#Dre albums hat full#

Coming Up Like a Fat Rat: вЂњDeep CoverвЂќ (a.k.a. Remember when you wanted Lamborghini doors on your Ford Focus?ДЎ4. Though fellow Dre protГ©gГ© 50 Cent would later claim that the early sessions for his sophomore album, The Massacre, were cribbed for GameвЂ™s debut, the focus was once again squarely on Compton. 1, but Eazy-EвЂ™s widow balked at the idea. He planned to call his Aftermath debut N.W.A, Vol. So when he briefly filled that role in the mid-2000s, it was through sheer force of will - and a grip of untouchable beats. In fact, heвЂ™s been brilliant, dipping into regret-tinged hyperrealism and quietly racking up one of the better singles catalogues of the 2000s. Is Friday the only thing more durable than Dre himself?ДЎ5. Lo-fi, skeletal beats were back en vogue, but DreвЂ™s contribution to the Friday soundtrack carries his signature style to its natural end point, regrettable вЂњass-tronautвЂќ line and all. The year was 1995, and the spotlight he had wrestled from New York was slipping back. As If I Was a Mayor: вЂњKeep Their Heads RinginвЂ™вЂќДЇor his third top-ten single in as many years, Dre decided to put an exclamation point on G-funk. The fact that many entries here are the works of others, during crucial points in their careers, speaks volumes about the legacy Dre has been angling to have since splitting off from N.W.A.ДЎ6. DreвЂ™s greatest contributions to the genre - 16, to be exact, to mark the years we had to wait for a new album. Fans have embraced him continually as an innovator behind the boards and a curator in the booth.ДЄnd so, to help explain why heвЂ™s so essential to rap history, weвЂ™ve put together a ranking of Dr. Through sea shifts in hip-hop and fundamental changes in how music gets to the market, the mastermind behind N.W.A and Eminem has persevered. After all, the lines вЂњWe started this gangsta shitвЂќ and вЂњI ainвЂ™t a thug, how much Tupac in you you got?вЂќ are taken from the same song. But Dre has always known when to peek in from behind the fourth wall. YouвЂ™ll find plenty of radio call-ins, Twitter tirades, undergraduate essays, and, yes, songs about how authenticity is everything in hip-hop. The bloated list of contributors is, for once, a badge of honor instead of an asterisk. ItвЂ™s a testament to DreвЂ™s vision that Compton is not only remarkably good, but prescient. The rappers who appear alongside Dre and those who help to write his verses (those groups sometimes intersect) are tasked with upholding one of rapвЂ™s great legacies, but itвЂ™s hard to tell from the auxiliary studio what will and wonвЂ™t stick. His production steadily evolved and adapted, but вЂњForgot About DreвЂќ and вЂњThe Recipe,вЂќ released 13 years apart, find the Doc doing passable impressions of those songsвЂ™ leads, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar respectively. At his best - вЂњFuck Wit Dre DayвЂќ or 2001 highlight вЂњThe Watcher,вЂќ for example - Andre Young has been a gripping emcee, but not a particularly nimble one. It isnвЂ™t hard to imagine that those who worked on the album came to see it as a sort of foolвЂ™s errand. You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge.ДЄll of which is great - but why did it take so long? DreвЂ™s protГ©gГ©s promised a famously unreleased LP, Detox, in 2004, 2005, and nearly every year since, only for it to be scrapped altogether.

#Dre albums hat full#

As evidenced on the albumвЂ™s heartbreaking centerpiece, вЂњAnimals,вЂќ Dre is bringing his catalogue full circle. The Chronic and 2001 are packed with funk, menace, and decade-defining singles, but Compton isnвЂ™t a linear continuation. Dre shirked off the blurred-out Nikes and inexplicable White Sox hats, stepping squarely into the present day with an arsenal of flows that would put upstarts half his age to shame. In the place of the bronzed hip-hop legendвЂ™s tried-and-true blueprints are busy, eclectic tracks and improbably precise vocals, edited for the era and formatted to fit your screen. But what took fans and critics aback when he dropped the record last week was the nature of that departure. DreвЂ™s third solo album in 23 years and first after a 16-year dry spell, marks a departure from his prior work should come as no surprise.