Eleven years ago a masterpiece was created, “2001,” by Dr. Dre (released in 1999). I absolutely love Dre. He’s the best at what he does, and that’s making beats. Unfortunately, most people tend to focus only on the curse words and lyrics that provoke violence, drug use, and other filthy profanity.
I understand that those can be frustrating and disgusting to those who have delicate ears. However, you have to first understand that Dre is a producer; he is the one creating the beats. Yes, he still raps, but he usually just has people write stuff for him, while he tears the beats apart. If you sit down and take the time to listen to the beats, anybody who likes music will appreciate it.
There are easily at least five songs that anybody who has any appreciation of music has heard. Whether you like the songs or not, you still recognize them as Dre songs. Can you think of any other album that has that many songs with a recognizable beat? Not likely. Maybe if you go back to bands like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, but, for the most part, bands or artists have one or maybe two singles off of an album that make people say, “Oh yeah, that’s that song.”
Now back to the beats. “Still D.R.E.” is a perfect example of a song that everyone knows. I’m pretty sure I’ve even walked in on my mom jamming to this. It’s hard not to. That piano is unlike any beat you’ve ever heard, but it instantly makes you think of Dre.
That reminds me of “Xxplosive,” another track with a beat that sticks its nose out at you as if it were yelling, “You’ll never forget this beat because it’s so outrageously awesome and unique!”
Two tracks were nominated for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group Grammy’s: “Forgot About Dre,” which won the award, and “The Next Episode,” which was a follow up to “Nothin But A G Thang,” Dre’s successful single off his first album.
“Forgot About Dre” will forever go down as one of the hardest, tongue wrenching raps ever. At one point or another in your life, we both know you and your buddy rapped this song like you wrote it.
Now I want to reiterate to you that I know, some of the lyrics are “ri-dic-ul-ous.” In fact a lot of them are. I love the entire album, beats, lyrics and all, but it’s not for everybody. But what I’m trying to get across to you is that there is nobody like Dr. Dre when it comes to making beats.
I couldn’t give this album an overall grade. I mean I could easily say A+, but that’s not realistic. I would prefer a better title, something like Best Rap Album ever, or I would go as far as calling it one of the best albums ever. But hey, that’s just me.