Dr. Dre-Compton (2015)

Dr. Dre-Compton (2015)

I just want to get my music out and make sure that it's heard in the right way.

Dr. Dre        

       

By: Ghost Writer

How far has come the mighty Andre aka Dr. Dre since his years with the World Class Wreckin' Cru, making electro rap hits, to his time with the powerful N.W.A., one of my favorite hip hop groups, his early solo records including the amazing The Chronic, and his late years as producer of talents like Snoop Dogg and Eminem.

Dre has done it all, he even had a successful career as businessman selling headphones, and that makes me question myself, Dre still has what it takes to make music the way he did with N.W.A. or in The Chronic? In a way Dre is not a misfit anymore, he is part of the royalty, he is part if the luxury rap thing, living the great life, far from the street thug who made great records with Ice Cube or Eazy E.

Compton si a soundtrack to a film, is adventurous even fro Dre to get behind a name like that, as it goes directly back to the street level of his former years, and Compton is not as rough as N.W.A. or The Chronic, it has a glossy production and has multiple hip hop stars inputs, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dog Eminem and even Ice Cube.

Opener Talk About It has some trap elements, it shows that Dre is evolving with the times, his Parliament gangsta approach is put aside in this tune, it reminds me more of a Kanye West production, but Genocide retains Dre early originality adding the enormous talent of Marsha Ambrosius and the killing flow of Lamar who is as always incredible behind the mix displaying his stellar talent.

All In a Day's Work gets a little back to The Chronic days, this is totally Dre's territory with shiny keyboards and bouncy bass, it goes back to the enormous Parliament influence on Dre, which doesn't sound out of place and works great, giving him a chance to get back his breath and launching the intense DarksideGone with a spine chilling Lamar and a spectacular chorus, and another impressive tour de force called Loose Cannons, a chaotic and cinematic tune that simply sounds great.

Issues has a great opening, it might be the most expected tune as it features the always startling Ice Cube, and the man really delivers his venomous and brutal rhymes, but the tune is not wholly as great as the first minutes of it, in a way when one imagines Dre going again with Cube, one really expects sparks to start flying, but instead we get too much auto tune.

Lamar and Dre visit again trap world in Deep Water, it show again Dre in form and it gives Lamar the chance to deliver his powerful and intense vocal lines, but the real explosion of sounds arrive with Snoop rough and ready vocals in the amazing One Shot One Kill.

That make us wonder why Snoop doesn't get this tough more frequently, this is the kind of attack one would expect from the man who once was the motor behind Eazy E, and if that wasn't enough, just check the powerful beats of Just Another Day that shows that Dre hasn't list any of his talent to create really incredible music.

In the end few things remind un my mind, Compton isn't The Chronic (and it is great it isn’t), Dre is not finished as producer, he IS a great producer, Lamar is amazing and Snoop needs to get back to rapping hard, the presence of Ice Cube and Eminem ended up overrated, Dre is still learning new tricks, he is far from outdated and the man still has many surprises to give us in the future beyond cheesy headphones.