Author Topic: Q and A: questions I'm frequently asked about Dre, first question - Detox?  (Read 3233 times)

mellowmanisback

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What's up y'all - I wanted to drop by for a few hours and post a few things today.  The schedule is insane for the coming months so i won't have any time to come around for quite a while.  First of all I will assure you that Dre is hard at work on Detox (again)  ;). 50's album is pretty much finalized, i think Dre is done with his mixing chores for The Massacre.  I think you'll like most of the album, but I guess you'll have to make a judgement of your own when it gets released next month.  My focus is already off that album on back on Detox and Busta's new album.  I really think there is a good chance you'll get Busta's album yet this year, but I'm not gonna guess when it will come out because my track record is not real good when it comes to guessing release dates.  All I know is he's been getting out there on mixtapes and working hard on his new album.  On this topic I will address a few of the questions I get from people who recognize me (fortunatetly not too many yet).  Like I said I'm not gonna stick my nose in on things I need to stay out of.  i learned my lesson after letting you down on my premature excitement and telling you about what i though was going to be the forthcomng release of Oh My God.  So I'll stick to answering questions that I get about Dre. 
Q:  Why did Dre abandon Detox, and why is it taking so long?
A:  On the record Dre abandoned Detox because he wanted to focus on Em, Game, 50, Busta and Eve's albums.  While that is true, off the record there are other reasons.  The truth is Dre has been kicking around ideas and concepts for Detox for a long time.  He changed his mind a few times and was never really happy enough about any of them.  There is immense pressure to make Detox groundbreaking and better than his first two solo albums.  In addition to that this is Dre's final solo album, so there is the additional pressure of going out with a bang that will echo in eternity.  I don't think it ever crossed Dre's mind to actually not do Detox.  Annoucning that he wasn't helped relieve some of the pressure.  It also allowed Dre to step back and get his mind off of it for a while and get a fresh start later on.  That fresh start is now as Detox is definetly back on.  That we are actually putting vocals on some tracks is a very important step.  For the last few years we have been building hundreds of instrumentals for Detox.  They ranged from really sparse and simple beats to some of the craziest and most complex beats you have ever heard. We have all worked very hard together to create something truly original and groundbreaking.  Picking which ones to actually use is easier said than done.   We are striving for 100% live instrumental tracks built completely from scratch which takes a lot of work since we do some many of them before Dre wittles them down later on.  Dre pushes us to dig deep and put our own ideas into the skeleton instrumentals we have made alongside him for Detox over the last couple of years.  We are really pushing the envelope.  In my opinion Dre has thrown out some incredible tracks that we and Dre have built together, but Dre is looking for something specific and if he doesn't hear it he will not use it.   the dilema is how complex of tracks will the listening audience want to hear.  Do they want orchestra like pieces or the tightly focused, yet simple beats you are used to from Dre. Ideally all of us and Dre want the most mindbending and complex original music experience ever heard on record.  But will the audience be happy with that? The last thing we want to do is put out a "concept" album that loses people because it so different than what they are used to hearing.  So thats been a big dilema.  In the end i think you will hear elements of these complex beats but you won't hear the way they originally were created(those versions will go to the "Dr. Dre vault".  At least that is the direction Dre has gone so far.  I think the early tracks are as good as anything Dre has ever done - but it is still too early to tell how the final album will sound. I'm confident you will be very pleased.  Dre is planning something special for the albums last track - if we can keep it within the budget.
I know there are rumours out there that Detox will not be 100% Dre produced.  Dre is accepting tracks for consideration from a limited amount of producers, but the goal is for Dre to either produce or co produce the entire album.  If Dre is having a hard time getting 16-18 quality tracks together of his productions that he likes he may look to someone else's production to fill in the needed tracks.  Dre is humble enough to use someone elses track (like Lord Finesse's The Message beat) if it is dope enough to match the "classic level" of the Dre tracks on the album.  Interscope is breathing down Dre's neck to get Detox out by year end.  But Dre refuses to release it until he is ready.  We have a long way to go but i think Dre is finally at peace with what he/we are trying to achieve on Detox.  One thing to consider is this: The Vibe award incident really had a big impact on Dre.  I have never seen Dre as determined and focused as he is right now.  His anger and will to defeat all those who try to bring him down are having a direct impact on the aggressive nature of his recent productions.  I promise you that no one is as driven as Dre is to make Detox FUBAR the competition or anyone who stands in his way.   I don't know what the outcome of Detox will be, but we all, expecially Dre will work to exhaustion to make Detox the best it can be. 
 

Sven

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Thanks a lot for the info. Reading threads like this makes me being interested in the process of producing RAP MUSIC again. I have serious doubts about most produces, some are really boring, they aren't diversified enough. Most of them aren't even working with real musicians. That's what makes Dre's music special, that's what makes Dj "one man band" Quik special.

Btw... Mellowman, what do u know about Dre being in europe with Snoop & Game?
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Kal EL

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What does Dre think about the Jay Z situatiuon?
 

UKnowWhatItIs: welcome to my traps....game over

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Great news,props on this man.I really appreciate the knowledge u drop.I got one question tho,is 50's Piggybank better than Back Down lyrically & beat wise???
 

mellowmanisback

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Sorry guys i'm too focused on creating music to know about the jay-z situation, i haven't heard dre say anything - i don't have a comment on piggybank as i don't agree with another beef track - and i don't ask dre where he is going or what he does on his time off.  thats his family business.  I know Dre is excited about working with snoop again on detox but i haven't heard him talk about europe.  I know he's gonna be gone some coming up but again I don't ask him what he's doing when he's not here.  We talk a little about family at work but dre doesn't rub it in when he takes off for some exotic place again.  When i'm in the studio with Dre we are working and getting our business handled. there is no time to fuck around at work.  we'll relax when we feel like we've earned some time for fun after getting some quality music done that particular day. We have fun during the process but if you don't want to work when you are here at the studio Dre will tell you to go home - don't waste his time. Now back to the q and a.
 

Westcoastin'

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great posts man, that first bit made me so excited for detox....i cant wait
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Juronimo

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Thanks a lot for the info. Reading threads like this makes me being interested in the process of producing RAP MUSIC again. I have serious doubts about most produces, some are really boring, they aren't diversified enough. Most of them aren't even working with real musicians. That's what makes Dre's music special, that's what makes Dj "one man band" Quik special.

Btw... Mellowman, what do u know about Dre being in europe with Snoop & Game?

For real though, Dr. Dre and DJ Quik are so far ahead of every other hip hop producer out there it isn't even funny.
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Kal EL

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Do you know if NWA will ever do a CD?
 

Sir Petey

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I think it's great that we can finally get some clarity on where things stand with dre and snoop...
If dre is hype about the collabo then snoops probably ecstatic...
the only possible outcome is dope music.

Don Seer

hey mellow.. i thought of a couple questions..


do you have any idea more info on the origins of the 'other' version of xxplosive which was bootlegged under the name "way i be pimpin" and the track it was leaked with that had the name "my life".. which sampled Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves The Sunshine

are they -both- from 2001 sessions as is rumoured?  they surfaced several years after.



and one i'm not sure you can speak on..   what happened with hittman?




 

Conan

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While I'm sure a lot of people want to know what happened to Hittman, I don't know if ANYBODY in the ''Aftermath'' camp could (or would) answer that question. That's clearly just me guessing though.

I just got that impression from Game's line on ''The Documentary'': ''Don't stop me in traffic and ask about Hittman''

However, I remember reading a while ago, either in a message or news update, through Hitt's DJ Ben Baller that he was doing some writing for ''Detox'' at one point. I think that was posted on aftermathmusic.com? I'm sure some other people remember hearing that too...

It is bizarre that a rapper who was so hyped and was all over ''2001'' can fade into total obscurity.
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BIGMOZ

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Mellow, do you work hand in hand with Dre?  Do you know Mike Elizando?  That man gets far too little credit for as much work as he does on albums.


Is there any way to submit tracks to the Aftermath camp?  Not for Detox, Im just asking in general. 
 

Don Seer

everytime i've pressed ben baller or tha formula who have some kind of connect to hittman about it they say he's with dre working on detox..  and has been doing some movie scripts..

i dont believe that anymore.. a while ago they were still saying this BUT interscope told Lil Jay that he'd been dropped... ben flipped and claimed jay was lying etc etc...

its also hard to tell when the 4 or so leaked hitt bootlegs (one rumoured to be his demo of aftermath era tracks he was shopping around) were made.. the last one did have a few newer tracks.
 

mellowmanisback

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Q: Who is a better producer, Dre or Quik?
A: That is a question I get on this board and in public a lot.  I don't know why but I will give you my opinion.  Dre is hands down the better "producer".  Before all you DJ quik fans jump all over me, please note that Quik is easily on of the best producers in all of music and I looove his sound. like Sven said quik is a lot like Dre.  While both have sampled, or replayed and expanded like Dre did in the ruthless and death row years, both dre and quik try to create MUSIC using mostly live instrumentations.  Both have used actual live drums on a number of records, as well as live bass of all types, pianos, keys, horns, guitars, flutes, sax, xzylophone, etc.  Quik and Dre have different sounds for the most part but they are almost identical in how they hire musicians for most of the actual played music.  neither really play any instruments. both are incredible on the drum machine and both can play keyboards, quik is arguably a little better than dre on the keys while Dre is agruably better on the drum machine. I do disagree with quik being a one man band.  If you listen to Quik's first four albums you mostly hear the incredible Robert Bacon playing most, if not all of the instruments.  Bacon is Quik's secret weapon.  that doesn't take anything away from Dj quik but I am giving credit where credit is due.  Robert is simply one of the best musicians to ever be involved in hip hop.  Dre has discovered and/or used some incredible musicians during his career - Colin Wolfe, Mike Simms, Sean Thomas, T green, Scott Storch, Camara Kamron - to name a few.  Dre gives all of the musicians he has used a lot of credit for being a big part of his success. Quik has also had other great musicans besides Fonksta Bacon too.  The fact is that Dre and Quik are the top producers in rap MUSIC because they create music and hire some incredible musicians to help them bring their ideas to musical life.
Why is Dre a better producer, in my humble opinion, than quik?  Being a PRODUCER is so much more than being a musician.  Only in rap is a producer expected to play instruments on tracks.  Most music producers don't play anything on the records.  Great producers do however have the "ear" and understand melodies, and how best to mazimize an instruments and the musicians potential. Dre has one of the best ears there is. believe me he has made me a better musician than I ever thought i could be because he knows exactly how to tweak what I play from good to great.   Producers coach, discover talent, mentor, shape, mold, compose, create, adjust, innovate, arrainge, focus, orchestrate, direct and so much more.  Dre does all of that, and as a total package does that as well as or better than any producer in modern music history.
Quik hasn't really changed his sound ever.  He was forced to after Robert left, but its been pretty consistent in direction(this is not a criticism of quik, this is the style he is so good at, and the style we all love).  Dre has changed his music and the sound of music itself more than once.  With NWA and being the main creative force behind Ruthless records he helped change the sound of rap music and what could be said on records.  With The Chronic he was the leader in bringing a fresh sound - g-funk -  to music.  If you bought that album when it came out in dec. 92 it blew you away as it was unlike anything you had ever heard before. The chronic also brought gangsta rap to the masses and made it a cultural phenomenon (along with saving Interscope from folding).  When Dre left to start Aftermath he changed the course of music forever (again) with the discovery of eminem. he also helped make 50 and now game into superstars as well.
Dre has discovered some of the biggest artists in music history and as a producer he molded those artists by taking them from unpolished diamonds to polished muliplatinum selling artists.  Quik has never really discovered anyone who blew up.  As a producer Dre works harder than anyone else and demands more from his artists than anyone else.  He mentors artists and maximizes their talent.  He has the incredible ability to bring the best out of any artist and helps them to perform at incredible levels or career best levels.  And I haven't even brought out the fact that albums Dre has produced on have easily eclipsed the 100 million mark in sales.  Quik hasn't even hit 10 million.  But I don't really want to use record sales as a factor in determining how good a producer is.  Jimmy Iovine calls Dre the most influential record producer in music history.  While I won't put him alone at the top he's definetly on the short list.  
In the end everyone has their own opinion.  There is no right or wrong.  if you think quik is the best great. if he's your favorite great.  Quik is an incredible talent and a better musician but I just don't think its fair to compare him to Dre as a PRODUCER.  Dre, as a PRODUCER, is as good as there has ever been. He is the Michael Jordan of Rap. But like I said i could be completely wrong.  Just enjoy the talents of each man as you won't see the likes of them very often ever again.
 

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Mellow, how can we get in contact with you through email?