail, but I thought his voice would be perfect for the song," Dre says, smiling. "So, I told him to stay on the line while I duct-taped the receiver of the phone to the microphone. That's how he did vocal for our demo for ' "G" Thang.' I wish I could find that demo now. You could hear all the jail sounds in the background. It was crazy."
Fifteen years after that recording session, Dre still seems to savor the moment -- as much as the success of the record itself, which was named single of the decade by Spin magazine.
For Dre, a hit record starts with a hit sound, which sounds simple. But the search is what requires those long hours in the studio. The producer normally heads into the studio around 3 p.m. weekdays, the weekends being reserved for the family and for his hobbies, which include sports and photography. Because the studio in Sherman Oaks is like a second home, Dre likes the atmosphere to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible.
"One of the most important things for a producer is to realize you don't know everything," says Dre, whose studio techniques are largely self-taught. "I love having people in the studio that I can feed off and who can feed off each other."
When putting together a track, lyrics and themes are important, he says, but you've first got to catch a listener's ear with a melody or a beat. To create that beat, he either starts from scratch or builds on something he heard on an old recording, which he did when he worked a few seconds of Leon Haywood's "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" into "Nuthin' but." He used a piano riff from Joe Cocker's "Woman to Woman" to jump-start "California Love," the spectacular 1996 single he made with the late Tupac Shakur.
On "California Love," Dre went into the studio in his former Chatsworth home and played a sample from the Cocker single over a drum beat. He then had some horn players come in to fill out the sound and finally stacked some strings on top.
While recording the track, Dre remembered a festive line -- "California knows how to party" -- from another song ("West Coast Poplock") and he brought in Roger Troutman, from the old Zapp band, to deliver the vocal line on the record.
As Dre recounts the process, you can imagine his head racing through ideas with the speed of a computer. Does this work? What else can I do? What's missing? Is that too much? Seeing him amid his arsenal of state-of-the-art equipment brings home the complexity of his approach.
But everything he does is rooted in the age-old search for a hook. In looking for musical ideas, Dre sometimes goes randomly through crates of old records to see if anything catches his ear, something as short as five to 10 seconds of music. Most of the time, however, he'll sit in the studio with a couple of other musicians and simply start playing, hoping one of them will come up with a key riff. Dre usually sits at a synthesizer or drum machine, joined by, say, a bassist and/or guitarist.
"It's great when everybody is working together and feels something is happening," he says about his time in the studio. "That's when it's all smiles in the studio. You don't want to see any clock or any daylight or hear any phone. You just cut yourself off from the rest of the world and make music.
"I don't necessarily even call it work. I call it fun. I even like the pressure, it makes me work all the harder if I know people out there are waiting for the record."
The quality Dre looks for in a recording artist is uniqueness -- a distinct voice that will stand out from the crowd. Sometimes the writing will catch Dre's ear, other times the rap delivery.
Dre's biggest star, Eminem, came from as far out in left field as Snoop Dogg. An intern at Interscope Records had heard Eminem on an L.A. radio show and passed a tape along to Interscope's Iovine, who in turn played it for Dre.
Dre was so excited that he got together with Eminem the next day. He was surprised to see that the young artist was white, which might have led some industry figures to think twice, given the bad name Vanilla Ice gave white rappers. But Dre swears -- holding his hand up playfully as if testifying -- he knew that Eminem had the goods.
"His writing is like no other," Dre says, "the way he puts together certain words and the way he makes certain words rhyme that to me most of the time don't even seem like they are supposed to rhyme. I also loved the fact that Eminem, I think, was setting out to be shocking. I love it as dark as it can get, and I thought the public would feel the same way."
In turn, Eminem has been lavish in his praise for the producer. "Dre showed me how to do things with my voice that I didn't know I could do," Eminem told me early in his career, such as "the way to deliver rhymes. . . . I'd do something I thought was pretty good, and he'd say, 'I think you can do it better.' "
It was Eminem who introduced Dre to 50 Cent, whose first three Aftermath albums have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. "I loved his delivery more than anything," says Dre, who produced two tracks on 50 Cent's latest CD. "He had so much authority and strength in his voice."
When it came to the Game, the Compton rapper who has become another multimillion-album seller, Dre heard something in the rapper's raw voice that reminded him of the N.W.A days. The Game's Aftermath debut, "The Documentary," was produced by Dre and 50 Cent, and it has sold more than 2.5 millioncopies in the U.S., but the Game has moved onto Interscope's sister label Geffen after a nasty, public feud with 50 Cent. There has been much speculation in hip-hop that the Game was shifted to Geffen after Dre picked 50 Cent, the larger seller, but he denies it.
"I told them, 'I love working with both you guys. I don't have a problem with either of you,' " he says. "It was more like what is going to be the best move under the circumstances. I don't even remember who came up with the idea of putting Game on Geffen, but it was absolutely not me picking 50 over him."
A little heavy lifting
DRE made a rare public appearance this month when he announced the video of the year winner on the MTV Video Music Awards telecast in Las Vegas.
For fans, the appearance was notable for two things: Dre didn't give a release date for "Detox," renewing fears that the album may be lost in some twi- light zone, and his arms and chest were notably buff.
"That's another of my obsessions," he says a few days later of the new look. "I go in the gym two to 2 1/2 hours Monday through Friday. It makes me feel better and look better."
Before Dre started on the weights about four years ago, he often went out drinking and eating after leaving the studio at night, and his weight swelled to 270 pounds. It's back to 220, and he has cut his body fat from 29% to around 6%. Playfully pumping his arms, he says, "I feel like I can kick a brick wall down now."
And what about the album release date?
"I was really hoping to have it out this year, but it's going to have to be pushed back a while because of some other things I've got to work on," he continues, sitting in the lounge of the recording studio where he spends all those hours behind the buttons. He's still two or three tracks away from calling it finished, he says.
Any second thoughts about "Detox" being his final solo album? No, he says emphatically. "I think it's time to move on," he adds, calling rap performing "a young man's game."
More important, the move will free him to pursue his long-standing interest in films. He has signed a multiyear production pact with New Line Cinema. Dre, who will team with director Philip G. Atwell, is also interested in scoring films and eventually directing.
But he expects recording studios to continue to be the center of his world, and he's optimistic.
"When I think of the future, I think a lot of Quincy Jones and how he is an inspiration," Dre says. "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."
Robert Hilburn, former pop music critic of The Times, is writing a pop music history.
Source - http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/ne ... ertainment
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Welcome
Welcome to the Detox blog. This blog is dedicated to news, rumours and views to the highly anticipated album 'Detox', which is currently still being created by the legendary music producer Dr Dre, real name Andre Young.
First news about this album was heard way back in 2001.
Just remind the readers, as a single artist - Dr Dre released 'The Chronic' in 1992, and then then 'Chronic 2001' in 1999.
An old quote from the producer himself.
"I'm not talking about lowriders and blunts and all that anymore. I mean, that's played. As a matter of fact, I'm tired of hearing other people talk about it, to tell you the truth. I had to come up with something different but still keep it hardcore, so what I decided to do was make my album one story about one person and just do the record through a character's eyes, and everybody that appears on my album is going to be a character, so it's basically going to be a hip-hop musical."
Please take part in the poll at the bottom of this page.
First news about this album was heard way back in 2001.
Just remind the readers, as a single artist - Dr Dre released 'The Chronic' in 1992, and then then 'Chronic 2001' in 1999.
An old quote from the producer himself.
"I'm not talking about lowriders and blunts and all that anymore. I mean, that's played. As a matter of fact, I'm tired of hearing other people talk about it, to tell you the truth. I had to come up with something different but still keep it hardcore, so what I decided to do was make my album one story about one person and just do the record through a character's eyes, and everybody that appears on my album is going to be a character, so it's basically going to be a hip-hop musical."
Please take part in the poll at the bottom of this page.
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