Dr. Dre The Chronic Re-Lit Release Date

[justrockthabeat]

8 me too 

[EFFeX]

8 me too  

Nope your just one of 2, we need to reach 7 first, LOL.

[Okka]

Another possiblity is they could put out another full length compilation which had unreleased tracks from both the most recognizable artists (Dre, Snoop, etc.) and the lesser known acts.  That might help make the casual fan more aware of who some of the lesser-known artists are.

Yeah, that would be dope. I would love to hear "Street Scholars" in CDQ (J.Flexx featuring Dr. Dre)

[dubsmith_nz]

fuck a nina or a crooked i album, give me Sam Sneeds album and we cool 

 A Sam Sneed album would be dope, but I was trying to think of an album from an artist that might be recognizable enough to be a commercial success.  While I hope they do put out a Sam Sneed album, I'm not sure if it would be smart to make it the first album they put out.  Another possiblity is they could put out another full length compilation which had unreleased tracks from both the most recognizable artists (Dre, Snoop, etc.) and the lesser known acts.  That might help make the casual fan more aware of who some of the lesser-known artists are.

That's the way I reckon they should do it aye, one big compilation with unreleased stuff from Dre, Snoop, Pac etc to catch the mainstreams eye, and then add on Dogg Pound, Crooked, N.I.N.A etc to gain some faimliarity

[Mygla]

IMO iTunes/paid download is the only way they can go if they're out to make a profit of it. 2pac, Snoop & Dre are the only Death Row-names that could guarantee decent sales, every single other artist ever signed to the label is basically without mainstream value today, so paid downloads would defo minimize the costs of releasing the material, and maybe they could supplement with compilations...

[EML]

Thats a good start for the new owners of Death Row I hope they
relase(or re relase) some more stuff. I actually don't own the Chronic so I
might get this.

[OG Hack Wilson]

IMO iTunes/paid download is the only way they can go if they're out to make a profit of it. 2pac, Snoop & Dre are the only Death Row-names that could guarantee decent sales, every single other artist ever signed to the label is basically without mainstream value today, so paid downloads would defo minimize the costs of releasing the material, and maybe they could supplement with compilations...

putting out a CD > paid downloads

[V2DHeart]

I've never purchased a retail download in my life

[Jimmy H.]

Well, I admit I don't know how much the casual fan will be into it.  I find it curious that they would start off their releases with yet another re-release.  I'm sure the completists like myself will be happy though.     

  From a business point of view, it makes sense. They want to get the re-releases out there with a little extra bonus content so they can start making money off that property. Between the new fans who are just now discovering the album and the older fans who are looking to replace lost or damaged CD's, they want to be able to capitalize off their investment by releasing the most up-to-date definitive version.

I think Wideawake should look to the recent "Collector's Edition" of BDP's Criminal Minded as a good example of how to do handle this kind of project. They did one disc with the original remastered album and then a full second disc with bonus songs, remixes/instrumentals, radio interviews, and rare songs from that time period.

As far as all this "mainstream success" talk, Wideawake is in in good shape. It's not like they bare the responsibilty of breaking new stars. They have the material. All they have to do is deliver a product that satisfies the intended crowd and they should be able to eat very well off it. They're not gonna have to spend millions of dollars doing all that promotion and such and trying to get MTV to play videos.

[acgrundy]

I think sales are going to go horrible worse than wide awake expects.  With the way the economy is, seriously how many sales do they expect, of a re-release of a 15 year old cd?  Add to it, there is damn near zero promotion.  I mean, how many death row fans are going to buy this?  I know that a majority of hardcore DR fans are borderline psycho and willing to pay like $200 for a cd...but other than that handful, how many people are willing to shell out $15 for a cd that you already own?  Especially when you know that you can just download the new songs that leak.

I want this dr music to come out...but as far as a business move...other than getting the royalty checks, I don't see how they are going to really be making much money off of this deal.  And I hope that they don't have these super high expectations, only to become discouraged, and stop after 2 or 3 releases.

[Jimmy H.]

I think sales are going to go horrible worse than wide awake expects.  With the way the economy is, seriously how many sales do they expect, of a re-release of a 15 year old cd?  Add to it, there is damn near zero promotion.  I mean, how many death row fans are going to buy this?  I know that a majority of hardcore DR fans are borderline psycho and willing to pay like $200 for a cd...but other than that handful, how many people are willing to shell out $15 for a cd that you already own?  Especially when you know that you can just download the new songs that leak.

I want this dr music to come out...but as far as a business move...other than getting the royalty checks, I don't see how they are going to really be making much money off of this deal.  And I hope that they don't have these super high expectations, only to become discouraged, and stop after 2 or 3 releases.

I think you underestimate it. What promotion does it really need? You think people don't buy re-releases of "Thriller" and all them old Beattles album twenty years later? It's not like they are looking for some first-week platinum kind of sales. They aren't going to be losing any money on this, trust me. There's always money in updating classic catalog titles. Re-releases especially with bonus content always sell. When you have albums like these (Chronic, Doggystyle, All Eyez), they are constantly mentioned in magazines, MTV, etc. When a new hip-hop list drops and they are on it, this is gonna spark renewed interest somewhere. There's a reason why these albums have been re-released about three times before and we had two different "15 Years Of Death Row" within a couple months of each other despite a previous "Best Of" being released only a year before that with nearly the same songs. There's a reason why Bad Boy put out a remastered "Ready To Die" with new songs and was still able to release a "Greatest Hits" with Biggie after that and a soundtrack with a lot of the same songs. This music will always be profitable. If I own the Death Row library and my call is between re-releasing the classic catalog and putting out new artist shit, from a business view, it's the biggest fucking no-brainer in the world. Same as people are still buying Motown songs, people will continue to buy Dr. Dre and Tupac CD's.

[Zeus]

There's a ton of people who just got into rap in the last 3 or 4 years who dont have the chronic, it will sell well for a rerelease. Im probly gon cop it if they include mr offficer and hoehopper in CDQ.

[kuruptDPG]

dubcnn should get a interview sorted out with wideawake

[The "Untouchable" DJR]

I think sales are going to go horrible worse than wide awake expects.  With the way the economy is, seriously how many sales do they expect, of a re-release of a 15 year old cd?  Add to it, there is damn near zero promotion.  I mean, how many death row fans are going to buy this?  I know that a majority of hardcore DR fans are borderline psycho and willing to pay like $200 for a cd...but other than that handful, how many people are willing to shell out $15 for a cd that you already own?  Especially when you know that you can just download the new songs that leak.

I want this dr music to come out...but as far as a business move...other than getting the royalty checks, I don't see how they are going to really be making much money off of this deal.  And I hope that they don't have these super high expectations, only to become discouraged, and stop after 2 or 3 releases.

I think you underestimate it. What promotion does it really need? You think people don't buy re-releases of "Thriller" and all them old Beattles album twenty years later? It's not like they are looking for some first-week platinum kind of sales. They aren't going to be losing any money on this, trust me. There's always money in updating classic catalog titles. Re-releases especially with bonus content always sell. When you have albums like these (Chronic, Doggystyle, All Eyez), they are constantly mentioned in magazines, MTV, etc. When a new hip-hop list drops and they are on it, this is gonna spark renewed interest somewhere. There's a reason why these albums have been re-released about three times before and we had two different "15 Years Of Death Row" within a couple months of each other despite a previous "Best Of" being released only a year before that with nearly the same songs. There's a reason why Bad Boy put out a remastered "Ready To Die" with new songs and was still able to release a "Greatest Hits" with Biggie after that and a soundtrack with a lot of the same songs. This music will always be profitable. If I own the Death Row library and my call is between re-releasing the classic catalog and putting out new artist shit, from a business view, it's the biggest fucking no-brainer in the world. Same as people are still buying Motown songs, people will continue to buy Dr. Dre and Tupac CD's.

With all due respect but The Chronic is no Thriller or any old Beatles album, those albums reach a far larger audience for the simple fact they have been around much longer and Mike and The Beatles have a much wider fan base worldwide so that comparison is a bit off I think.

Other than that I think Grundy has a point in saying that most people will probably download the (new) songs or whatever is gonna be on it, it's 2009 how many people you know actually still buy albums?

Personally I hope this whole thing will backfire on them (Wideawake) but hey that's just me...

[OG Hack Wilson]

 CHRONIC is a timeless album