Detox seemed like a sure thing near the end of 2010 when, after producing every song on Relapse; one of Eminem’s best two albums; Dr Dre released what was supposed to be its first single; a glossy party banger entitled Kush, featuring Snoop Dogg. It was a good start. But instead of finally putting the album out, he followed with one of his worst, albeit one of his most popular, songs; I Need A Doctor; and fell back into relative obscurity. It was an odd move rarely heard of in the world of popular music. Albums are pushed back, but almost never canceled after their first singles are released. The world was used to waiting though, for an album rumored and teased so ridiculously long that it was becoming a rap legend. Will fans ever get that Chronic epilogue? Dr Dre suggested not as he spoke about it in the past tense during a recent radio interview. “I didn’t like it,” he said, “It wasn’t good.”
That suggests he likes this album and thinks it’s good. It’s what Detox was originally supposed to be; a Dr Dre album with all-new songs. It sounds like all-new songs, but it doesn’t sound like a Dr Dre album, which, considering the sonic differences between the two Chronics, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What’s disappointing are the songs themselves. If we’re comparing them to what came several years before, they simply can’t compare. There’s no fun here. Humor is pushed aside for solemn thug poetry. The club is passed by for a Compton street corner, but where are the drugs and the hoes? Worst of all is the lack of catchy hooks to sing along with. Where’s Devin? Who are all these dudes? Where’s DJ Yella? “Where Ren at?” Kendrick Lamar is overrated. This sounds like one of his albums. Eminem was the best rapper by far in 2001. Why can’t he go back to rapping like that in every verse?
This isn’t Detox; I have to keep telling myself that; but it doesn’t have to be. It just has to be good. Dr Dre apparently thinks it is. I disagree. There’s nothing for me to latch onto here. The first song sounds surprisingly like the typical trap music of today. Dre didn’t used to follow. He used to innovate. Not that he made most of these beats (himself) anyway. The man is 50 years old. Perhaps I should give him a break, but why? He’s still making songs, so I can still critique them. “I ain’t heard nothing that I can consider classic,” he says of other rappers’ songs, but, even with a team of ghostwriters and ghostproducers on hand, I’m having a hard time hearing anything I can even consider good here. Even the beats, the best parts of the album, leave a lot to be desired. I’m not from Compton, so you might say it just isn’t meant for me, but I like both Chronic albums and never smoked weed. Go figure.
my rating : 3 of 5
2015
MCA :
Preach on, this album was so disappointing. I’m upset because we all deserve better.
R. J. Werner :
Amen!
DST :
I’m glad someone said it. After checking out the movie “Straight Outta Of Compton” and listening to the old albums, we were hype to listened to new music from Dre after all these years. The first time my friends & I heard “Compton”, we thought Dre broke into Kanye West’s studio and stole his instrumental tracks. Man what a huge let down. I hope someone will find those “Detox” tracks & released a bootleg version of it so we can judge if Detox was bad or was Dre just being his worst critic.