All you fools saying Dre steals credit, is selfish with his production duties and etc should take the below advice very seriously...
Read.
Read.
Q: Who is a better producer, Dre or Quik?
A: That is a question I get on this board and in public a lot. I don't know why but I will give you my opinion. Dre is hands down the better "producer". Before all you DJ quik fans jump all over me, please note that Quik is easily on of the best producers in all of music and I looove his sound. like Sven said quik is a lot like Dre. While both have sampled, or replayed and expanded like Dre did in the ruthless and death row years, both dre and quik try to create MUSIC using mostly live instrumentations. Both have used actual live drums on a number of records, as well as live bass of all types, pianos, keys, horns, guitars, flutes, sax, xzylophone, etc. Quik and Dre have different sounds for the most part but they are almost identical in how they hire musicians for most of the actual played music. neither really play any instruments. both are incredible on the drum machine and both can play keyboards, quik is arguably a little better than dre on the keys while Dre is agruably better on the drum machine. I do disagree with quik being a one man band. If you listen to Quik's first four albums you mostly hear the incredible Robert Bacon playing most, if not all of the instruments. Bacon is Quik's secret weapon. that doesn't take anything away from Dj quik but I am giving credit where credit is due. Robert is simply one of the best musicians to ever be involved in hip hop. Dre has discovered and/or used some incredible musicians during his career - Colin Wolfe, Mike Simms, Sean Thomas, T green, Scott Storch, Camara Kamron - to name a few. Dre gives all of the musicians he has used a lot of credit for being a big part of his success. Quik has also had other great musicans besides Fonksta Bacon too. The fact is that Dre and Quik are the top producers in rap MUSIC because they create music and hire some incredible musicians to help them bring their ideas to musical life.
Why is Dre a better producer, in my humble opinion, than quik? Being a PRODUCER is so much more than being a musician. Only in rap is a producer expected to play instruments on tracks. Most music producers don't play anything on the records. Great producers do however have the "ear" and understand melodies, and how best to mazimize an instruments and the musicians potential. Dre has one of the best ears there is. believe me he has made me a better musician than I ever thought i could be because he knows exactly how to tweak what I play from good to great. Producers coach, discover talent, mentor, shape, mold, compose, create, adjust, innovate, arrainge, focus, orchestrate, direct and so much more. Dre does all of that, and as a total package does that as well as or better than any producer in modern music history.
Quik hasn't really changed his sound ever. He was forced to after Robert left, but its been pretty consistent in direction(this is not a criticism of quik, this is the style he is so good at, and the style we all love). Dre has changed his music and the sound of music itself more than once. With NWA and being the main creative force behind Ruthless records he helped change the sound of rap music and what could be said on records. With The Chronic he was the leader in bringing a fresh sound - g-funk - to music. If you bought that album when it came out in dec. 92 it blew you away as it was unlike anything you had ever heard before. The chronic also brought gangsta rap to the masses and made it a cultural phenomenon (along with saving Interscope from folding). When Dre left to start Aftermath he changed the course of music forever (again) with the discovery of eminem. he also helped make 50 and now game into superstars as well.
Dre has discovered some of the biggest artists in music history and as a producer he molded those artists by taking them from unpolished diamonds to polished muliplatinum selling artists. Quik has never really discovered anyone who blew up. As a producer Dre works harder than anyone else and demands more from his artists than anyone else. He mentors artists and maximizes their talent. He has the incredible ability to bring the best out of any artist and helps them to perform at incredible levels or career best levels. And I haven't even brought out the fact that albums Dre has produced on have easily eclipsed the 100 million mark in sales. Quik hasn't even hit 10 million. But I don't really want to use record sales as a factor in determining how good a producer is. Jimmy Iovine calls Dre the most influential record producer in music history. While I won't put him alone at the top he's definetly on the short list.
In the end everyone has their own opinion. There is no right or wrong. if you think quik is the best great. if he's your favorite great. Quik is an incredible talent and a better musician but I just don't think its fair to compare him to Dre as a PRODUCER. Dre, as a PRODUCER, is as good as there has ever been. He is the Michael Jordan of Rap. But like I said i could be completely wrong. Just enjoy the talents of each man as you won't see the likes of them very often ever again
Q: Does "The Vault" really exist?
A: Yes it does. Dre's vault is the stuff of legend. It is almost mythical. I have sworn to secrecy about its location so i won't touch that part. Have I Ever been in there? Ha, If I told you that I'd have to kill you. What is in the vault? The vault basically has every track dre has ever recorded. He has copies of everything he did on Death Row but can never release. You can't even imagine how many instrumentals that have accumulated over the years I've been at Aftermath. It's in the thousands. Dre keeps all his music for his own personal use and listening. He basically keeps them as a soundtrack to his life. Most of the leftovers will never be heard. Most of the unused instrumentals will never be heard, at least while Dre is alive. There is enough music to release hundreds of albums so Dre could possibly live through music for many additional lifetimes. But you'll most likely never hear them. I don't know what will happen when Dre passes away. it depends upon who controsl his massive estate. Hopefully that is many years from now, though.
I have had the privalege to hear a lot of music you will never have a chance to hear and for that i am sorry. Dre usually does a great job of using the right beats and songs, but some of the unreleased music is some of the dopest shit I have ever heard. We sometimes are in awe of what Dre tosses out but Dre knows what Dre wants. Who are we to argue. We may plead and beg but in the end its Dre's music so he can do with it what he wants. I truly wish that I could let you hear the music because you are missing out on some the most innovative and dope unreleased music in the history of this business. From ruthless to Aftermath there is truly some great tracks out there than only Dre will ever hear. If I knew how to do it I might be able to post some old Ruthless Dr. Dre remixes that are very very rare. I got these tracks from Dre cause they were released in very limited edition so they qualify as released.
Anyway, The Vault is real and does contain close to the entire Dre creative library. I am honored to have heard a lot of mind blowing unreleased Dre tracks. But alas, like you guys I am sure there is a lot of great shit in there that I, along with the rest of the human race, will never hear. Peace.
Q: Does Dre steal credit?
A: I hate this f'in question. I know this will always be out there no matter how hard I argue it. So i'm not going to attempt to win this arguement. But No Dre does not steal credit from others. In my experience with Dre I have ALWAYS gotten proper credit and full publishing. Since the first Aftermath album Dre has given proper credit to every songwriter, producer, musician, engineer, whoever. Dre told me he learned how not to run a label during his Death Row days. He vowed to give proper credit to everyone who works on each track. Whether Dre produces or co produces , Dre's name will almost always go first. That's just the way it is. The only time it doesn't is when Dre doesn't actively work on the making of the track. If it is finished and he jumps on and adds or changes he will not be the first name. But if Dre is active in the true creation of the track he will go first, and rightfully so as Dre is the orchestrator and director of every track. At death row Dre and every other artist i talked to has told me suge would let Dre get his own publishing but suge would basically steal everyone elses. In music, getting publishing credit is almost everything. Whether Snoop or Kurupt or whoever wrote the verse it didn't matter. Suge publishing would get the credit. Dre will always admit that creating The Chronic and Doggystyle was a team effort, but that there was no doubt he was the mastermind behind the production of the tracks. Obviously I wasn't there during the Death Row days but everyone I have talked to during my time with Dre who was actually there said that Dre was the main force, the main producer and orchestrator of every track. he got a lot of help from musicians and ocassional help from co-producers like sam sneed, and warren g, etc. which Dre credits for helping make those classic records. In the end though suge would not pay them correctly so a lot of people left. the original death row is gone, and they almost all left after dre left - even daz - that should tell you something. suge stole credits and publishing from the musicians and writers all the time. and although Dre couldn't (although maybe he should have) force suge to change as co owner of death row he was ultimatley responsible, and Dre felt really bad about it. he felt responsible although it wasn't really his fault. That was a major factor in starting Aftermath. Dre wanted to run a label the correct way and make sure everyone who worked with him got full credit and the correct publishing. I can honestly say Dre has never cheated me or anyone else i know during my time at Aftermath. Egos can get involved where some people think they should get more credit than they deserve. Scott had those issues once but he's back and working with us and is very happy to be a part of dre's team.
If you ask anyone who has ever worked with Dre if he treats them fairly they will all say yes. If you are willing to put in the work it takes to be successful dre will treat you and compensate you like family. He will reward you for your efforts.
Hopefully this sheds a little light on things. Dre is far from perfect, even very irritable sometimes, but in this business of music you will find few people as giving and humble as Dre.
Right now there are no plans to release any Aftermath album on 5.1. I think that will soon change though. Dre really wants to use it for Detox. If he does it would probably be released after the regular cd print of detox. the problem with 5.1 sound is that there are different formats. there is Dvd-audio and sacd. Right now Universal (and therefore Interscope) endorse the sacd format. however they also endorse the new dual disc format. a dual disc is a two sided disc - on side is the regular cd, the other side is a dvd, which includes a dvd audio 5.1 mix of the album plus extras like pictures, credits and videos. There are now universal players that play both the sacd and dvd audio format. sacd is better if you focus on just the sound quality of the music. dvd-audio is great too (llica's the Black Album) but it allows for music videos and other extras i just mentioned. the main problem with the formats id the lack of titles available. it's getting better but the number of available titles are very limited.
I think you will hear Detox in 5.1 someday. Dre wants to do it himself, which means it will take him a lot of time (it takes him a month for a regular cd so imagine how long it will take for a 6 channel mix). Dre really wants to create a mind blowing musical experience for you to enjoy one day, so I have no doubt you will one day get a chance to hear Dre take this format to a whole new level. just don't hold your breathe waiting for it. peace.
What's up y'all - I wanted to drop by for a few hours and post a few things today. The schedule is insane for the coming months so i won't have any time to come around for quite a while. First of all I will assure you that Dre is hard at work on Detox (again) Wink. 50's album is pretty much finalized, i think Dre is done with his mixing chores for The Massacre. I think you'll like most of the album, but I guess you'll have to make a judgement of your own when it gets released next month. My focus is already off that album on back on Detox and Busta's new album. I really think there is a good chance you'll get Busta's album yet this year, but I'm not gonna guess when it will come out because my track record is not real good when it comes to guessing release dates. All I know is he's been getting out there on mixtapes and working hard on his new album. On this topic I will address a few of the questions I get from people who recognize me (fortunatetly not too many yet). Like I said I'm not gonna stick my nose in on things I need to stay out of. i learned my lesson after letting you down on my premature excitement and telling you about what i though was going to be the forthcomng release of Oh My God. So I'll stick to answering questions that I get about Dre.
Q: Why did Dre abandon Detox, and why is it taking so long?
A: On the record Dre abandoned Detox because he wanted to focus on Em, Game, 50, Busta and Eve's albums. While that is true, off the record there are other reasons. The truth is Dre has been kicking around ideas and concepts for Detox for a long time. He changed his mind a few times and was never really happy enough about any of them. There is immense pressure to make Detox groundbreaking and better than his first two solo albums. In addition to that this is Dre's final solo album, so there is the additional pressure of going out with a bang that will echo in eternity. I don't think it ever crossed Dre's mind to actually not do Detox. Annoucning that he wasn't helped relieve some of the pressure. It also allowed Dre to step back and get his mind off of it for a while and get a fresh start later on. That fresh start is now as Detox is definetly back on. That we are actually putting vocals on some tracks is a very important step. For the last few years we have been building hundreds of instrumentals for Detox. They ranged from really sparse and simple beats to some of the craziest and most complex beats you have ever heard. We have all worked very hard together to create something truly original and groundbreaking. Picking which ones to actually use is easier said than done. We are striving for 100% live instrumental tracks built completely from scratch which takes a lot of work since we do some many of them before Dre wittles them down later on. Dre pushes us to dig deep and put our own ideas into the skeleton instrumentals we have made alongside him for Detox over the last couple of years. We are really pushing the envelope. In my opinion Dre has thrown out some incredible tracks that we and Dre have built together, but Dre is looking for something specific and if he doesn't hear it he will not use it. the dilema is how complex of tracks will the listening audience want to hear. Do they want orchestra like pieces or the tightly focused, yet simple beats you are used to from Dre. Ideally all of us and Dre want the most mindbending and complex original music experience ever heard on record. But will the audience be happy with that? The last thing we want to do is put out a "concept" album that loses people because it so different than what they are used to hearing. So thats been a big dilema. In the end i think you will hear elements of these complex beats but you won't hear the way they originally were created(those versions will go to the "Dr. Dre vault". At least that is the direction Dre has gone so far. I think the early tracks are as good as anything Dre has ever done - but it is still too early to tell how the final album will sound. I'm confident you will be very pleased. Dre is planning something special for the albums last track - if we can keep it within the budget.
I know there are rumours out there that Detox will not be 100% Dre produced. Dre is accepting tracks for consideration from a limited amount of producers, but the goal is for Dre to either produce or co produce the entire album. If Dre is having a hard time getting 16-18 quality tracks together of his productions that he likes he may look to someone else's production to fill in the needed tracks. Dre is humble enough to use someone elses track (like Lord Finesse's The Message beat) if it is dope enough to match the "classic level" of the Dre tracks on the album. Interscope is breathing down Dre's neck to get Detox out by year end. But Dre refuses to release it until he is ready. We have a long way to go but i think Dre is finally at peace with what he/we are trying to achieve on Detox. One thing to consider is this: The Vibe award incident really had a big impact on Dre. I have never seen Dre as determined and focused as he is right now. His anger and will to defeat all those who try to bring him down are having a direct impact on the aggressive nature of his recent productions. I promise you that no one is as driven as Dre is to make Detox FUBAR the competition or anyone who stands in his way. I don't know what the outcome of Detox will be, but we all, expecially Dre will work to exhaustion to make Detox the best it can be.
the westcoast underground is definetly in need of some promotion cause the big labels aren't really giving most of the young cats out here a chance. the game broke out so hopefully that will help some. Although I'm not much into being region oriented I do hope the west blows up again. I just don't like seeing people so close minded that they label things east coast or west coast. Good music is good music. It don't matter where you're from or where you're at. Dre catches a lot of flack for not supporting enough west coast artists. Right or wrong Dre don't care about pushing a certain coast. He is all about finding talent and making good music no matter if you live in China or Compton. Dre is real proud of The Game being from Compton. I know he hopes to see the West back on top and hopefully game will get things kick started. But Y'all can't look to Dre to bring the West back by himself. He is a part of the big corporate conglomerment that is Universal and is somewhat limited on what he can personally do. Its got to come from other people. The talent is there on the west coast. Unfortunately the big record labels run a monopoly in the music industry and its going to be incredibly tough to succeed unless you have the big label backing. I hate that fact but sadly thats the way things are and it will probably only get worse. I wish we could get rid of the big corporations and let people make music and release music without being railroaded by the big labels but it just isn't going to happen any time soon. At least there are avenues and opportunities to succeed without the major labels. You just have to find the and work harder than anyone else to get your music heard, and get luck. But remember that the most important thing though is to work on your craft and make good music. Promotion don't mean anything if the music sucks, so take music seriously and respect the art form and go for quality not quantity. Oops I gotta get to work. Peace everyone.
Hey everyone. I wanted to say a few words about the Rakim situation and why he left. Keep in mind I was as disappointed as anyone Oh My God never dropped on Aftermath. Also keep in mind I had nothing to do with any of the decision making in regards to the situation. I want to give everyone a little third party view of what happened, while at the same time respect the privacy and honor of everyone involved. Why did Rakim leave? Who is to blame? Rakim left due to a number of reasons. The main reason is that it just wasn't meant to be. Everyone involved is partially to blame (me included). There was so much hype about this album that a lot of pressure was put on before and during the recording of the album. On this forum a long time ago while Rakim was still on Aftermath I placed a lot of the blame on Jimmy I for the album taking so long to come out. To clarify i immensly respect Jimmy. I personally have no problems with him. He is a giant in the industry and he deserves the respect and kudos he gets. However he is known for always wanting a pop hit to release as a first single. It seems like any album submitted always gets rejected and kicked back until a "perfect" pop single was done. Rakim never wanted to do a pop album, a pop single, or a gangster rap album. Those three things definelty put a strain on getting Interscope's full backing and promotion for the album. For the record Dre never personally requested Rakim to "get the guns out". Dre wants every artist to be themselves and won't ever ask them to change who they are. However Dre knew that Oh My God would never come out until Interscope got the album they wanted so it really put him in a tough spot. Dre and Rakim really struggled finding a way to balance things out and make the album dre and rakim wanted while at the same time make the album Interscope wanted. My main beef with Jimmy is that when it comes to rappers he sometimes only wants to release controversial artists or black rappers that relay the sterotypical gangster image. Rakim definelty isn't either of those and that definetly hurt him. Rakim also didn't really want hooks. Songs without hooks somehow aren't good enough these days. Never mind that Rakim's greatest songs never really had hooks. making pop hooks was not something Rakim was good at, so he struggled in that area. Rakim is by far the most talented rapper I have ever heard. Rakim is a lyricist not a hook writer. And there was no way Rakim would ever let someone write a hook for him. So that was another problem. So there defineltly were conflicts there. Dre and Ra could never come up with the balance they needed and it was really tough on both of them. In the End Dre and Ra realized that it was going to be really tough to do the music they wanted and get Interscope's approval and their machine behind the release. So I disagree with Rakim saying he and Dre had creative differences. Ra and Dre simply could never find a way to make interscope happy and yet make an album they themselves were happy with.
I think Rakim would really get frustrated by interscope's wishes and really struggled with preparing himself the way he needed to put 100% of himself into making the record. The thing with Dre is that he expects his artists to be there when asked and be ready to work as hard as they ever had before. Rakim is a very cool cat, but at the same time kind of an enigma. Somedays he would be gung ho ready to go and other days he would be hesitant or not in the studio. When he was focused Rakim was pure magic. When he wasn't he was hard to figure out. Common thought is that only a few tracks were recorded for Oh My God. That is false. We may not have got a lot of full songs with vocals recorded (altough we did more than has been reported)but we created a lot of instrumentals with Rakim in mind. Like Dre rakim is very picky in the beats and sometimes he would pass on beats that we thought were perfect. However the shit Ra and Dre did do together were mind blowing. I wish you could of heard it. I would get crazy excited when those two were orchestrating tracks together. I was convinced that a classic was being created. In the end though it just didn't work out. I will always wonder what might have been. I am sorry you guys never got the album you deserved. It just wasn't meant to be. I have the utmost respect for Ra, he is truly a lyrical genius with the perfect voice and flow - and a good man. I don't know if you are ever going to hear a new Rakim album ever again. I just don't know if he will ever be able to put it together. Dre won't tell me if he and ra have recorded since Ra left or if they have made any plans to do so. Dre did tell me right after rakim left that he was confident they would be able to work together again someday and when they did they would make the classic shit that they should have been allowed to make on Aftermath. In the end no one will every truly know the exact reason Rakim left, except Rakim and Dre. I hope he one day is able to share his god given talents to the world one more time, with some help from Dre of course. I do ask that you guys don't place too much blame on any one person. Like I said it just wasn't meant to be. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that a new version of Oh My God gets released someday with a few tracks featuring the greatest mc ever and the greatest rap producer ever working their magic together. peace.
A: That is a question I get on this board and in public a lot. I don't know why but I will give you my opinion. Dre is hands down the better "producer". Before all you DJ quik fans jump all over me, please note that Quik is easily on of the best producers in all of music and I looove his sound. like Sven said quik is a lot like Dre. While both have sampled, or replayed and expanded like Dre did in the ruthless and death row years, both dre and quik try to create MUSIC using mostly live instrumentations. Both have used actual live drums on a number of records, as well as live bass of all types, pianos, keys, horns, guitars, flutes, sax, xzylophone, etc. Quik and Dre have different sounds for the most part but they are almost identical in how they hire musicians for most of the actual played music. neither really play any instruments. both are incredible on the drum machine and both can play keyboards, quik is arguably a little better than dre on the keys while Dre is agruably better on the drum machine. I do disagree with quik being a one man band. If you listen to Quik's first four albums you mostly hear the incredible Robert Bacon playing most, if not all of the instruments. Bacon is Quik's secret weapon. that doesn't take anything away from Dj quik but I am giving credit where credit is due. Robert is simply one of the best musicians to ever be involved in hip hop. Dre has discovered and/or used some incredible musicians during his career - Colin Wolfe, Mike Simms, Sean Thomas, T green, Scott Storch, Camara Kamron - to name a few. Dre gives all of the musicians he has used a lot of credit for being a big part of his success. Quik has also had other great musicans besides Fonksta Bacon too. The fact is that Dre and Quik are the top producers in rap MUSIC because they create music and hire some incredible musicians to help them bring their ideas to musical life.
Why is Dre a better producer, in my humble opinion, than quik? Being a PRODUCER is so much more than being a musician. Only in rap is a producer expected to play instruments on tracks. Most music producers don't play anything on the records. Great producers do however have the "ear" and understand melodies, and how best to mazimize an instruments and the musicians potential. Dre has one of the best ears there is. believe me he has made me a better musician than I ever thought i could be because he knows exactly how to tweak what I play from good to great. Producers coach, discover talent, mentor, shape, mold, compose, create, adjust, innovate, arrainge, focus, orchestrate, direct and so much more. Dre does all of that, and as a total package does that as well as or better than any producer in modern music history.
Quik hasn't really changed his sound ever. He was forced to after Robert left, but its been pretty consistent in direction(this is not a criticism of quik, this is the style he is so good at, and the style we all love). Dre has changed his music and the sound of music itself more than once. With NWA and being the main creative force behind Ruthless records he helped change the sound of rap music and what could be said on records. With The Chronic he was the leader in bringing a fresh sound - g-funk - to music. If you bought that album when it came out in dec. 92 it blew you away as it was unlike anything you had ever heard before. The chronic also brought gangsta rap to the masses and made it a cultural phenomenon (along with saving Interscope from folding). When Dre left to start Aftermath he changed the course of music forever (again) with the discovery of eminem. he also helped make 50 and now game into superstars as well.
Dre has discovered some of the biggest artists in music history and as a producer he molded those artists by taking them from unpolished diamonds to polished muliplatinum selling artists. Quik has never really discovered anyone who blew up. As a producer Dre works harder than anyone else and demands more from his artists than anyone else. He mentors artists and maximizes their talent. He has the incredible ability to bring the best out of any artist and helps them to perform at incredible levels or career best levels. And I haven't even brought out the fact that albums Dre has produced on have easily eclipsed the 100 million mark in sales. Quik hasn't even hit 10 million. But I don't really want to use record sales as a factor in determining how good a producer is. Jimmy Iovine calls Dre the most influential record producer in music history. While I won't put him alone at the top he's definetly on the short list.
In the end everyone has their own opinion. There is no right or wrong. if you think quik is the best great. if he's your favorite great. Quik is an incredible talent and a better musician but I just don't think its fair to compare him to Dre as a PRODUCER. Dre, as a PRODUCER, is as good as there has ever been. He is the Michael Jordan of Rap. But like I said i could be completely wrong. Just enjoy the talents of each man as you won't see the likes of them very often ever again
Q: Does "The Vault" really exist?
A: Yes it does. Dre's vault is the stuff of legend. It is almost mythical. I have sworn to secrecy about its location so i won't touch that part. Have I Ever been in there? Ha, If I told you that I'd have to kill you. What is in the vault? The vault basically has every track dre has ever recorded. He has copies of everything he did on Death Row but can never release. You can't even imagine how many instrumentals that have accumulated over the years I've been at Aftermath. It's in the thousands. Dre keeps all his music for his own personal use and listening. He basically keeps them as a soundtrack to his life. Most of the leftovers will never be heard. Most of the unused instrumentals will never be heard, at least while Dre is alive. There is enough music to release hundreds of albums so Dre could possibly live through music for many additional lifetimes. But you'll most likely never hear them. I don't know what will happen when Dre passes away. it depends upon who controsl his massive estate. Hopefully that is many years from now, though.
I have had the privalege to hear a lot of music you will never have a chance to hear and for that i am sorry. Dre usually does a great job of using the right beats and songs, but some of the unreleased music is some of the dopest shit I have ever heard. We sometimes are in awe of what Dre tosses out but Dre knows what Dre wants. Who are we to argue. We may plead and beg but in the end its Dre's music so he can do with it what he wants. I truly wish that I could let you hear the music because you are missing out on some the most innovative and dope unreleased music in the history of this business. From ruthless to Aftermath there is truly some great tracks out there than only Dre will ever hear. If I knew how to do it I might be able to post some old Ruthless Dr. Dre remixes that are very very rare. I got these tracks from Dre cause they were released in very limited edition so they qualify as released.
Anyway, The Vault is real and does contain close to the entire Dre creative library. I am honored to have heard a lot of mind blowing unreleased Dre tracks. But alas, like you guys I am sure there is a lot of great shit in there that I, along with the rest of the human race, will never hear. Peace.
Q: Does Dre steal credit?
A: I hate this f'in question. I know this will always be out there no matter how hard I argue it. So i'm not going to attempt to win this arguement. But No Dre does not steal credit from others. In my experience with Dre I have ALWAYS gotten proper credit and full publishing. Since the first Aftermath album Dre has given proper credit to every songwriter, producer, musician, engineer, whoever. Dre told me he learned how not to run a label during his Death Row days. He vowed to give proper credit to everyone who works on each track. Whether Dre produces or co produces , Dre's name will almost always go first. That's just the way it is. The only time it doesn't is when Dre doesn't actively work on the making of the track. If it is finished and he jumps on and adds or changes he will not be the first name. But if Dre is active in the true creation of the track he will go first, and rightfully so as Dre is the orchestrator and director of every track. At death row Dre and every other artist i talked to has told me suge would let Dre get his own publishing but suge would basically steal everyone elses. In music, getting publishing credit is almost everything. Whether Snoop or Kurupt or whoever wrote the verse it didn't matter. Suge publishing would get the credit. Dre will always admit that creating The Chronic and Doggystyle was a team effort, but that there was no doubt he was the mastermind behind the production of the tracks. Obviously I wasn't there during the Death Row days but everyone I have talked to during my time with Dre who was actually there said that Dre was the main force, the main producer and orchestrator of every track. he got a lot of help from musicians and ocassional help from co-producers like sam sneed, and warren g, etc. which Dre credits for helping make those classic records. In the end though suge would not pay them correctly so a lot of people left. the original death row is gone, and they almost all left after dre left - even daz - that should tell you something. suge stole credits and publishing from the musicians and writers all the time. and although Dre couldn't (although maybe he should have) force suge to change as co owner of death row he was ultimatley responsible, and Dre felt really bad about it. he felt responsible although it wasn't really his fault. That was a major factor in starting Aftermath. Dre wanted to run a label the correct way and make sure everyone who worked with him got full credit and the correct publishing. I can honestly say Dre has never cheated me or anyone else i know during my time at Aftermath. Egos can get involved where some people think they should get more credit than they deserve. Scott had those issues once but he's back and working with us and is very happy to be a part of dre's team.
If you ask anyone who has ever worked with Dre if he treats them fairly they will all say yes. If you are willing to put in the work it takes to be successful dre will treat you and compensate you like family. He will reward you for your efforts.
Hopefully this sheds a little light on things. Dre is far from perfect, even very irritable sometimes, but in this business of music you will find few people as giving and humble as Dre.
Right now there are no plans to release any Aftermath album on 5.1. I think that will soon change though. Dre really wants to use it for Detox. If he does it would probably be released after the regular cd print of detox. the problem with 5.1 sound is that there are different formats. there is Dvd-audio and sacd. Right now Universal (and therefore Interscope) endorse the sacd format. however they also endorse the new dual disc format. a dual disc is a two sided disc - on side is the regular cd, the other side is a dvd, which includes a dvd audio 5.1 mix of the album plus extras like pictures, credits and videos. There are now universal players that play both the sacd and dvd audio format. sacd is better if you focus on just the sound quality of the music. dvd-audio is great too (llica's the Black Album) but it allows for music videos and other extras i just mentioned. the main problem with the formats id the lack of titles available. it's getting better but the number of available titles are very limited.
I think you will hear Detox in 5.1 someday. Dre wants to do it himself, which means it will take him a lot of time (it takes him a month for a regular cd so imagine how long it will take for a 6 channel mix). Dre really wants to create a mind blowing musical experience for you to enjoy one day, so I have no doubt you will one day get a chance to hear Dre take this format to a whole new level. just don't hold your breathe waiting for it. peace.
What's up y'all - I wanted to drop by for a few hours and post a few things today. The schedule is insane for the coming months so i won't have any time to come around for quite a while. First of all I will assure you that Dre is hard at work on Detox (again) Wink. 50's album is pretty much finalized, i think Dre is done with his mixing chores for The Massacre. I think you'll like most of the album, but I guess you'll have to make a judgement of your own when it gets released next month. My focus is already off that album on back on Detox and Busta's new album. I really think there is a good chance you'll get Busta's album yet this year, but I'm not gonna guess when it will come out because my track record is not real good when it comes to guessing release dates. All I know is he's been getting out there on mixtapes and working hard on his new album. On this topic I will address a few of the questions I get from people who recognize me (fortunatetly not too many yet). Like I said I'm not gonna stick my nose in on things I need to stay out of. i learned my lesson after letting you down on my premature excitement and telling you about what i though was going to be the forthcomng release of Oh My God. So I'll stick to answering questions that I get about Dre.
Q: Why did Dre abandon Detox, and why is it taking so long?
A: On the record Dre abandoned Detox because he wanted to focus on Em, Game, 50, Busta and Eve's albums. While that is true, off the record there are other reasons. The truth is Dre has been kicking around ideas and concepts for Detox for a long time. He changed his mind a few times and was never really happy enough about any of them. There is immense pressure to make Detox groundbreaking and better than his first two solo albums. In addition to that this is Dre's final solo album, so there is the additional pressure of going out with a bang that will echo in eternity. I don't think it ever crossed Dre's mind to actually not do Detox. Annoucning that he wasn't helped relieve some of the pressure. It also allowed Dre to step back and get his mind off of it for a while and get a fresh start later on. That fresh start is now as Detox is definetly back on. That we are actually putting vocals on some tracks is a very important step. For the last few years we have been building hundreds of instrumentals for Detox. They ranged from really sparse and simple beats to some of the craziest and most complex beats you have ever heard. We have all worked very hard together to create something truly original and groundbreaking. Picking which ones to actually use is easier said than done. We are striving for 100% live instrumental tracks built completely from scratch which takes a lot of work since we do some many of them before Dre wittles them down later on. Dre pushes us to dig deep and put our own ideas into the skeleton instrumentals we have made alongside him for Detox over the last couple of years. We are really pushing the envelope. In my opinion Dre has thrown out some incredible tracks that we and Dre have built together, but Dre is looking for something specific and if he doesn't hear it he will not use it. the dilema is how complex of tracks will the listening audience want to hear. Do they want orchestra like pieces or the tightly focused, yet simple beats you are used to from Dre. Ideally all of us and Dre want the most mindbending and complex original music experience ever heard on record. But will the audience be happy with that? The last thing we want to do is put out a "concept" album that loses people because it so different than what they are used to hearing. So thats been a big dilema. In the end i think you will hear elements of these complex beats but you won't hear the way they originally were created(those versions will go to the "Dr. Dre vault". At least that is the direction Dre has gone so far. I think the early tracks are as good as anything Dre has ever done - but it is still too early to tell how the final album will sound. I'm confident you will be very pleased. Dre is planning something special for the albums last track - if we can keep it within the budget.
I know there are rumours out there that Detox will not be 100% Dre produced. Dre is accepting tracks for consideration from a limited amount of producers, but the goal is for Dre to either produce or co produce the entire album. If Dre is having a hard time getting 16-18 quality tracks together of his productions that he likes he may look to someone else's production to fill in the needed tracks. Dre is humble enough to use someone elses track (like Lord Finesse's The Message beat) if it is dope enough to match the "classic level" of the Dre tracks on the album. Interscope is breathing down Dre's neck to get Detox out by year end. But Dre refuses to release it until he is ready. We have a long way to go but i think Dre is finally at peace with what he/we are trying to achieve on Detox. One thing to consider is this: The Vibe award incident really had a big impact on Dre. I have never seen Dre as determined and focused as he is right now. His anger and will to defeat all those who try to bring him down are having a direct impact on the aggressive nature of his recent productions. I promise you that no one is as driven as Dre is to make Detox FUBAR the competition or anyone who stands in his way. I don't know what the outcome of Detox will be, but we all, expecially Dre will work to exhaustion to make Detox the best it can be.
the westcoast underground is definetly in need of some promotion cause the big labels aren't really giving most of the young cats out here a chance. the game broke out so hopefully that will help some. Although I'm not much into being region oriented I do hope the west blows up again. I just don't like seeing people so close minded that they label things east coast or west coast. Good music is good music. It don't matter where you're from or where you're at. Dre catches a lot of flack for not supporting enough west coast artists. Right or wrong Dre don't care about pushing a certain coast. He is all about finding talent and making good music no matter if you live in China or Compton. Dre is real proud of The Game being from Compton. I know he hopes to see the West back on top and hopefully game will get things kick started. But Y'all can't look to Dre to bring the West back by himself. He is a part of the big corporate conglomerment that is Universal and is somewhat limited on what he can personally do. Its got to come from other people. The talent is there on the west coast. Unfortunately the big record labels run a monopoly in the music industry and its going to be incredibly tough to succeed unless you have the big label backing. I hate that fact but sadly thats the way things are and it will probably only get worse. I wish we could get rid of the big corporations and let people make music and release music without being railroaded by the big labels but it just isn't going to happen any time soon. At least there are avenues and opportunities to succeed without the major labels. You just have to find the and work harder than anyone else to get your music heard, and get luck. But remember that the most important thing though is to work on your craft and make good music. Promotion don't mean anything if the music sucks, so take music seriously and respect the art form and go for quality not quantity. Oops I gotta get to work. Peace everyone.
Hey everyone. I wanted to say a few words about the Rakim situation and why he left. Keep in mind I was as disappointed as anyone Oh My God never dropped on Aftermath. Also keep in mind I had nothing to do with any of the decision making in regards to the situation. I want to give everyone a little third party view of what happened, while at the same time respect the privacy and honor of everyone involved. Why did Rakim leave? Who is to blame? Rakim left due to a number of reasons. The main reason is that it just wasn't meant to be. Everyone involved is partially to blame (me included). There was so much hype about this album that a lot of pressure was put on before and during the recording of the album. On this forum a long time ago while Rakim was still on Aftermath I placed a lot of the blame on Jimmy I for the album taking so long to come out. To clarify i immensly respect Jimmy. I personally have no problems with him. He is a giant in the industry and he deserves the respect and kudos he gets. However he is known for always wanting a pop hit to release as a first single. It seems like any album submitted always gets rejected and kicked back until a "perfect" pop single was done. Rakim never wanted to do a pop album, a pop single, or a gangster rap album. Those three things definelty put a strain on getting Interscope's full backing and promotion for the album. For the record Dre never personally requested Rakim to "get the guns out". Dre wants every artist to be themselves and won't ever ask them to change who they are. However Dre knew that Oh My God would never come out until Interscope got the album they wanted so it really put him in a tough spot. Dre and Rakim really struggled finding a way to balance things out and make the album dre and rakim wanted while at the same time make the album Interscope wanted. My main beef with Jimmy is that when it comes to rappers he sometimes only wants to release controversial artists or black rappers that relay the sterotypical gangster image. Rakim definelty isn't either of those and that definetly hurt him. Rakim also didn't really want hooks. Songs without hooks somehow aren't good enough these days. Never mind that Rakim's greatest songs never really had hooks. making pop hooks was not something Rakim was good at, so he struggled in that area. Rakim is by far the most talented rapper I have ever heard. Rakim is a lyricist not a hook writer. And there was no way Rakim would ever let someone write a hook for him. So that was another problem. So there defineltly were conflicts there. Dre and Ra could never come up with the balance they needed and it was really tough on both of them. In the End Dre and Ra realized that it was going to be really tough to do the music they wanted and get Interscope's approval and their machine behind the release. So I disagree with Rakim saying he and Dre had creative differences. Ra and Dre simply could never find a way to make interscope happy and yet make an album they themselves were happy with.
I think Rakim would really get frustrated by interscope's wishes and really struggled with preparing himself the way he needed to put 100% of himself into making the record. The thing with Dre is that he expects his artists to be there when asked and be ready to work as hard as they ever had before. Rakim is a very cool cat, but at the same time kind of an enigma. Somedays he would be gung ho ready to go and other days he would be hesitant or not in the studio. When he was focused Rakim was pure magic. When he wasn't he was hard to figure out. Common thought is that only a few tracks were recorded for Oh My God. That is false. We may not have got a lot of full songs with vocals recorded (altough we did more than has been reported)but we created a lot of instrumentals with Rakim in mind. Like Dre rakim is very picky in the beats and sometimes he would pass on beats that we thought were perfect. However the shit Ra and Dre did do together were mind blowing. I wish you could of heard it. I would get crazy excited when those two were orchestrating tracks together. I was convinced that a classic was being created. In the end though it just didn't work out. I will always wonder what might have been. I am sorry you guys never got the album you deserved. It just wasn't meant to be. I have the utmost respect for Ra, he is truly a lyrical genius with the perfect voice and flow - and a good man. I don't know if you are ever going to hear a new Rakim album ever again. I just don't know if he will ever be able to put it together. Dre won't tell me if he and ra have recorded since Ra left or if they have made any plans to do so. Dre did tell me right after rakim left that he was confident they would be able to work together again someday and when they did they would make the classic shit that they should have been allowed to make on Aftermath. In the end no one will every truly know the exact reason Rakim left, except Rakim and Dre. I hope he one day is able to share his god given talents to the world one more time, with some help from Dre of course. I do ask that you guys don't place too much blame on any one person. Like I said it just wasn't meant to be. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that a new version of Oh My God gets released someday with a few tracks featuring the greatest mc ever and the greatest rap producer ever working their magic together. peace.
