It's August 31, 2025, 03:06:48 PM
lol half the people in here calling this a masterpiece probably never heard an album of this type before - I can’t say I’ve heard it all yet but from what I’ve heard the engineering and mixing is clean but the switch ups are irritating as fuck on the few I heard - the smoke song switched into a banging beat and I was like damn see and his garbage team can drop a some shit like that - and then just as it was getting into the swing of the beat it goes and turns into some weak shit lol the way euphoria switches beats is how it should be done - whoever doing this shit in the dope parts of Dre beats need to stop and let that shit marinade -I heard another beat too - I wanna say the Tunisian song where the keys start sounding banging and they done before we know it too lol Anyway I do agree that this current Dre sound will funnily enough suit an album like this more than a hip hop album unless Dre lets the banging shit actually play out a little more and not switch into a mess AND I genuinely cannot stand the Dre production team right now but from what I’ve heard there is still hope music wise that we might see some bangers from coming up in the future since from what I’ve heard here in the beats there are snippets of bangers too with some nice bass and keys. Still would love to see Dre with a genuine world class team again but we’ll see. I’m gonna check the rest of this shit out.
I'm a music head. I listen to a lot of genre. This album is ahead of its time. It's well executed
Album Review: Casablanco by Marsha AmbrosiusAt long last, Marsha Ambrosius teamed up with Dr. Dre to deliver their long-awaited album, ‘Casablanco,' and one of the best to come out in 2024.Aftermath Records / Interscope Records.Marsha Ambrosius has made a name for herself in R&B with her soothing vocals and soulful compositions. Her breakthrough came in 2001 when she co-wrote “Butterflies” for Michael Jackson, solidifying her status in the industry. Soon after, she debuted as one half of Floetry, a Philadelphia-based British duo. Their release, Floetic, received gold certification and Grammy recognition. After Floetry, Ambrosius pursued solo efforts while maintaining collaborative projects. Her 2011 solo debut, Late Nights & Early Mornings, featured the song “Far Away,” which earned two Grammy nods. She has deftly balanced writing for and performing with artists throughout her career. She has expanded her discography with emotionally rich albums like 2014’s slept-on release Friends & Lovers and 2018’s Nyla.After a period of relative quiet following her last album, in late 2021, Ambrosius teased her fourth solo project, Casablanco, produced entirely by Dr. Dre (and his co-producers like Dem Jointz, DJ Khalil, Erik “Blu2th” Giggs, and others), along with a team of orchestral players with a heavy jazz influence and hip-hop callbacks. Both musicians shared updates on the album’s progress, including Dre’s social media post showing a string ensemble in the studio. Ambrosius resurfaced in late 2023 under Dre’s Aftermath label with the single “The Greatest.” This was followed by “One Night Stand,” a mellow track co-produced with Dre and released in March, but weeks before the album dropped, she dropped the lush “Greedy” in preparation for the record.“Smoke” is a triumphant opener that depicts how nothing else matters but their connection, like the weather can't stop them. She uses the idea of "smoke" to show how strong their passion is; it's like a fire that keeps burning (“Better bring an umbrella just in case it rains/No pressure, just a taste of this and everything”). The following track, “Tunisian Nights,” borrows Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind” as she unveils a passionate love story set. “Just lay your head on my pillow/Let me get you ready for bed,” Marsha sings. There’s a sense of surrendering to the intensity of the moment, with the promise of an unforgettable experience.Ambrosius conveys the feeling of emptiness and longing after a relationship ends, reflecting on the memories and what could have been on the head-nodding “Cloudy With a Chance of… Real.” Over The Heath Brothers backdrop that makes you think of Nas’ “One Love,” she questions what went wrong and what it would take for her former lover to return. Through her heartfelt delivery, Ambrosius captures the universal experience of heartbreak and the complexities of letting go. We cannot stress how incredible the production sounds from beginning to end. On “Wet,” Ambrosius paints a vivid picture of a love so powerful it feels like a force of nature, but listening to what she’s singing about over the cinematic Dre beat, it’s self-explanatory.The thing about Marsha Ambrosius is she gets in her storytelling bag on “Thrill Her,” where a woman walks in on her lover being unfaithful. She narrates the events as they unfold, starting with her arrival at the apartment and noticing signs of another person. Her initial shock gives way to anger and a desire for revenge. The song doesn't shy away from portraying her raw emotions, showcasing vulnerability and strength. “I came into the apartment Spilled some champagne on the carpet Put the blunt down on the table I can see he wasn't able, so i’ma go ahead and spark this.”“Best I Could Find” follows the same suit as “Thrill Her,” where Marsha Ambrosius tells a tale of love lost and the bittersweet acceptance of moving on as she reworks Stevie Wonder’s “Visions.” She examines the pain of witnessing a relationship crumble despite initial hopes and dreams. Ambrosius sings of a love that has grown distant, leaving a void in its wake. The singer grapples with the realization that despite her best efforts, some things are not meant to last. Ultimately, it suggests finding solace in knowing you gave it your all, even when it wasn't enough.In the two-part “Self Care / Wrong Right,” Ambrosius sings about the conflicting emotions of heartbreak: the desire to move on, coupled with the lingering feelings for her ex. She acknowledges her role in the relationship's demise, singing about her own mistakes and the need for self-reflection. The song doesn’t shy away from the raw honesty of healing as she grapples with the “wrong” and “right” choices that led to this point. “Looking in the mirror at this tear I cried, thought that I knew you, but you keep on telling me lies,” Marsha sings. Her voice is as strong as ever as she delivers a relatable narrative of heartbreak and self-growth.Marsha closed the album strong with “Music of My Mind,” where she showcases her lyrical wordplay by referencing and interpolating “Butterflies,” “Players,” “Far Away,” “Say Yes,” “Forget Me Not,” “Brazilian Rhyme,” and others. She still has one of the illest pens in the game. With two near-perfect releases of Late Nights & Early Mornings and Friends & Lovers, Casablanco follows the same vein. Listeners who found Ambrosius’ previous work with Floetry challenging due to her occasional shaky vocal delivery will be pleased to discover a more refined performance in her latest release.Her unique vocal quality, while still present, is applied more judiciously and in a manner that enhances the songs rather than overshadowing them. With her fourth album, one might have expected a narrow focus on themes of romance and home life, given her exploration of new love and settled existence. However, Ambrosius continues to blend traditional and contemporary musical elements while also delivering a wide spectrum of emotions and experiences, matching the breadth of her earlier albums.Standout (★★★★½)Favorite Track(s): “Tunisian Nights,” “Cloudy With a Chance of… Real,” “Wet,” “Best I Could Find”
Holy shit Dre actually released something??? I didn’t even realize it when I made my post above, my mind is trained to ignore release dates with Dre’s name attached to it.This shit sucks so far hope it gets better, Dre shouldn’t have sold his soul to the devil in 2020 and signaling devil horns at the Super Bowl and shit like that it’s affecting his work
My CD is out for delivery today so I am stoked.It is hilarious to me that people talk sh!t about Dre like he owes them something. I remind people all the time. Dre has been release in 5 different decades (80s, 90s, 00s, 10s & now the 20s). Yes, there is a LONG list of projects and artists that never dropped but... Dre is still making music and STILL working. I'm a big Outkast fan.. Outkast haven't dropped (as a group) anything new in YEARS!!!! I'm a big King-Tee fan.. he hasn't given us a lot in years (I am glad his Thy Kingdom Come got an official release and I did buy the CD). Why aren't people just glad that Dre is still in love with music and still doing it. I'm big into skateboarding... people say Tony Hawk sold out.. who doesn't want to make it big.. who doesn't want to GET PAID and make lots of money... Dre's Halftime performance, with this crew was met with critical acclaim and was the first Super Bowl halftime show to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live)! Dre could drop that Snoop album and half of people would be like its wack.. needs to be like the old Snoop.. Do you really think Dre or Snoop make that much money off new albums these days? Money is in performances, energy drinks, big deals being done... headphones (Beats), etc. The guy has made so much money he can do whatever he wants. I love the Compton album he dropped but so many hate on it.. its not a good as the old music... SO WHAT!?!? If I was Dre I'd prob stop releasing stuff unless it was a passion project like Marsha's album... he has EARNED the right to do whatever he wants to do. He's the Quincy Jones of our era (to a certain extent). I'm just glad he isn't a total recluse and still does stuff. I enjoyed him in the HBO Series Defiant Ones, I enjoyed the SB Halftime show, I've enjoyed the projects he has helped launch under Aftermath, I did the Snoop/Dre commercial for their Gin N Juice launch, I am a big Em fan so I liked seeing him on Jimmy Kimmel dropping the intel the album was coming.. I mean what more can he do? I'm sure people will come up with a list.. but the awesome thing is it is HIS TIME and he does what he wants and he has earned it IMHO. Anyways, ✌🏽
I agree with you everything you said from the music side of things the guy could have pretty much retired after NWA and been a legend. Then he topped it again with Death Row which was the pinnacle of rap. Then we were lucky enough to have him spearhead Em’s career and the West Coast resurgence era that started with “Bitch Please” and lasted all the way up thru “P.I.M.P” remix with Snoop and the G Unit Era like Nas said was the last real era in hiphop before it died. Then, like you, I thought COMPTON was a classic and up to his standard and everything we could have hoped for in 2015.That’s on the music side though because personally I do find it suspicious he was throwing up devil horns in the Convid era so it possible he sold his soul cause everything has been weak since the convid agenda started and this Marsha album sucks.But yes, musically the guy had done more than enough decades ago, doesn’t owe us anything (though it would be nice if he went out with dignity or was a G like Suge and not with the devil)
everytime i see your comments you are dissing someone. we only have one life dude just saying.
Inside Marsha Ambrosius’ World of ‘Casablanco’: InterviewThe Grammy-nominated singer discusses her Dr. Dre-produced album.“I told him I didn’t really want to do the artist thing anymore,” Marsha Ambrosius recalls to Rated R&B.It’s a June afternoon, and the Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter is reflecting on a talk she had with producer Dr. Dre a few years back about her career plans. “‘I’ve kind of been there, done that,’” she continues about the conversation. “‘I’m a mother [and] wife now.’”The Liverpool native, who debuted in 2002 as one-half of Floetry before pursuing her solo journey in the 2010s, wasn’t entirely through with music. “I was so much on my pen game that I was comfortable offering my services to solely producing and writing,” says Ambrosius, who has written for Michael Jackson, Alicia Keys, and Ledisi.But Dr. Dre, who has known her for 20 years, had a different sentiment. “He said, ‘Absolutely not. There’s one more [album] in you if this is the one more,” she chuckles. Around that time, both Dr. Dre and Ambrosius had recently suffered health emergencies. (Dr. Dre was hospitalized for a brain aneurysm in January 2021.) “We kind of met at this perfect storm,” Ambrosius shares.The longtime collaborators decided to make more music as a form of escapism. They didn’t set any parameters, they simply wanted to give themselves the liberty to create music that moved them.The first song they recorded was “Tunisian Nights,” which Ambrosius says happened “because [Dr. Dre] said, ‘Well, let’s just do something to keep each other inspired.” She continues, “It was such a freedom I’d never had in the studio. With Dr. Dre, [there are] a limitless amount of musical possibilities. He really just said, ‘What do we feel?’ Not, ‘What do we think,’ but’ What do we feel?'”“Tunisian Nights” is track two on Marsha Ambrosius’ new album, Casablanco, released June 28 via Aftermath Records/Interscope Records. Dr. Dre produced and mixed the 11-track project, with production support by Dem Jointz, Erik “Blu2th” Grigg, Focus…, DJ Khalil, and Phonix.Casablanco is an eclectic melange of genres — jazz, R&B, funk, hip-hop, and soul — from different periods, spanning from the 1930s to the 2010s. Each song presents a world of its own, transporting listeners to a new sonic dimension.Casablanco is Ambrosius’ most audacious album, brimming with masterful samples and interpolations, a treat for music enthusiasts. The lead single, “The Greatest,” alluded to the album’s expansiveness, forging Fred Steiner’s “Park Avenue Beat,” T La Rock and Jazzy Jay’s “It’s Yours,” and Ahmad Jamal’s “I Love Music” in the best way possible.“Cloudy With A Chance Of … Real” begins as a jazz arrangement over a Heath Brothers sample (“Smilin Billy Suite – Part II”) before morphing into hip-hop duo Audio Two’s “Top Billin,” then rounded off with Isaac Hayes’ version of “Walk On By.”Further, there’s the erotic “Thrill Her,” which interpolates Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.” and Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” with a sample of Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood.”Lyrically, Casablanco leans more into Ambrosius’ sensual side. She expresses her desires both directly (“I wanna f**k until the birds begin to sing,” she sings on “Tunisian Nights”) and poetically (“Ocean flow below my legs,” she coos on the dripping “Wet.”) She recounts a dream about a steamy ménage à trois on “Thrill Her” and smirks about a “One Night Stand.”But Casablanco isn’t all bedroom delights. “The Greatest” underscores the winning play of love while she confesses, “Love don’t love us anymore,” on the heartbreak track “Best I Could Find.” One of the album’s brightest moments is the closing track, “Music of My Mind.” It’s Ambrosius’ sensational tribute to artists across various genres who inspired her, from John Coltrane and Nat King Cole to Jodeci to Talking Heads. “Man, I listen to everything,” she sings.In Marsha Ambrosius’ interview with Rated R&B, the prolific singer, songwriter, and producer takes us deep into her world of Casablanco.You first teased Casablanco in 2021. How much did the album creatively shift since then?The album was the album then. We recorded [from] April 16, 2021, till maybe the first week of June, and it was completed. We put the live strings on it, the 27-piece orchestra, in a couple of sessions in September. The album itself never changed. Once we decided to do “Tunisian Nights,” it was like, “Okay, let’s make another one.” By the time we got to song 10, Dre was like, “One more, and that’s it. We’ve got it.” We recorded the 11 songs and kept it moving. The time in between has really just been the therapy, healing, pushing through life [and] clearing the samples.It’s almost like you didn’t want to overcook the album and lose its true flavor.You have to trust yourself [and] how you felt. If I were to go back in and try to create that feeling — I’m not even there anymore. I’m over the other side of that emotion. There were so many emotions going on for everyone in the room. Not just myself and Dr. Dre, but the musicians and the other producers alongside him. The whole team was on the same wave going through the same turmoil that was 2020 through 2021. We couldn’t recreate that if we tried because we didn’t know what it was going to be. It was an art piece in an act of desperation — an act of, “I don’t know what the world looks like after this, or if any of us survive it.”You previously mentioned being content behind the scenes as a writer and producer. Did working on Casablanco reignite your passion for being an artist yourself, inspiring your next musical move?Good question. As an artist, I believe with Casablanco, I was able to be pushed in a way that I hadn’t before. You know, I’m on my Leo-ish, and I know who I am. I was comfortable with that because I’d done so much. Had I been side by side with a Dr. Dre? No. But had we worked before? Yes. On something very specific? Not until now. By the time I get here, I’m like, “Wow. Even I didn’t know I could do that.” We needed to live the time in between to do that.I don’t know if that elevates me as the artist side of Marsha, but it still pushed my pen. It pushed me as a vocalist [and] it will still push me as a performer. It taught me so much in so little time. It felt like everything that Dre and I had done from 2005 until now was leading up to this moment. I feel like I’m able to do whatever I want in that space because of it. Dre and I met during a perfect storm and it’s elevated who I never even thought I was before.The album feels very theatrical in the best way possible. The way you sing and the way the songs are structured feels like there was so much freedom in exploring and discovering. It feels different from your past albums, in a sense.I’d agree with that. It is different, but very the same. It’s nostalgic. I’m borrowing from every single influence I’ve had throughout my entire life, as well as Dre’s. He’d put me onto something. I’d put him onto something. We’re just doing this tennis match full of who can outdo the last sample and make it make sense. Like, there’s no way Stevie Wonder’s “Too High” should go with anything hip-hop driven and just drop out of nowhere to go to a “Butterflies” moment, to go to the “Say Yes” moment. They shouldn’t make sense. And all of this ended up making this, like you said, theatrical. We didn’t have to have any boundaries as far as structure in that way.It’s like you were able to find a common thread among all these styles of music—jazz, R&B, soul, hip-hop—from different periods and blend them into something that feels intentional and rousing for listeners.Thank you. I’m so glad you love it. I think it’s refreshing for me for all these years for it to happen the way it’s happened. It [took] close to a year to clear the samples, not really thinking that, “Okay, can we actually share this with the world? Are people going to hear this?” In the moment, it was okay for it to be just for us. It was a fun thing to do to pass the time. While we thought the world was ending, let’s just make the greatest music of our lives and say thank you to it for getting us through. That’s what Casablanco ultimately became.“The Greatest” was the first taste from Casablanco. What inspired that decision?We got the offer to do the song for the Heisman Trophy for ESPN. They wanted a song that was symbolic of a champion. I was like, “Oh, ‘The Greatest’ makes sense.” For it to be the first listen from Casablanco, it was so inconspicuous, as it pertains to the rest of the album, but it still teased what we were going to be doing conceptually. So yes, still very much dramatic. It’s giving you 007 vibes. I felt that in the studio. It was very theatrical. It’s Perry Mason. It made sense in the grand scheme of things for that to be the teaser.You aren’t afraid to explore your sexuality in songs like “Wet.” What’s the backstory behind that song?As soon as I heard the dramatics and the rain, it set a mood. My pen was running away. It doesn’t belong to me sometimes. Whoever was speaking just said that’s what’s going to be said. In true Dr. Dre fashion, once that beat came in, I was like, “Ooh, okay, it’s hip-hop now, so let me take a hip-hop bit.” It just kept escalating into this moment. Just when we thought we’d taken it there, it goes extra crazy.By the time I’ve done the Minnie Riperton [“Inside My Love”] bit, everyone was just shaking their heads like, “This is too far.” I was like, “We don’t go far enough.” It’s that moment for me to lend from different experiences that I’ve had throughout my life, and that ultimately comes back to me and my husband and how we [are] very intimate. I don’t want to give you too much, but just know that I’m happy.That’s what I like about the song. It’s very poetic and allows listeners to have their own imagination.It’s still very sensual. Some things are sacred, but I give you enough where the mood is set so right that you make it yours and go crazy. I don’t have to give everything the song, the music [and] the strings, all of that is giving exactly what you’re seeing. It’s reserved. I’ve always given that. As open as I’ve been, even with “Say Yes,” I did write it for a man [Ronald Isley] to sing, but by the time it’s my song, and it’s coming from a female, that’s how I’ve been anyway. It’s sexy without having to give it too much. So that’s the same thing with “Wet” [and] “Thrill Her.” It’s all of these moments that almost were, and if you took it there, how sexy would that be? You leave it to the imagination, and you can have your own experience.You close the album with “Music of My Mind,” in which you pay homage to all the artists who have inspired you. What does this song represent to you?That felt like my eulogy almost. I know that sounds solemn and deep but just for where Dre and myself were within creating that album, it’s like if I had to leave it all on the floor, this is my very last. I had to say thank you to life and the music that got me through during that time. I imagined myself on a podium, kind of farewelling to Earth and taking my butt on the glorious staircase to heaven or something. It was that moment. It was that Wu-Tang or that [John] Coltrane. I went from [Prince’s] “Purple Rain” to Jay-Z to Mason Cameron.Everyone got a mention for all these bullet points in my life like, “Thank you for getting me through basketball injuries [and] breakups to makeup, to having a baby [and] getting married. It was a wild ride of, “If there was a mental Rolodex full of the music that you cared about [and] you could put it on one song. That’s why I entitled it “Music of My Mind.” It’s Duran Duran, Talking Heads, Freddie Mercury, Quincy Jones. It was things that I guess everyone listens to but to put them all together in one particular [song], it’s madness.What do you hope listeners take away from Casablanco?I hope they hear themselves in it and their own influence and their own, “Ooh, that one right here got me through,” or “Oooh, is that Stevie?” I want it to be almost like The Goonies treasure map of finding the things that you love about us. This was for us, by us. This is the most Dr. Dre [and] Marsha Ambrosius album there could have ever been. If we could take music in one and give it to the world, that’s what I feel like we’ve done. It’s much yours as it is ours. We did this for all the music that we cared about and put it on one thing to just take it, breathe it in, and then transport you to the world of Casablanco, wherever you see that when you press play.
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