Album: Compton
Artist: Dr. Dre
By Maya Avila
Hello lovers of Rap & Hip Hop,
Dr. Dre is back, and luckily for us it’s in a good way. Finally, one of raps most prolific contributors has come back to us. Can you believe it’s been 16 years since the famously elusive rapper/ producer has released a studio album? And boy o’ boy is it wonderful. Look, I’m not saying this record is going to be your favorite, or that it’s the greatest of all time, or that it will have you screaming with glee at the top of your lungs, but it has far more substance than anything else out right now and it’s a far cry from the shit polluting the ears of some religious radio listeners today.
Compton was inspired by N.W.A’ s predicted blockbuster Straight Outta Compton, and features well known rap alumni such as Ice Cube, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Xzibit among others, and even showcases some up and comers like the N.C. native King Mez, Anderson .Paak, Candice Pillay, Asia Bryant, Justus, and Jon Connor. This record has so many features, it almost feels orchestrated with Dr. Dre front and center as its conductor. He has managed to produce a sound uniquely recognizable as west coast hip-hop. Known as G-Funk, its sound is deep yet minimalistic, its lyrics usually consist of angry and righteous social emotions. Very in your face.
Although the west coast has been on the rap and hip hop scene for a very long time, the East coast has arguably been cultivating the genre as a whole, continuously pumping out easy urban beats with flowy poetic lyrics. N.W.A was the first group to bring modern West coast rap to the forefront and practically inventing gangster rap. This sound has really been sort of lost over the years since Death Row Records has become less and less relevant.
It should come as no surprise that the Doc has managed to mix classic beats and give them a new age flare, experimenting with some jazzy, soulful, even reggae chants, and a cappella vocal beatboxing. This is amazingly prevalent throughout the beginning of the album.
In classic Dre style, he comes out aggressive and still very angry. He mostly sights the oppression of young black men in LA and unapologetically dismisses any other rapper who might think they even come close to being on his level. Probably the softest moments Dr. Dre has is when he pays tribute to his former N.W.A mates, more specifically on a track titled Darkside/Gone, he gave remembrance to the only deceased member of the original rap group, Eazy-E.
Compton features a heart stopping array of talent including old and fresh faces, each of which totally enhance the album. Snoop Dogg finally sounds like his old self again delivering his lines that remind you how old school he really is. Ice Cube lays down a short but solid verse in on track 8 named Issues. For a moment, you realize that Ice Cube is one of the badass pioneers of West Coast Hip-Hop and not just some angry detective in 21 Jump Street. Eminem, as always, expertly throws precise punctual spitfire in your ears on Medicine Man. The soul veteran Jill Scott also offers her beautiful voice to the record. And of course how can we forget Dr. Dre’s latest protégé Kendrick Lamar, whose voice is constant throughout the album even though he is officially featured on two out of the sixteen tracks
The most powerful performances came from the up and comers who really managed to hold their own against the elite cast of veterans. Candice Pillay, Asia Bryant, and Anderson Paak all have voices that create unique sounding hooks that have you wanting to know more about them. King Mez and Justus delivered knockout verses on their respective featured tracks.
However, Dr. Dre’s work doesn’t come without its critique. The songs are frequently interrupted by dialog, which makes the whole album seem a bit theatrical and cinematic. Although it doesn’t throw of the complete flow of all the songs as a whole, it is annoying and repetitive. Perhaps one of the most off the wall moment came from track 7 titled Loose Canons where a man suffering from some sort emotional battle ends up shooting his girlfriend and getting his friends to help him take care of the body. The entire altercation is a bit long and quite frankly disturbing. It also seems to me that Dre, when rapping himself, is repetitive. Always talking about his hard upbringing and the pressure his peers always have him under, which to me is somewhat unrelatable in this day in age, given that he is raps first self-proclaimed billionaire. I’m not saying he shouldn’t feel some type of way about his hardships, but come on; Dre really needs to evolve himself lyrically.
On track 5 titled All in A Days Work, Dr. Dre talks about some of the pressure he is under which part of which I suspect comes from the failed release of what was supposed to be his long awaited third studio record Detox. Supposedly the album never came together and just wasn’t really any good. I would guess this would have made him feel somewhat incompetent and unable to compete with the biggest rappers at the time, or maybe he was too busy building the careers of his newly discovered artist Eminem and 50 cent. Either way, it was a disappointment
Overall taking in all the good with the bad, Dr. Dre has shown he still has what it takes to produce something worthy of our time. Once again, the West Coast sound is relevant. Each beat has been masterfully crafted proving he is still one of the best producers in the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if not too long from now you hear newer artists sampling from this album. This record is a worthy addition to any rap or hip-hop collection. Definitely don’t sleep on this.