Review: Dr. Dre - The Chronic (1992, Death Row)
Boasting lumbering bass lines and syrupy synths, The Chronic slips hip-hop a creative, funky injection while cunningly introducing unknown charisma bomb Snoop Doggy Dogg to the genre's rapidly growing fan base. The album's impeccable series of standouts, such as 90s-cool classic "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang," Grammy-winning Parliament plagiarism "Let Me Ride" and tumbling takeover tune "Fuck With Dre Day," is permeated by a few funny skits and simply oozes stony, gushing G-Funk. Highlights include The Lady of Rage's firey opening verse on "Lyrical Gangbang" and a final farewell to groove master George Clinton on hilarious outro "The Roach," after which the good doctor returns to the turntables to tinker Snoop's sophomore debut.
Review: Dr. Dre - 2001 (1998, Aftermath)
On key cut "Still D.R.E.," the doctor dismisses doubters with "Haters say Dre fell off / How, nigga? My last album was the Chronic." A pretty valid point, especially taking into account all he's done since then - make Doggystyle, launch and maintain his own record label, prescribe perfect productions to various patients, and unearth hip-hop's most promising lyricist since Notorious. All 22 of 2001's beats earn the time they took to surface, abandoning their equally potent G-Funk forefathers for hard-hitting, SUV-friendly bass lines, live instrumentation and tasteful sound effects. That plus we haven't heard Dre rap for 7 years - and he hasn't rusted a bit. Along with Snoop and Eminem the producer provides the best moments, chauvinistic centerpiece "Xxplosive" excluded, but to explain the infinite guest spots, 2001 is strictly business; Dre needs to assert his own credibility as much as make everyone else on Aftermath famous. Luckily for everyone, he does all of that - malpractice is not in this man's vocabulary.
Bump this: Xxplosive, Forgot About Dre, The Next Episode
