Santa Clause, The Easter Bunny, and Detox

In honor of Dr. Dre’s second album, 2001, being chosen as Ethan 8^th best hip-hop album ever, we examine the long and winding (and possibly unending) road to the release of his follow-up, Detox.

All indications are that Dr. Dre is looking outside of hip-hop for inspiration in completing his next album.  One can only assume that the film A.I., Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" and Brian Wilson's "SMiLE" have each had a profound influence on the super-producer during the making of Detox, which has faced a troubled path for over 8 years.  However, Dre still has a few more years (or decades) to go if he wants Detox to equal the greatness (or lateness) of its predecessors.

Announced in 2002, the album was originally intended to be a concept album which told the story of an assassin named Detox. Besides being just a terrible idea, this was a tremendously ambitious a goal for a guy who can’t even write raps. Concept albums in general are rarely good. Add to that the inconsistency and disjointedness that would likely come from several ghostwriters and it becomes clear that it was for the best that this version was scrapped.

Subsequent iterations of the album were rumored to also have been abandoned and the instrumentals used for albums such as 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Trying (SPOILER ALERT: wait a couple days for a full look at this album) and The Game’s The Documentary (which didn’t stop Dre from exclaiming “Look out for Detox” on this album). These are the versions of Detox we would’ve loved to hear! These are both amazing albums, save for the guys rapping on them. If it was Dr. Dre and his standard slew of featured artists instead, either of these could have been the classic album worthy of his name.

Which brings us to 2010 and Dre announcing that Detox would come out this year, and that he’s super serious this time. We, however, remain unconvinced that it will, or even should, be released anytime soon.  At Fenway Park, Dre took a break from his relentless work on the album to announce that the first single, “Under Pressure”, would be released in a couple weeks.  That was in April.  While we are all still waiting for the official release of this song, an unfinished version leaked a while back, and it kind of sucked.

Even the reference tracks for “Topless” and “Shit Popped Off” that leaked last year, while better, were somewhat disappointing.  However, these tracks and "O.G.'s Theme" make it clear that Dre intends to keep Detox close to his West Coast roots, enlisting Ludacris and T.I. to write for him.  And just a cursory look at the rest of the beats Dre has been making as of late show that he is not exactly at the top of his game. If that’s what Detox is shaping up like, maybe Dre needs to take some more time and make it right. It’s not like anyone will be shocked when it’s delayed again.