MALPRACTICE: THE EVOLUTION OF DR. DRE

Supposedly, rapper/super-producer Dr. Dre will be releasing his swan song album, Detox, this year. Detox has been delayed numerous times. One could say it's the hip-hop version of Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy. Many say yes as Dre is considered one of the greatest producers of all-time and they'd like to see how he closes the casket on his solo career. Others worry that this will be just like Chinese Democracy, long-delayed, overproduced, a smudge on a stellar career. Here's a look at the evolution of Dr. Dre.


The N.W.A. Years (Jheri Curls Not Included)
This is how I like to remember Dr. Dre (not that he's dead, but it seems like this version of him might be.) The rawness of the beats. The samples. True '88 hip-hop. Not too mention how great N.W.A. was. (I mean the O.G. lineup, not the post-Ice Cube era which is akin to Van Hagar) N.W.A. was one of those groups that you remember being blown away by the first time I heard them. (The others would be Public Enemy, Bad Brains and Gorilla Biscuits) The Jheri curls. The Raiders hats. The middle-finger-to-the-world attitude. Amazing.



Unfortunately, primary songwriter and future kids' movie star Ice Cube left the group over cash (big surprise). For the Efil4zaggin record, was definitely more smoothed out than Straight Outta Compton, foreshadowing his headfirst dive into funk. (Why did they bring in the dancehall guy? A poor choice, similar to milk.)




Death Row/G-Funk (Two Loc'd Out G's Going Craz-ay)
Before delving into the G-Funk era, I want to say that "Deep Cover" was the last song that still had that N.W.A. feel production-wise. Plus, it's the coming out party for Snoop.



Then came The Chronic which was the second biggest album of the 1990s after Nirvana's Nevermind. By merging the laid-back funk of Parliament* and laying gangsta verses over it, Dre created this odd hardcore/easy listening genre of hip-hop. Fusing pop-friendly beats with the street-credible rhymes was a recipe for success that's still duplicated today.






Post-Death Row (The Maturity of Dr. Dre)
After he parted ways with Death Row Records, he released the Dr. Dre Presents...The Aftermath with its lead single "Been There, Done That."


This is about where Dr. Dre got boring. A known perfectionist, Dre began smoothing songs out to the point where they were boring. It's like seeing a beautiful woman who's too beautiful, like the living definition of "airbrushed." While these songs work in the constructs of pop music, they lack the soul of Dre's previous efforts. Interestingly, he learned to play piano and learned some music theory around this time. I have to give him credit for not being stagnant.

As he drifted away from producing his own music, he was busy for some guy named Eminem and another guy named 50 Cent. The Dre-produced "In Da Club" may have been the nail in the coffin for me and Dre. I was at a wedding and this song came on and my mom rushed the dancefloor, like I do when I hear Bell Biv Devoe's "Poison." Lesson: if women in their late 50s are dancing to your song, you're doing something right (financially, aesthetically), despite what the critics (fans/geeks) say.



But what does the evolution of Dr. Dre mean for Detox? Since he's been perfecting this record for over five years now, it'll probably be a bit overproduced and smooth. (There's that word again.) Personally, I'd rather hear something a little rougher a la "Deep Cover." Dre, find your old Starter jacket and 808 drum machine. I know I'm asking for something that will never happen. Considering the current musical climate, a legend returning to square one to reclaim his throne would be bold. Not financially lucrative, but might shake things up in the normally stale world of major label rap music.

BONUS



* Dre doesn't actually sample any Parliament but used studio musicians to re-create the songs and twists them in his own way. Again, the man is a bit of a genius. Just wanted to state that and give you a little nugget of trivia.