I could actually go on and on, picking at this beat and why it sucks. The chorus thing is the worst though, I mean, Dre should really know what a lead synth is. This simplistic hiphop is wack. It's why I didn't like that Kid Cudi track SOFI uploaded as well. It's like it's one instrument short of sounding good. You know how when you have a lead melody and then some chords in a lower octave or some shit, that sounds powerful and dope. It's like every new hiphop beat is missing those ground chords that gives it a full sound. Someone already mentioned the percussion. In fact, what percussion? Is there any? I only hear the bass drum and the snare drum, there is NO percussion instruments that I can hear in this song. So forget percussion, it's not boring, it's non-existant. The drums themselves bother me too. The snare sounds fine, but that kick sounds nothing like a Dre drum. It's too much in the background. Instead of having a full, boomy sound, it's a short, digital snappy sound. It may sound good on a good system, but in my headphones it just sounds simple. Reminds me of Ne-Yo - I always thought his music was corny as fuck cause you'll have like a really beautiful harp with 808 claps in the background and the most fruity loops sounding synths ever. This beat reminds me of that as well. Dre used to be renowned for his drum programming. On his first two albums, if you listen to the drums and percussion, every drum beat is interesting. Xxxplosives for example. The way the drums sound, the samples he used, the way they're mixed. Beautiful.
This isn't so much a critique of Dre though, because this basically sums up my feelings about most new hip-hop. Hey, I'm all for experimenting, and that minimalistic thing can be sorta cool once in a while, but ever since Snoop's "Drop It Like It's Hot" it's like people are trying to make the most simple sounding shit. It's supposed to be music, and new hiphop just makes me think about Chronic's signature. All that rap is is clicks and whistles. Shake was before his time.
Edit: Just saw SOFI's post. Wanted to add something. I'm not putting down a sub genre of hiphop, or individual artists. I still listen to some of the new shit. But I always find something missing. My critiques have nothing to do with the mood and tempo of songs, so a party banger can be more musical and still be a party banger for example. Just wanted to clear that up right away. This is why I overall prefer older hip-hop music with the few exceptions.