Dr. Dre- Chronic 2001 (22 Years and Still Smoking)

Dr. Dre and Eminem in 1999

Dr. Dre is a maestro when it come to composing music. He has the right ear for good sounds and he let’s his melodies speak to your ear like French. Simple, elegant , classy but also gangster. Note that Dr. Dre is not a rapper.. He is a conductor when it comes to soundboard engineering of the rap game.. What does Tim Duncan and Dre have in common? They are two quiet individuals who believe in team work. They rely on their teammates to be successful and with their trust, they bring in those who going to help them win.. NOTE, this is 1999 and Eastcoast rap is surrounding your airwaves and they are in your Napster downloads or even on a mix with the blank cd made by Memorex..

During this time, Dr. Dre brought back that G-Funk sound in 1992 with the 1st Chronic. Dre only makes music every 7 years because he is a perfectionist.. Dre must have so many OG Originals that even to him, they do not sound complete.

After leaving Ruthless records in 1990 due to his optimistic vision of wanting to create a new sound, Dr. Dre drew away from the political side of rap and joined the party where the Westcoast bbq’d, drank, and smoke until 6 in the morning. After his release from Death Row Records; Dr. Dre created his own imprint, Aftermath Records. After The Aftermath compilation, Dre signed Eminem because of his debut ep, The Slim Shady Ep. There is no difference between Dre then and now because he knew how to establish a team. I’m going to tell like this, I don’t believe in using ghostwriters but if your wanting to follow in Dre or Kanye’s style, you must have the best of the best writer money can buy.

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg

Dr. Dre, Born Andre Young had always had a knack for music. When he was 16, his mom bought him turntables to keep him off the street. Ever since, Dre been obsessed with sounds and melodies and as a composer; Dr. Dre is like the black Barry Manilow. A person who relies on a team and creates the best crew to deliver the best performance seen or heard. The creation he created made a legacy for 1000 years from now to be remembered as timeless. Take it back, Dre is the ghetto Bach with his ear to music. The reason is because his songs are remembered, even by fans who don’t like rap. I know them all. From truckers with George Straight playing in their Dodge with Trump stickers on their bumper to preppy people who were raised off a silver spoon and toys I never had growing up, everyone is familiar with the impact Dr. Dre provided on his soundtracks. His albums are soundtracks to me because of the theatrical stage presence his music brings.

Andre Young is a creative genius

On November 16, 1999, The Dr brought us the Chronic 2001. This album took 7 years to make because of the impact the first Chronic brought us. Being down with Dre, you expect to hear G-Funk sounds, 808 Bass drums, & Piano’s. Even Dre’s albums will make elders bop their heads due to how perfect the sounds are. This albums was 22 tracks and it sounds like a movie in L.A. Let’s dig deep and see how this album matters like Black Lives.

1. Intro- Dr. Dre gives us a trip to L.A to see where Chronic is going to take us.
2. The Watcher- Things just ain’t the same for gangsters. Ya damn right because times is changing and when Dre came up in the rise of the G-Funk Era, Dre’s idea of Gangster revolutionized as he enters the millennium. This song is about growth, change, and how things switched up since the 1st Chronic.
3. Fuck You Feat. Snoop Dogg & Devin The Dude- a sadistic song about sex, last, or being direct message to a menage a trois. When I mean sadistic, I meant it in a good way. I love this song because it shows that Dre and Snoop are the perfect rapper producer duo and this song has Devin and he still does not get the recognition he deserves. One thing Devin and DJ Quik have in common, they do enough music to where they should be recognized for their work. That is like me working a food service and I make and take orders, get them out on time, and make sure my customers are happy. Then what gets ruined is my boss starts calling me lazy or any other negative word and then I start to rumble with them. You can say what you want about Devin but he deserves to be recognized and this song is the reason why. Above it all, even to a smart person;ignorance is bliss and sometimes we to be entertained by something silly every once and a while.
4. Still D.R.E Feat. Snoop Dogg — This was 1999’s anthem and Dre proved he can pick up where he left off. Jay-Z wrote the song and this was a perfect fit. The pianos by Scott Story brings me to life. I went to a Catholic School for 7 years of my life and we had to wear Polo’s and Khakis and the song had my Khaki’s sagging. My teachers looked at me like I was an MS-13 member. All that was missing was a bandana and a black and white flannel. Music has an influence and like Ice Cube said, Gangsta rap made me do it.
5. Big Ego’s Feat. Hitman — Dr. Dre never promoted Hitman and it made me mad. Hitman did enough and to be honest, there been times he was more Aftermath more than Em at times because of the features Dre puts him on. It is not Hitmavgns or Dre’s fault because Hitman has an indecisive boss who don’t know if he should swing for fences sometimes.
6. Xplosives Feat. Kurupt, Six-Two, Nate Dogg, & Hitman- A fun little cypher without Dr. Dre. Kurupt is honestly my favorite Westcoast rapper and he graced that beat with his rugged Philly background delivery but it matched perfect with the instrumental the D.R.E put together
7. Whats The Difference Feat. Eminem and Xzibit- What a childhood dream to have Em and Xzibit on the same song with Dre’s instrumentals. This song is about the difference between now and then. Talking about stories about how D.O.C went through that car accident but still managed to be looked out by DR himself while making peace with his deceased friend, Easy-E. Xzibit talks about going from an underground rapper to making it big while Eminem brags about how he got a deal and willing to kill any adversary that is coming at Dre or his Aftermath Imprint providing hilarious bars about loyalty and murder in one.
8. Bar One (Skit)- Your typical Westcoast Skit that revolves around the nighttime culture in Cali.
9. LightSpeed Feat. Hitman- Dre’s personal hitman known as Hitman coming on the beat rapping over some melodic smooth beats. Mixing Gangster with Classy makes this a grown mans theme with a Gangster Vibe
10. Forget About Dre Feat. Eminem- Y’all forgot about Dre didn’t y’all. Apparently nobody did because this single was huge in the 2000’s which marks how Dre has not changed and still managed to keep up with his business and music.
11. The Next Episode Feat. Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, & Kurupt- The best interlude type song in the world. This song reminds us this is the Chronic 2001 and they are still smoking for the 2000's/
12. Lets Get High Feat. Kurupt, Hitman, & Ms. Roq- This song is a smoking song about partying and being disrespectful. This song is meant for wild parties where white girls snort cocaine. This song describes the actions of partying hard around some wild woman.
13. Bitch Niggaz Feat. Snoop Dogg, Hitman, & Six-Two- Snoop’s intro to this makes you want to bop your head to this. Bitch Niggaz is a diss song towards the fake individuals who come into the game. These situations happen where we meet someone fake and for those who do not understand; Those who are that are envious and jealous. Dre raps about his come up dealing with those individuals and learning how to protect your company,
14. The Car Bomb (Skit) Feat. Mel-Man & Charis Henry- The skit leads to the song which transcends perfect.
15. Murder Ink Feat. Ms Roq, & Hitman- This is a murderous song where Hitman makes the song sound scary with it’s traditional West Coast grimey beat to make this song more haunting.
16. ED-ucation Feat. Eddie Griffin- Eddie Griffin preaches. What is wrong with a man with a bus pass? Seriously, woman are blind and want a scumbag with a Mercedes rather than a working man with a bus pas.
17. Some L.A Niggaz Feat. MC Ren, Xzibit,DeFari, Knoc-Turnal, & King T- This is a Cali Alliance and Dre put them all together to make a classic for those to remember. This is a Cali Classic when it comes to California unity.
18. Pause 4 Porno (Skit) Feat. Jake Sneed- A porno skit for those that want to fuck things up.
19. Housewife Feat. Kurupt- You can’t turn a hoe into a housewife. Don’t believe me, listen to this song. Dre raps about the freaks that want to be a housewife because of the money he holds.
20. Ackrite Feat. Hitman- A song about telling the hoes to ackrite and give it up. This is another story about Hitman and Dre meeting promiscuous woman who are willing to give it up
21. Bang Bang Feat. Knock-Turnal & Hitman- A gangster song about guns and the crimes in Compton. Compton’s influence has managed to ride through the CD. Best Thing smoking for the Millennium. That is why this CD is called the Chronic 2001
22. The Message Feat. Mary J. Blige- A letter to his departed brother, Tyree who died while Dre was on tour. Royce Da 5'9 deserved more props because his writing credit on here is memoirable because of how he started. This song was composed well and Royce should of went to Aftermath because his voice would of been perfect if his reference tracks were this good.
23. Outro- A great short outro to end the album

Overall

The DR at work

Dr. Dre provided us the best West Coast bop in the world. This album was one of those that remind us that the millennium was ran by West Coast titans and Dre and his Chronic projects proved to be one of the best team efforts people can work on. This takes a lot of effort when you got so many instrumentals and plenty of ghostwriters. Although he may not write his rhymes, his voice makes you think he did it because of how deep his voice is and how it can tell a story for those across the world. Dr. Dre is one of them artist who takes time to craft the best albums for those that love music.

Live From The Stove Top,

Andrew Kenekham AKA Druski Dru