On behalf of my insatiable need to be right all the time, because I'm a blog curator, I'd like to apologize to Kendrick Lamar for sleeping on him. Fresh off a Dr. Dre cosign, Kendrick dropped this freestyle, with the audio of Dre cosigning him at the beginning (just in case you didn't believe him). The beat knocks hard, but when it comes right down to it, Kendrick Lamar steals the show with one of the best rapid-fire flows I've heard in a while. Even crazier is the fact that he purposefully rhymes off beat about rhyming offbeat. Dre cosign or not, this verse is unbelievably good. Kendrick says he will be releasing new music in December, so I'll definitely have my ears open this time around. Check him out if you're not already a fan...
Been saying it for months now. I'd rather have some 'Songs' from Dr. Dre than 'Beats' by Dr. Dre. The wait for his new album Detox has become laughable. Ironically, Dre thinks so too. That's the only reason he would agree to let Affion Crockett annoy him during a trip to the gym with LeBron. In this new commercial for Dre's newest headphone set, Affion takes shots at LeBron about everything from the press conference to a potential rivalry with the Lakers. I've got to admit, this is funny, even though it really didn't make me want to buy a pair of the headphones. Also, LeBron is really about to make a hefty amount of money. Maybe his bid for the first black billionaire isn't as far-fetched as we think. Check the commercial, because I'm sure you've got an opinion of both LeBron and Dre at this point. Hearing Affion's won't hurt...
I was beginning to think that Dr. Dre was secretly dead and that he had just pulled a Tupac, making a lifetime's worth of music to have an amazing posthumous catalog. It's either that or he's been taking care of his family and chilling. We all know the good doctor has more on his plate than just music. I guess that's why he recruited Jay-Z to help him out with his first song in over a decade. A decade is an eternity in the music industry with more artists that have come and gone than minutes in the day. Dre doesn't seem to have skipped a beat on the beat (if that was him on the boards, mind you), though his rhymes sound a bit more than rusty. Let's just hope we don't have to wait another 10 years for the 2nd single from Detox...
P.S.: The track is tagged up by the NewMusicCartel.. It still knocks, but the random voices do irk me...
ItsTheReal always seems to find the perfect way to say the things I've been thinking for years...
Okay, we're gonna start this letter off with a question. What lie do rappers tell the most??? A) I'm working with (insert producer here)!! B) The label/manager/supervising entity is holding me back. C) My album is dropping soon!!
(take a few minutes)
(shouldn't be that hard)
(there are only a few answers)
DING DING DING!!!! The answer is C) My album is dropping soon!!
Now, to you Dr. Dre... I'll put it out there. The first rap album I bought with my own money was The Chronic 2001, in 1999. I had to hide it from my mother because of the lyrics, the cover and the huge Parental Advisory sticker, but it was completely worth it. I knew every word to that album, and if you throw it on today, I'll probably still spit the lyrics like I'm rollin up with you and Snoop. That's not the point of this letter though, Dre. Since 1999, when you dropped The Chronic 2001 (why was the date 2 years off??), the only instance we've heard from you is on Aftermath albums (Eminem, 50, The Game) and in commercials. Production was always your forte, so I have no gripes about that. But the last time I checked, you were Dr. Dre, not Dr. Pepper.
Instead of Beats by Dre, how about we have some Raps by Dre???
Hearkening back to the question I asked at the beginning of the letter, we've heard more talk about Detox than Tupac rumors, and there's still nothing. The Game, 50, Em, and every artist that you've lent a beat to in the past 10 years has alluded to 'Detox', and there's still nothing. Rappers have came and gone, retired and unretired, went to jail and came back, and we still know nothing about Detox. According to rumors, you have over 100 songs recorded for the album. What's the deal?? We all know you're a perfectionist. That's all good and peachy. But when you're not even writing half of the songs that are going to be on the album, does it really matter as much? Dre, I know you're a hip-hop icon, and you're one of the greatest producers ever, and yadda yadda yadda... It just sucks waiting for a hip-hop album for over 10 years!! Not to mention, if Detox is anything less than 6 mics (out of 5), I will disavow all knowledge of you. At this point, Dre, you have to debate whether the concept is even relevant anymore. If one of the tracks is not heat rocks, I'll consider your legacy tainted. It doesn't take a doctor or 10 years to figure that out...
