my final comments on OH MY GOD/DETOX

[mellowman]

A lot of people are both excited and frustrated with the progress of Oh My God and DEtox.  There are a lot rumours and lies about the projects and people don't know what to believe.  What should you believe? NOTHING.  The fact is no one outside of the Aftermath camp and the other artists and producers who have contributed know the truth.  About six months ago I mentioned that details about Oh My God and Detox as well as the actual master tapes are being guarded like Fort Knox.  I also told you that everyone involved in those projects, including myself, had to sign and make agreements not to leak anything about the projects.  On that same post I mentioned that the target release date for  Oh My God was around Nov 12th.  I made a mistake for getting your hopes up and for that I apologize.  however that was dre and interscopes target date.  that date was not met because of many reasons. One, the album wasn't done. Two, it was decided Ra needed to make a few more appearances to get some more buzz and exposure going, and Three, the competition in November was way too much. plus Jimmy had too many Interscope releases and Dre decided it was too close to the 8 mile soundtrack.
I think the decision to push back Oh My God was the right decision. I'll get back to this shortly.
After I made that post about us signing agreements not to talk about Oh My God and Detox, you may have noticed very little information has been released about those 2 projects.  Fortunately, no one has broken the trust Dre gave us when we made those agreements.  Because no information has been released about Oh My God a lot of media and magazines are making things up or writing articles without any facts.  A major example was when The Source did that horrible article on Ra a few months back.  They printed the article without getting any confirmed info. They did hear a purposely bad copy of the Dre produced Afterlife.  Dre and Ra knew tha article would come out and that it would not reveal anything. that was done on purpose. it was both funny and frustrating that the article was so lacking in info. funny because it made the source look stupid. and frustrating because of people's overreaction to the artcile mentioning only 2 songs had been done. i got called a liar many times. people couldn't believe  we'd been telling people the album was close to completion, when there was only two tracks done. It was true only a few songs were semi completed (which means they had been mixed once or twice). but a huge  number of unmixed tracks had been worked on.  the source was too stupid to know the difference or too lazy to figure that out.  as frustrating as the reation to that article was it accomplished what Dre wanted -  To keep a mystery and myth around the album.  I give you my word I have been honest every step of the way when discussing Oh My God.  Just don't trust anything you hear about Oh My God. Why? because none of those people know anything about the albums because we didn't tell them. So Don't be alarmed at the dead silence about the projects. thats the way dre and ra want it.
CONTINUED

[Dedicato]

thanks for the info, but can we expect the releases next year?

[Don Seer]

Hopefully after the source article Rakim dropping a bomb will be more of a surprise to some people, plus... he wont exactly be able to be accussed of over hype  

[mellowman]

Where is Oh My God at right now?  the answer is that it is not done yet. Other than that I can't share much with you. How much longer will you have to wait? I'll never tell. What will it sound like? Expect the unexpected.  By the time we're done we could have 100 tracks.  Dre's been all over the map, but expect a 180 turnaround from what you may expect.  Dre is going retro and gritty while remaining innovative and creative.  Thats all I'm going to say.  One thing that happened recently was JMJ's death really caused Dre and Rakim to take a step back and look at things. JMJ's death caused both of them to remind themselves that Oh My God is much more important that selling records. hip hop is in a state of emergency. someone has to step up and enlighten and bring authentic old school techniques, passion, positivety and values back.  Dre and ra have a renewed focus on making this the best album possible.  It may be a complete failure, but they are going to try and burn a trail and lead hip hop to the level it needs to, has to be in order for it to survive and impact peoples lives in a positive way.  
Its a good indication that the wait is almost over because you have heard new Rakim tracks recently.  Dre, Jimmy and Steve have tried to set up a plan to make Oh My God as successful with as much impact as possible. Addictive was the first reintro for Rakim.  They wanted to get ra on The Eminem show but it ended up being too late by the time they tried to get em and ra together. so they never got studio time arrainged.  After they decided OMG would be released next year (partially because they wanted to get Ra more exposure) Dre wanted to get Rakim on 2 prominent releases. 8 mile was an obvious option and jay z was a huge release that would get him more exposure. between Addicitive, R.A.K.I.M., and The Watcher 2 Rakim has reached a large and broad audience that gets him exposed to millions of music buyers.  The next step is one more outside collab and then the first single from OMG.  I've heard mostly positive things about the 2 recent Ra tracks. Some people complained about kon artists production on R.a.k.i.m.  That track was selected cause Ra had great lyrics and flow, and because the sound was much different than most of the probable OMG tracks.  The beat was off kilter as was the intent. it was an experiemental track that accomplished its mission of showing off Rakims skills.  
The Watcher 2 has gotten mostly great feedback.  I'm not a big fan of Jay but it was great exposure getting on the album.  jay did decent on W2 but I think he was pressing to hard to outshine Ra.   Jay did NOT write Dre's verse on J2. someone else on the track did though.  Watcher 2 was one of the first, if not the first, track Dre and ra worked on.  The guitar part on W2 was not a take on james bond.  Dre originally had it on ra's verse only on the first version.  it was a reference to Pulp Fiction, ala tarantino bringing back travolta, not james bond.  when dre did the new mix with jay he just added it throughout the song.  W2 was a very dope joint indeed.  
Where do we go from here?  I equate OH MY GOD and DETOX to 2 stealth bombers.  right now there is dead silence, an eerie silence, you are in the dark, wondering whats going on. you are going on about your daily business not having any idea that two stealth bombers are silently creeping up on you.  you are not prepared.  at the moment you least expect it, the steath bombers are right above you. you don't know they are there until its too late. before you can react the bombs have obliverated you.  the aftermath of these bombs have created mass destruction beyond belief. however, from the darkness emerges light created by a newly blazed trail. hopefully people will follow the light to greatness never known before.  
            dre is finally really focused on detox and things are going great.  the stuff he's doing is really getting me excited. we're trying every experiment and sound we can think of.  I can't promise you anything about OH mY GOD AND DETOX. All I can tell you is that dre is either going to fail miserable or succeed with incredible classics beyond anyone's expectations.  dre is taking some huge risks and chances all in the attempt to do something innovative and creative. something that will cement his legacy and a create a new sound that producers will to copy and equal for generations.
hang in there everyone. keep your head up. make a difference. to our die hard fans and supporters thanks for your undying support and your patience. to all the doubters and haters keep doing your thing.  you push and inspire Dre and everyone at Aftermath to prove you wrong.  have a safe and happy holliday.  2003 will be another incredible the year for Aftermath/Shady records. but talk is cheap so the next time you hear from me will be after Oh My God drops next year. peace and love y'all.

[TobyTizzle]

thanks for the words...hope shit works out...

[Nima - Dubcnn.com]

thanks for blessin us with your words once again mellowman

[closetothalimit]

thanks for blessin us with your words once again mellowman

word


oh my god is gonna be dope, cant wait for it drop, i hope this other rakim song with outside artist isnt too far off, sooner it comes, the sooner the single comes, the sooner the album comes, the sooner im happy.

peace.

[Dope Money Clean]

ooooohhhhhwwwweeeeeeeeee!

That post got my dick hard   ..... no homo!    

[=[Euthanasia]=]

Oh bwoy, these releases are causing way too much excitment! These could save what little is left of real hip-hop imo. I've recently been listening to alot of Rakim (mostly his old skool stuff) and it amazes me how many rappers nowadays still use his lines/phrases/flow etc, he's just amazing.

[Murrow]

We appreciate is Mellowman.  I knew that Source article was just to fuck with people's heads, and that shit is under extreme wraps.  

Have a nice Holiday dogg.

[Twentytwofifty]

Watch him be on the Gang Starr album.

[caTASHtrophe]

Mellow Man What does Dre think of Bone Thugs and will he EVER work with them.

[CharlieBrown]

Watch him be on the Gang Starr album.

I hope you're right, but i also hope that thats not the outside project Mellow was talking about as i can't wait another 3 months for another Ra guest appearance and then another month or so until his first single. But that could mean Rakim and Ras dropping in the same month!  

[Twentytwofifty]

I hope you're right, but i also hope that thats not the outside project Mellow was talking about as i can't wait another 3 months for another Ra guest appearance and then another month or so until his first single. But that could mean Rakim and Ras dropping in the same month!  

That's what I would guess.  Cause thier album isn't done yet and it sounds like the track on for the outside project hasn't been done yet.  And he's already done a track with Gang Starr before and worked with Primo.  And I wouldn't be suprised if we have to wait till April for the album.

[Doggystylin]

Mellow Man What does Dre think of Bone Thugs and will he EVER work with them.

ive asked him that about a million times but never got an answer

anyways thanx for the info