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Dr. Dre

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Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre


With their late-‘80s Cali-thug breakthrough albums, N.W.A. basically told East Coast hip-hop to take its jazz-rap and shove it. And its preachy politics, too. Dre started off as a mixmaster, or a killer DJ for those less informed, you can still listen to his DJ skills via his hour-long '85 and '86 mixes thanks to the magical-powers of the internet. He was apart of the 80's glam-rap scene as part of the World Class Wreckin Cru before shit got real with N.W.A. After the group disbanded, producer Dr. Dre founded Death Row records and took that "fuck you" attitude to the next level. His 1992 solo smash The Chronic featured system-busting Funkadelic beats designed to rumble your woofer while the matter-of-fact violence of the lyrics blew your smoke-filled mind. On top of it all, Dre’s trademark snaky keyboard twists give tunes like “Nuthin’ But a 'G' Thang” an ominous melodic elegance. Dre’s secret weapon, of course, was the young Snoop Doggy Dogg, who graced several tracks with his behind-the-beat drawl. The duo brilliantly played off their home region’s escalating gang tensions, mythologizing their alliance with Godfatherlike gravity- “Compton and Long Beach together now you know you’re in trouble.” The album’s release dovetailed with the palpable rage surrounding L.A.’s Rodney King riots, becoming a retrospect de facto soundtrack to unrest. Dre and Snoop inspired many imitators but no real duplicators of their patented ability to give pure voice to the numb genius of cannabis high amid solution-less chaos appeared. Dre produced Snoop’s Doggystyle in 1993 and among other projects, worked up timeless-tracks for Mary J. Blige ("Family Affair"), Gwen Stefani & Eve ("Let Me Blow Ya Mind"), and put the dig in Blackstreet’s “No Diggity.” Dre also began work with Death Row’s recent acquisition: Tupac Shakur; heralding a new dynastic era with the chummy “California Love” but soon ditched Death Row and its mounting legal problems to form Aftermath. Dre’s next big move was discovering the new Snoop in white rapper Eminem. Dre introduced the rapper to the world with Em’s debut single, “My Name Is.” Dre's second album, the confusingly titled 2001, released in 1999, put Dre back on the map for anyone who had forgotten about his genius in rhyme skill or beat making. Gangsta-pop tirades such as “The Next Episode,” and “Still D.R.E.” proved to be timeless classics, still heard today. He executive produced 50 Cent’s debut (and best) album, 2004’s Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Dr. Dre not only gave us one of the best rappers of the ‘90s (Snoop) or 2000s (Eminem) but also the 2010’s when he took Kendrick Lamar under his wing and helped take Kendrick to the mainstream. The two collaborated on one of my favorite tracks of all time: "The Recipe."  When the bio-pic of N.W.A. (2015's Straight Outta Compton)  was being released, Dre got inspired and released his third album, 2015’s Compton, a soundtrack inspired by his own life. This is all without mentioning his successful headphone-company, Beats By Dre, which he eventually sold to Apple in 2014 and in doing so became the first rap star billionaire. What else can you say?
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Dr. Dre

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