the truth about dre's non aftermath collabs

[mellowman]

whats up y'all. i'm gonna hit ya up with a gang of threads this week. there's a reason for that, which some of you may already see coming. i'll address that later in the week cause i want the attention on the content of the threads, not me. anyways i've been hearing a lot of complaints about dre not releasing any aftermath products and having all this time to do collaberations. there is a misconception and an assumption that because dre has not released any aftermath albums that he is spending a lot of his time on non aftermath collabertions. this thread is to squash that assumption with the truth. the fact is that when dre is doing an aftermath release he usually records 50 to 100 tracks. therefore it takes from 6 to 12 months to get an album ready. thats the way dre has always operated and thats the way it will always be. and right now dre is working on a lot of aftermath releases. the fact is that dre spends very little time on non aftermath collaberations, and a lot of time on aftermath tracks. the wash was a bit different because lions gate pushed the release date up so much (dre had no control over this). i want to focus on the thread topic so for now i wont talk about the wash any more for now.
the fact is that dre's outside collaberations never take more than a couple of days. the most important point is that all of the artists come to the studio which dre happens to be working, not vice versa. most artists have to get a time scheduled. and they hardly ever get more than 2 or 3 days. examples include mack 10, devin, mary j, bilal.warren, nate, busta, etc.
how does the process work? most of the time like this: the artist comes into the studio and dre pulls up various instrumentals that he, mel, mike, and scott have been working on. once they find a few instrumentals with the right fit they record the vocals, add new sounds and instruments. then dre will layer and mix everything. the vocals have to be perfected. dre can do the rest, but the artist has to be on hand while dre is perfecting the vocals so they can redo something over and over again til dre is happy. so thats how it happens. sometimes dre and the musicans will work with the artists and create beats and songs from scratch (ex. d12). sometimes dre will just give artists a tape of beats or a single beat and let them work on it without dre, til they get a chance to get together at a studio. once in a while dre and the artist never get a chance to get together in the studio. an example of this is the no doubt track. dre gave gwen a instrumental but the track never got finished cause gwen never got what she wanted and they never got in the studio together to finish. just a little tidbit about dre's collab with gwen on blow your mind. gwen was never in the studio with dre. gwen sent dre through interscope her vocals and dre mixed them in. thats why her vocals aren't very prominent on the track.
anyways, i got off topic. the fact is that since most of dre's non aftermath collabs only have a short time to do the tracks only 2 or 3 usuable tracks get done. an abberation of this was the busta rhymes recording sessions.
this summer busta got a 2 day time allotment to get tracks done for his genesis album.  it was easily the most productive 2 or 3 day recording session ive ever been a part of. dre, melvin, mike, scott and busta just got going and got into an incredible zone. along with those 5 their were some engineers and a couple side musicians who came in and out. but the big 5 hunkered down in a (recording studio) cave like that faggot bin laden and didn't come out until time was up. and since everyone alternated breaks for chronic, naps and snacks, the session basically went non stop. but when each track that gets used is worth 6 figures its easy to stay awake and keep working. in the end of the session there were 8 really dope tracks to choose from. 6 out of the 8 will be released in the next two months. all of them are ridiculuous, but my favorites are full moon, bounce and break ya neck.
the only non aftermath artists dre has spent a lot of time with recently are xzibit and knocturnal. x last year and knoc this year. dre is doing for knoc what he did for xzibit. he sees star potential in knoc and wants to make sure he blows up. thats what dre loves to do the most. find no name unpolished diamonds and help them become solid gold stars. dre has done this with 10 to 15 artists from nwa, snoop, em and many others. he will continue to do this unlike most big producers in the industry (aka rodney jerkins). of course dre would love to have x and knoc on aftermath but it cant happen due to contracts, loyalty and other music business factors. but that wont stop dre from putting in the time, with not a whole lot of financial gain, to make sure that their talents are maximized and that they blow up. my next few threads will focus on the main artists on the aftermath roster - truth hurts, hittman, rakim and eminem. before i leave here is a trivia question for ya. what released dre produced track can you hear dre play the trumpet? (there is a few more that have not been released yet). later.

[Nosak]

whoa mello mello come back hard ,, but thats good real good  

[Ant]

good shit thanks man

[Liger187]

Great post, thanks Mellow
As far as the trivia goes I think it's eighter On The Boulevard or Whats the Difference.

[Trauma-san]

Play The Trumpet? Oh Shit, LOL.  Um.  I Have No Idea, Off The Tip I Can't Think Of A Dre Track With A Definite Trumpet, But I'll Go With "Doggy Dogg World" But I'll Bet You're Talking About Something Newer.  I'll Bet That Was Dre When They Bleep Snoop Out On The "Speakin' Of Joints, Lets Get To The Point, YOu Think You Got The Bomb Cuz I "BWAH BWAH BWAH BWAH BWAH".  LOL Might NOt Even Be A Trumpet, There's Some Trombone In There.

[Mighty Whitey]

nice post, lookin' forward to the next set of threads.. I've been reading on some other hiphop boards rumoured that Dre signed Joe Beast, know anythin' about that? my bad if it's already been discussed..

[Young Dan Iza]

yo mellowman
why didnt u tell dre 2 use some of the unreleased joints like some of the 90 tracks from the 2001 period for the wash soundtrack,,,,cuz i got it and that shit is weak!!!!!!!!!

[Alex_Wreck]

is mellow-man really affiliated with Dre?? Wat the hell  

[Big FC]

no comment, but the wash is pretty damn dope for a sdtk.. and say what u want but i thinks its the best sdtk since MWTC..

[Nosak]

no comment, but the wash is pretty damn dope for a sdtk.. and say what u want but i thinks its the best sdtk since MWTC..

pleezbaleevit!!!!!!!!!!

[Don Jacob]

TIIIIIGht, i always kind've wondered about how that shit worked out i kinda figured that's kinda how dre worked on his non aftermath work but thanks for the clearification

[mellowman]

a quick reponse to another "assumption" that when i said dre used existing instrumentals that i meant he used 2001 leftovers. why do you assume such things? and if you think the tracks are weak i don't have anything to say too ya. i think a majority will disagree with ya. oh well just another example of impossible expectations. when i said he used exising instrumentals I DID NOT MEAN 2001 LEFTOVERS!!! do you really think that dre just sits around and used old tracks from 2 or 3 years ago? all the 2001 leftovers were used right away - chin check, hello as examples. due to time constraints a lot of the outside collabs make it tough to wait til the artist gets there and then bring in musicians and start from scratch. that happens when aftermath artists are there cause they have time to do it that way. believe it or not dre does work hard even when artists are not laying down vocals. the exisitng instrumentals that i was refering too can be as old as one day. dre, mel-man, and the core musicians mike (bass, keys, upright bass, guitar) and scott (keys) put in a lot of time when artists aren't around. some days they will just be by themselves all day making instrumentals. there are days they will get a couple tracks/instrumentals they like, and there are days they might find a groove and bang out dozens. they can last from 11 am to the following 11 am. dre has instrumentals in the thousands, hundreds from the last quarter. most get discarded, and the rest turn into tracks .which in turn. those will get vocals added. some will get shelved as a leftover. the others end up on the albums you hear. so a lot of times dre will have tracks they did from the last few days when no artists are there. and when they do come he will find ones that match the artists and they put the vocals and work together to perfect the track. on the other hand a lot of tracks come from dre, mel and the musicians hanging out with artists doing all night jam sessions working as a team throwing out ideas which turn into tracks which end up in the hands of dre to come to life. mix, engineer and perfect. this last mathod was how the chronic was done. all the original inmates, broke as fuck, hungier than hel, working and partying all day and all night cause they had no where else to go. so i hope this sets your "assumption" straight. like i said before "unless you there, dont guess".goodnight y'all.

[LatinThugLife213]

amen my unknown yet famous freind i kno who u r i wont say nada

[Sir Hambone]

Man...reading this from our partna mel

its like a full course meal....im all full..with good info....

keep funkin...

[Young Dan Iza]

looks like mellow is callin me out? but i got nuthin but love 4 him i am just disappointed with the soundtrack.  this is not the dre that im used 2! how r we gonna know if they were leftovers if we neva heard em dogg?
but im not gonna sweat this thanks 4 blessin us wit your info homie