DR. DRE - COMPTON: A SOUNDTRACK BY DR. DRE (Official Discussion)

[Shallow]

As long as you agree him and Puff are the same we're good. If you want to lump Dre in there too. I'm good with that too.

But James Cameron is on another level.

Since you're a basketball guy I'll use a reference you can get. Cameron is like Kobe. Bay is like Big Shot Bob. Talented yes. A lot of rings yes. Buy don't try and build a great team around him.

I'll never say Bay is terrible ot shouldn't make films but to use the word genius for him is taking too much liberty with that word.

[Sccit]

As long as you agree him and Puff are the same we're good. If you want to lump Dre in there too. I'm good with that too.

But James Cameron is on another level.

Since you're a basketball guy I'll use a reference you can get. Cameron is like Kobe. Bay is like Big Shot Bob. Talented yes. A lot of rings yes. Buy don't try and build a great team around him.

I'll never say Bay is terrible ot shouldn't make films but to use the word genius for him is taking too much liberty with that word.

look, u either love arguing or u just missed what i was gettin at wit my initial point....IF Michael Bay was considered the best in high-budget production value (and i understand that by your estimation, he's not, so lets get past that), then u dont get mad because the dialogue is not up-to-par in one of his films. Why? because u know what he specializes in goin in, and thats awesome explosions made to look as aesthetically pleasing as possible....same goes for dre with music. The main focus is the production value, and sonically, this album blows anything that came out in recent memory out the water.

btw, if anything, Bay isn't Robert Horry...Horry is a supporting player. Bay is the main guy...he might be like LeBron compared to Kobe, but he's still considered the best guy for the high budget shit nowadays. Does he make mindless movies? yes...but u'd be lying if u said the production of his ACTIONS SCENES is not some of the best.

[Shallow]

As long as you agree him and Puff are the same we're good. If you want to lump Dre in there too. I'm good with that too.

But James Cameron is on another level.

Since you're a basketball guy I'll use a reference you can get. Cameron is like Kobe. Bay is like Big Shot Bob. Talented yes. A lot of rings yes. Buy don't try and build a great team around him.

I'll never say Bay is terrible ot shouldn't make films but to use the word genius for him is taking too much liberty with that word.

look, u either love arguing or u just missed what i was gettin at wit my initial point....IF Michael Bay was considered the best in high-budget production value (and i understand that by your estimation, he's not, so lets get past that), then u dont get mad because the dialogue is not up-to-par in one of his films. Why? because u know what he specializes in goin in, and thats awesome explosions made to look as aesthetically pleasing as possible....same goes for dre with music. The main focus is the production value, and sonically, this album blows anything that came out in recent memory out the water.

btw, if anything, Bay isn't Robert Horry...Horry is a supporting player. Bay is the main guy...he might be like LeBron compared to Kobe, but he's still considered the best guy for the high budget shit nowadays. Does he make mindless movies? yes...but u'd be lying if u said the production of his ACTIONS SCENES is not some of the best.

You're right. Horry was a bad comparison, but so is LeBron. Bay would be more like Vince Carter. A talented guy with a lot of wow factor but not enough talent to get you to the finals. Bay's action scenes are like Vince's dunks. They look nice the first time you see them but the more you see them the more boring they get and you leave realizing they were never enough to win you the game.

And I got your initial point and I agree but it doesn't apply to Dre. Dre is known for a certain kind of lyrical content yes but the rapping on his albums is usually top notch once you accept the content is only going to be about what Dre wants. That's like a director getting the most out of his actors as well as creating incredible visuals and that's why I brought in Cameron and dismissed Bay.

Cameron creates a universe, makes sure the roles are played perfectly given the genre, and puts out some the best produced larger than life scenes you can think of, but Cameron is not the director that masterfully speaks to the soul of the viewer and thus isn't often in Oscar contention, nor are his actors. This also applies to Dre's first two albums. The beats were great, but the rapping on them was fire. However none of the music or lyrics spoke to the souls of man kind. Dre can't touch Miles davis or Jimi Hendrix sonically just like Cameron can't touch Kubrick or Scorsese visually.

Getting a lot of money to make something sound or look mesmerizing is not the epitome of art; making you feel deep and intense emotions by hearing or seeing something is. As cool as Avatar looked with all its dazzle it pales next to the final scene of Taxi Driver.

Anyway, back to what Dre and Cameron do best is that they both make a secondary piece of art come as close to a primary piece of art as possible. Cameron can make you consider crying for the death of a Robot. Dre can't quite do that but he's better than Bay.

Bay mere gets to spend a lot of mone to make things look dazzling. Throw Bay into the 60s and he wouldn't have a job, where as Kubrick could still make magic happen, and T1 despite its lack of production budget still had some fantastic visuals for the time. And once Bay gets his money its just overblown dunk after overblown dunk. To the point where its 360 windmill dunks from half court that don't even come near the net. They look great but the ball isn't in the net. Dre has more sophistication than that. He makes sure you rap a certain way on his album or you don't get on it. Bay could give a shit about the acting or visually storytelling.

[Sccit]

As long as you agree him and Puff are the same we're good. If you want to lump Dre in there too. I'm good with that too.

But James Cameron is on another level.

Since you're a basketball guy I'll use a reference you can get. Cameron is like Kobe. Bay is like Big Shot Bob. Talented yes. A lot of rings yes. Buy don't try and build a great team around him.

I'll never say Bay is terrible ot shouldn't make films but to use the word genius for him is taking too much liberty with that word.

look, u either love arguing or u just missed what i was gettin at wit my initial point....IF Michael Bay was considered the best in high-budget production value (and i understand that by your estimation, he's not, so lets get past that), then u dont get mad because the dialogue is not up-to-par in one of his films. Why? because u know what he specializes in goin in, and thats awesome explosions made to look as aesthetically pleasing as possible....same goes for dre with music. The main focus is the production value, and sonically, this album blows anything that came out in recent memory out the water.

btw, if anything, Bay isn't Robert Horry...Horry is a supporting player. Bay is the main guy...he might be like LeBron compared to Kobe, but he's still considered the best guy for the high budget shit nowadays. Does he make mindless movies? yes...but u'd be lying if u said the production of his ACTIONS SCENES is not some of the best.

You're right. Horry was a bad comparison, but so is LeBron. Bay would be more like Vince Carter. A talented guy with a lot of wow factor but not enough talent to get you to the finals. Bay's action scenes are like Vince's dunks. They look nice the first time you see them but the more you see them the more boring they get and you leave realizing they were never enough to win you the game.

And I got your initial point and I agree but it doesn't apply to Dre. Dre is known for a certain kind of lyrical content yes but the rapping on his albums is usually top notch once you accept the content is only going to be about what Dre wants. That's like a director getting the most out of his actors as well as creating incredible visuals and that's why I brought in Cameron and dismissed Bay.

Cameron creates a universe, makes sure the roles are played perfectly given the genre, and puts out some the best produced larger than life scenes you can think of, but Cameron is not the director that masterfully speaks to the soul of the viewer and thus isn't often in Oscar contention, nor are his actors. This also applies to Dre's first two albums. The beats were great, but the rapping on them was fire. However none of the music or lyrics spoke to the souls of man kind. Dre can't touch Miles davis or Jimi Hendrix sonically just like Cameron can't touch Kubrick or Scorsese visually.

Getting a lot of money to make something sound or look mesmerizing is not the epitome of art; making you feel deep and intense emotions by hearing or seeing something is. As cool as Avatar looked with all its dazzle it pales next to the final scene of Taxi Driver.

Anyway, back to what Dre and Cameron do best is that they both make a secondary piece of art come as close to a primary piece of art as possible. Cameron can make you consider crying for the death of a Robot. Dre can't quite do that but he's better than Bay.

Bay mere gets to spend a lot of mone to make things look dazzling. Throw Bay into the 60s and he wouldn't have a job, where as Kubrick could still make magic happen, and T1 despite its lack of production budget still had some fantastic visuals for the time. And once Bay gets his money its just overblown dunk after overblown dunk. To the point where its 360 windmill dunks from half court that don't even come near the net. They look great but the ball isn't in the net. Dre has more sophistication than that. He makes sure you rap a certain way on his album or you don't get on it. Bay could give a shit about the acting or visually storytelling.

there u go...u hit the nail on the head with the vince carter comparison. michael bay is vince...vince is regarded as the best dunker of all time. so if u go on youtube to look up vince carter, it would be to see great dunks, bottom line. when u get a dre album, it's to hear great production.

dre's rapping is not top notch lol....the production of his raps are great, the delivery of his rhymes are always on point, theyre executed to perfection. meaning theyre engineered sonically to sound as crisp as possible. but as far as talent, who are u kidding? dre has some of the most simple rap schemes and rhym structures of all time. the rapping is not great, the production of the rapping is tho. thats why i say engineering and mastering is just as important as the actual rapping, if not more....me being involved in music making, i can tell u first hand that if dre was producing my music, it would all be classic off top, guaranteed. the sound and execution makes all the difference, and thats what dre gives u....top-of-the-line sound and execution


i also do think dre is up there with hendrix and miles davis as far as producing music goes....in fact, with the access to modern production equipment, dre is probably even on another level sonically than anyone from back n those days.

[Shallow]

Not Dre's rap. The rapping on Dre's albums. Snoop, Kurupt, Eminem. He makes those guys come at their best.

If Dre is as good sonically as Davis then Vince is as good a basket ball player as Kobe. You don't even listen to Davis or Jimi. Don't speak on things like that. Miles could bring grown men to tears with a note. It's a joke to compare the two. The difference in power is night and day. Miles didn't need technology, just one instrument and people's ears to hear it.

[Shallow]

And fuck rhyme schemes. Package had some of the simplest rhyme patterns and lyrics ever but at his best he spoke to the listener's soul. Dear Mama annihilates Rap God as a piece of art.

The difference with Pac's rapping and Dre's isn't rhyme complexity it's content. Pac was reality. Dre was fantasy.

[Shiram619]

Agree, It's going to be interesting to see how this album is ranked/viewed 5-10 years from now. The album is growing on me with more and more spins... The production was pretty good, sonically advanced, different from typical Dre Production we are use to hearing. Wonder how Dre's beats will sound on the Documentary 2

Ehh....people are being way to harsh on this album while being way too kind on Dre's first two solo albums.

I'm 40 years old. While I confess to not being a die hard hip-hop fan - infact my main musical love is electronic music - I've been around for a long ass time. I was 13 when Straight Outta Compton came out, 17 when The Chronic dropped, 24 when 2001 came out.

People are acting like The Chronic just came out of the blue and changed everything up. It did to a certain extent, but it really wasn't a totally new sound. It was more of an evolvement of the Efil4zaggin sound. Tracks like The Day The Niggaz Took Over, Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat, A Nigga With A Gun, etc could just as easily have been on Evil4zaggin. And have people forgot about "Always Into Something" from Efil4zaggin?? That is the Chronic sound right there!

People are acting like everybody loved Still D.R.E. and 2001 as soon as they hit. They didn't. Infact, lots of people were very disappointed in Still D.R.E. Remember that this was the hugely anticipated comeback of the biggest producer in rap and Still D.R.E. initially did almost nothing. Just compare the mainstream chart positions:

Billboard Hot 100:

Nuthin' But A G Thang: #2
Dre Day: #8
Let Me Ride: #34
Keep Their Heads Ringin: #10
Still D.R.E.: #93

#93??? The BIG Dr.Dre comeback single barely scratched the billboard top 100. I couldn't believe it myself at the time, since I loved the track. But what about the album? The most anticipated album in hip-hop, the follow-up to the legendary The Chronic? It didn't make #1, but stalled at #2.

Now time changed all of that. "Forgot About Dre" and "The Next Episode" were hits and "Still D.R.E." was a slow-burner that evolved into a classic. "2001" hung around the charts forever and ended up selling 7˝ million copies in the US alone.

Also, while 2001 made Dr.Dre hot again, the sound itself was an evolvement of the mid-nineties Dre sound that was found on tracks like California Love (piano-led beat), Keep Their Heads Ringin, Been There Done That, etc. Yes, it was even more sparse, but don't act like 2001 was a totally new sound, because it wasn't.

The Chronic and 2001 have stood the test of time and are universally regarded as classics, whether the same will be said about "Compton" in 10 years time is anybodys guess, but it is a very capable effort.

[Jimmy H.]

I'm huge into film and Michael Bay is generally regarded as a joke.  He's successful on a mainstream level but he's not Cameron or Steven Spielberg.  I've kind of softened on Cameron over the last 20 years but while he might be a limited storyteller, he's at the very least highly regarded for his elaborate production innovations.  Bay is just a blockbuster guy.  He's nowhere near a master action filmmaker.  He is of the Roland Emmerich breed.  He's not John Woo, Luc Besson, John McTiernan, Walter Hill, Sam Peckinpah, or even Tony Scott. When it comes to directors who came from glossy music video backgrounds, he's the king of making release dates in time to make Burger King happy but he's not David Fincher.

[Sccit]

Not Dre's rap. The rapping on Dre's albums. Snoop, Kurupt, Eminem. He makes those guys come at their best.

If Dre is as good sonically as Davis then Vince is as good a basket ball player as Kobe. You don't even listen to Davis or Jimi. Don't speak on things like that. Miles could bring grown men to tears with a note. It's a joke to compare the two. The difference in power is night and day. Miles didn't need technology, just one instrument and people's ears to hear it.

yes i do...before u tell me what to speak on, u should be sure u aint just makin false assumptions and basin your misdirection on that......and the notes have nothing to do sonically speaking, so u missin the whole point again. you need technology to fine-tune things sonically. thats my point. miles may be a better musician, but dre is a better PRODUCER.

[Sccit]

And fuck rhyme schemes. Package had some of the simplest rhyme patterns and lyrics ever but at his best he spoke to the listener's soul. Dear Mama annihilates Rap God as a piece of art.

The difference with Pac's rapping and Dre's isn't rhyme complexity it's content. Pac was reality. Dre was fantasy.

Naah, the difference was soul and passion. pac came from the heart, while dre is all about being sonically fine-tuned.

[Sccit]

I'm huge into film and Michael Bay is generally regarded as a joke.  He's successful on a mainstream level but he's not Cameron or Steven Spielberg. 

not james cameron and not even close to speilberg

[westside159]

THIS ALBUM IS BETTER THAN THE CHRONIC AND 2001 . I Heard the snippets and it sounds dope as fuck . 

[donfathaimmortal]

... BETTER THAN THE CHRONIC ...

Definitely... #irony #quoteoftheday

[David Gutterman]

Promo stuff in LA!

[Shallow]

Not Dre's rap. The rapping on Dre's albums. Snoop, Kurupt, Eminem. He makes those guys come at their best.

If Dre is as good sonically as Davis then Vince is as good a basket ball player as Kobe. You don't even listen to Davis or Jimi. Don't speak on things like that. Miles could bring grown men to tears with a note. It's a joke to compare the two. The difference in power is night and day. Miles didn't need technology, just one instrument and people's ears to hear it.

yes i do...before u tell me what to speak on, u should be sure u aint just makin false assumptions and basin your misdirection on that......and the notes have nothing to do sonically speaking, so u missin the whole point again. you need technology to fine-tune things sonically. thats my point. miles may be a better musician, but dre is a better PRODUCER.

I find it hard to believe you really listen David if you have opinions like this. You don't need technology for shit unless that technology is a trumpet. I'm not talking s written note on a page. I'm taking hitting a note sonically produced from a trumpet.

Producing music is more than knowing how to use a soundboard. And it's as much about  what not to add as it is what to add. Dre wouldn't know what to do with a Miles Davis recording session.

But I'm willing to be shown I'm wrong. Name me your 5 favourite non hip hop producers and why you like them. If 5 is too much then 3. I think you're palette is limited and bigoted. But I'll gladly concede if you prove me wrong.