New Dre (of Cool & Dre) Interview

[Mr. Humonculous]

Dre: The OTHER Super Producer
Thursday - July 6, 2006

— by Joe "JayRich" Robinson


When you buy a Cool and Dre beat, you get more than a production benefit. Dre may also show you how to make a hit. Ask 50 Cent or Ja Rule, making hits is the Cool and Dre specialty. That may be, but Dre (the artist) doesn't care too much for the marquee. He's worried about families; his target audience doesn't give a damn about a Grammy. Dre wants the poorest girl to be able to walk like Naomi Campbell. Dre and his partner Cool inspires, but don't think it comes free.

For example, the genius that spawned hits like Game's "Hate It or Love It" and Ja Rule's "New York" now charges a hefty $75,000 fee to bless you with his production. So, Dre is someone who keeps his pocket fed. However, he doesn't let the dollars go to his head even though he's rubbed elbows with everyone from Jay-Z to P. Diddy.

No, Dre is a humble guy from Miami who -- along with his other half (Cool) -- could very well have this game in cuffs.

BallerStatus.net: What you been doing lately?

Dre:"In the studio with Jeezy, Rick, Fat Joe, Trick, and trying to balance being a producer and a rapper.

BallerStatus.net: As far as being a producer that raps, do you feel as though you'll be held to a higher standard lyrically?

Dre: Yeah man, I work with the hottest n----s in the game, so everybody expects me to know what's hot. I'm sittin there guiding n----s through they singles, so its only right that I have something just as hot.

BallerStatus.net: Elite producers turned rappers have usually sold a high number of units or failed totally. Do you feel pressure to produce massive sales like a Kanye or Dr. Dre?

Dre: The one thing that I wanna make sure that I do is make a top rate album. The one, you know, you go get and the beats gone be right. That's a given when you buy a producer's album. I gotta prove myself as an artist; I gotta make great records. You could be the greatest rapper in the whole world, but if you don't know how to make a good record that sh-- don't mean nothing. Like what I did wit Rick Ross ("Chevy Ridin High"); it was our fourth record together, but it was the first major one. You gotta know how to make records. My next single with Keyshia Cole is gone f--- everybody head up. N----s gone be like, "Oh sh--." I gotta get respect as a artist. I'm doing features here and there. I'm taking it one record at a time to win people over slowly.

BallerStatus.net: Since you're a producer, when you go to another producer for beats, what different sound are you looking for?

Dre: I took records from Timberland and Scott Storch that you would never think they did. I told Timb gimme something that you're proud of, a sound that you experimented with. I didn't want the people to know what song he did. The same thing for Scott. I told him to give me something different from that hit sound he's giving everybody else. Give me something that's close to you, that you wouldn't think about selling to anybody. DJ Toomp, that did the "What You Know" record, I went at him a little different. I had to have one of those because that sound is so different from anything.

BallerStatus.net: You said that guys can rap for days and still can't make a hit record, what's the approach you take when making a conscious single?

Dre: Record labels really dictate what guys can put out now. N----s that experiment more with singles earned the ability too. Kanye came out with a "Jesus Walks," "Through the Wire," "All Falls Down." He came out taking risks, but he could take risks. That's tough nowadays 'cause record labels are so scared. My homie, Dirtbag, has been signed to Jive for 3 years and he got that deal behind the Cool and Dre sound. But now, that same thing that put him on with Jive is holding him back because they want him to make something that sounds like radio. They putting money behind him and they got scared. You have to learn how to please labels and maintain originality. You have to find a way to make something original and get radio play.

BallerStatus.net: Where did the concept for "Naomi" come from?

Dre: I was hanging out with Puff Daddy (Diddy), and we were talking about his album and how he wanted it to be international and everything he represented. Puff was painting the picture and Puff is crazy, so he telling me and Cool how his last album is go be a movie. I'm hanging out at Puff crib, the $33 million dollar mansion in my city (Miami) and he balling outta control. We was kicking it and he's like, "Yo, I represent sexy, Dre. I represent the hood; I represent all that." I made a record and I planned on giving it to him. I was feeling like I want my chicks to "walk it" like Naomi (supermodel). She has a signature swagger about her when she hits that runway. And I realized without even knowing it, that I was talking to all these girls... 12 years old. Like my guy, his daughter is 9 and I'm giving him money to get her clothes 'cause they ain't got the money to switch up outfits like that. So, the song is like, no matter what you got, you rock yo sh-- and walk like Naomi with pride. The clothes don't make you, you make the clothes. I had the ability to put something out like that. People know now, Dre making an album.

BallerStatus.net: You sing, rap, and produce. Do you feel like you can master the game and storm the Grammy's?

Dre: On my next single with Keyshia Cole I'm like, "Me and Cool got nominated for two Grammys/ I could give a damn worried about a Grammy/ I'm trying to get my n----s off the block scrambling 'granchins'/ they hanging outta Chevy's killing families." I don't give a f--- about that Grammy sh--, dog. I wake in the morning like, "Damn, I can't believe this sh--. We sellin beats for like $75,000." Me and Cool came out of Miami when it wasn't what it is today. We was selling beats to Outkast, Killer Mike and Lil' Troy before we hooked up wit any New York n----s. I don't get caught up in that sh--. The n----s I'm trying to reach don't give a damn about that Grammy sh--.

BallerStatus.net: You said you were selling beats for $75,000, so what did beats go for back in the day?

Dre: Nothing, we gave em out free, starting out. We just told the artist to do something with them and say, "Cool and Dre." From that, we got a buzz and dudes started to approach us asking us what we charge. It went from 1,000 to 5,000 to 10,000 to 30,000. When it jumped to 40,000, we was like, "Oh sh--, we getting this much off beats." Now its 75,000 and the label gotta cut half of that before we in the studio. But, I don't stunt on n---s that made us hot like that, though. I'll never stunt on 50, Game or Ja Rule like that. "Hate It or Love It" is one the biggest songs for us ever. One of the biggest in hip-hop history. That one song was on three albums, 20 million records sold combined. I'll never charge Ja or Fat Joe 75 stacks ($75,000); you don't do that to n----s you grind wit.

BallerStatus.net: While in the studio with a guy you just did a beat for, do you help with the songwriting as well?

Dre: Yeah, the hooks. I just worked with a guy from Dallas. I asked him, "What do ya'll do down there?" He told me and I made a hook from there. It's the producer's job to make the artist feel comfortable. You spend that 75,000 stacks ($75,000), you go get yo money's worth. We go make sure you get a sound that's gone get radio play. You do you and we'll take care of the music.

BallerStatus.net: You once said that you and Jay-Z were gonna make some music, did that happen yet?

Dre: Yeah man! He's a real cool dude. We worked with some of his artists, Memphis Bleek and Aztec. But as far as him making tracks, he gotta tell you that.

BallerStatus.net: Music in general takes a lot of time, and you do two sides. How do you balance that with family?

Dre: It's hard; I barely get to see my ol' girl and my moms. You working hard when you young. I ain't touch 30 yet. When you hit that mark, you think about life a little more and I ain't there yet. I figure I can keep grinding 'till I'm 35 or older and slow down, settle into the office.

http://www.ballerstatus.net/features/read/id/85921885/

[Meho]

Props, I like thier productions.

[youngmessnucca]

Is this the guy who runied the Christian Millain album?

[Jip]

"say i" sucked harder than sikotic sucking oklins dick

as soon as i heard those drums i knew these guys lacked it

one hit wonders :{

[Canuck]

the beat for "Say I" was good, but the chorus just killed the song

[Semir]

Why did they steal the drums from Hate It Or Love it anyway :s

[Canuck]

they produced hate it or love it too, but that still doesnt make sense as to why they would do that

[PLANT]

Dre, from Cool & Dre is dating Chrstina Milian....what a lucky bastard.....Its no wonder her whole album was produced by them, dude gave up some free beats for the pussy