The skits linking the 17 album tracks continue the narrative, centred on West Coast hip hop’s thematic triumvirate: weed, sex and violence.Ĭomedian Eddie Griffin is a noted voice on 'Ed-Ucation', possibly the album’s lowest point: a one-and-a-half-minute rant about side-chicks who become pregnant on purpose. Purely cinematic in its presentation, an album like 2001 set a precedent for this type of hip hop record that an artist like Kendrick Lamar would follow in producing seminal works of their own ( Good Kid, m.A.A.d City). 2001 was originally constructed as if it were a film. "A lot of the times the media just takes this and tries to make it into something else when it’s all entertainment first." "I just basically do hardcore hip hop and try to add a touch of dark comedy here and there," Dr. Where 2001 differs is in its compositional weight, the calibre of guests representing the thriving culture of the time, and the reflection of Dre’s evolution as a rapper and the West Coast sound in general. Dre Presents The Aftermath - a compilation album that sold well, but failed to capture the same attention and respect as The Chronic. Dre delivered his second album, 2001.įireFox NVDA users - To access the following content, press 'M' to enter the iFrame.Ī record laden with expectation and anticipation, the album followed 1996’s Dr. Seven years later, in anticipation of the new millennium, Dr. Dre’s production technique and ear for g-funk and gangsta rap progressions, coupled with his staunch flow, turned heads and provided a huge breakthrough for the Death Row Records label Dre founded with Suge Knight and The D.O.C. The release of Dre's debut LP The Chronic in 1992 firmly established him as a hip hop game changer.įrom the shadows of his group N.W.A’s mammoth success emerged a double threat. A future that would be paved with money and fame in excess, and egos to match. Legends in the making who were thriving in a genre that provided an avenue out of the violence and impoverishment of their upbringing. These were the stories of hustlers, young men who had come up from the struggle. Dre, we think of an era of hip hop rooted in decadence, delivered by artists who had lived the experiences that formed the basis of their material. But for promo-record-hunting Heads circa 2000, there was this: “Split Personality,” released on Knockout Entertainment.A classic record with some questionable content. After all, Ski (an early No Limit Records artist/affiliate) produced joints like Spice 1’s “Dumpin’ ‘Em In Ditches,” Kam’s “Pull Ya Hoe Card,” and Master P’s “Bullets Gots No Name.” The album-much like his Helter Skelter album with Cube, or Break Up To Make Up album with Snoop Dogg, never saw the light of day. To some, now used to seeing Dre only rub studio elbows with Rap’s A-list/elite, it is hard to imagine the CPT-Oakland connection. Dre & E-A-Ski’s album, it quite obviously never dropped. While Amazon in the late ’90s included a pre-order for Dr. Dre dabble in the studio with (now Beats teammate) Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), he signed West Philadelphia underground Hip-Hop MC Last Emperor, and he even promised a joint album with Bay Area veteran E-A-Ski. It was in that middle-ground that Dre made the kinds of moves Heads would never see doc make today. Doo, Chris “The Glove” Taylor, and Bud’dha.īetween that lukewarm compilation and a misfire with The Firm, Aftermath was looking dim by 1998-around the time Dre heard a tape by a Detroit, Michigan MC named Eminem. In late ’96, D-R-E brought out a roster that included Death Row castaway RBX, 10-year veteran King T, and a round-table of producers in Mel-Man, Stu B. Dre Presents…The Aftermath is rarely mentioned. Heads love to talk about Dre’s iconic albums, but Dr. Dre left Death Row Records in 1996 ( leaving his masters, publishing, and ownership stake with him), Aftermath Entertainment was by no means what it is today. Dre’s 2001 was a comeback of epic proportions. biopic, and he’s got arguably Hip-Hop’s best MCs (Kendrick Lamar and Eminem) in his Aftermath Entertainment conglomerate.īut in the late 1990s? Things weren’t so good. The Compton, California impresario is breathing down the neck of being a billionaire (if he is not already there), he is the subject and producer of a major studio N.W.A.
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