Music, for
me, is intensely personal – even more so than films. It seems like the older I
get, the more serious I take music. No longer do I consume singles and albums
like I do a chocolate bar – I now think long and hard before make a purchase. And
yes, I still legally buy albums.
The problem
is a lot of what is popular today just isn’t for me. Whether that is popularity
in terms of album sales or critically - not a lot of music from today moves me. This
is especially the case when I think about black music. Black music has lost it’s
cool and it is heart-breaking to see. If your name isn’t Janelle Monae or Esperanza
Spalding then you are likely not breaking any new ground.
But there are
three artists that keep me irrational hopeful. There is something about these
three artists that make me believe – that make me hope – that they
will swoop in and save black music. I call them the Unicorns – you all probably
know them as Lauyrn Hill, Dr Dre and D’angelo.
I consider
all three of these artists legends who’s titan status within black music can
never be questioned. All three of these artists have created music that mean
the world to me, music that has changed their genre and music that I keep
going back to. I love them all.
In the next couple of days I’m
going to talk about why they are important and why I am still hopeful they can save
black music. Of course I’ve also ranked them because I’m weird like that.
...
3 – Dr Dre
Here is the
thing, I am 90% sure that Dr Dre will never release another solo-album ever
again. Yet it is that 10% that I keep obsessing about. I think hip-hop needs Dr
Dre more than Dr Dre needs hip-hop and he’s making so much money off of those
damn headphones that the chances of him making music ‘for the love of it’ are not likely. Yet, it is that 10% that keeps me hoping.
And why do I
hope? The Chronic and 2001 is why. One of these albums would be able to buy and
drink alcohol in America, while the other is a teenager but they are two of the
best albums I have ever heard – from any genre of any generation. Although I am not a gangster, or a pimp, nor do I drink 40s (what the hell is a 40) and I’ve not smoked so much as a cigarette in my whole life, these two albums make you believe that you know that life, that you’ve lived it and you are part of that west-side gangster culture.
Now I am not
trying to say that Dr Dre and co’s skill of making you feel like Tony Montana is a
good thing (that is debatable of course), but the way Dr Dre makes you feel
while all these gangsterisms are flying around is nothing short of magic. Dr
Dre is simply one of the best producers to ever live. He’s the hip-hop’s Quincy
Jones. I listen to songs like ‘Nuthing but a G thang’ and just wonder why I can’t
help grinning and walking like I have a limp. Dr Dre’s beats almost force you
to nod your head furiously and not many hip-hop producers can do that consistently.
I am also one
of the few who believes that Dr Dre’s finest achievement is 2001. An album
which has grown on me ever since it was released in 1999 and just like Chronic, this album changed hip-hop. This album introduced us to the ultra-gangster, a more polished gangster than the one introduced to us during Dre's Chronic era. This gangster was richer and more careless, but ultimately likeable. 2001 was Dr Dre basically introducing the world to the YOLO lifestyle before it was bastardised by the rest of hip-hop.
The older I get the more I listen to 2001. Just when I think I
am too old to listen to such music, the summer comes along and suddenly Dre is
telling me that “things just ain’t the same for gangsters”.
I personally don’t think that Dr Dre has anything to prove – the problem
is that I am in the minority. If he came out after 2001 and told the world not
to expect any more solo albums, I think no one would have batted an eye lid.
But instead Dr Dre actively promoted his follow up album Detox for almost a
decade. There have been so many false starts, so many singles that gave people
hope that Detox may materialise that I understand people’s frustration with
Dre.
These false
hopes and rumours of Dr Dre’s anxiety about Detox not being up to scratch has opened
the door to people questioning his legacy – unfairly so. People also point to
Dr Dre’s age and the terrible ‘I need a Doctor’ song as evidence of Dr Dre
losing his mojo.
While I think
Dr Dre’s critics make worthwhile points, I listen at Dr Dre’s recent
contributions
As long as
there is still hope left that Dr Dre will release one more album, I am willing
to wait patiently. If that album never comes, well, I am left with two
outstanding pieces of art and an iPod full of classic songs and albums by other artists
which the Doctor has had a heavy hand in crafting.