S. Samuel
The anticipation for Dr. Dre and Jay-Z's long-awaited "Under Pressure" collaboration was finally fulfilled as an unfinished version of the track leaked onto the Internet today.
Dre leads off the track and is then followed by Young Hov.
The leak, whose rough-take vibe I cannot stress enough, is not an immediate stunner. Dr. Dre takes the first verse, spitting some decently clever bars (presumably penned with help from Jay) over clubby bleeps and bloops. “Maybe I don’t want to stop, maybe I don’t want to quit,” he muses. “Maybe I’m crazy/Maybe I’m strapped right now, just bait me.” Dre raises his voice for some rousing words in Creole. Then, after a blank space where a hook might fit, it’s time for Jay-Z’s superior verse. Hov gets some snappy lines in, as when he informs us that life’s stresses have him “bringing guns to work, Gilbert Arenas.” And: “I’m in this party, I’m up to no good/And I should be ducking these clubs, Tiger Woods.” Given the timing of the two sports scandals he references, I wonder if Jay-Z recorded his verse any later than January. Anyway, that’s it. Two verses, no hooks, and this version of “Under Pressure,” at least, is out. (Entertainment Weekly)
In an interview last month, Dre and Interscope Records head Jimmy Iovine spoke on the single’s delay.
Alright, enough with the jokes. Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine did an interview on Skyrock radio in France a little while ago and here’s the information being supplied by my sources who heard them live: 1. ‘Under Pressure’s release was delayed because Eminem decided to drop his new one ‘Not Afraid’ first, which was not the original plan. 2. They now have another single ready, other than ‘Under Pressure’ but have not decided which one will come out first. They did stress on releasing it this Summer though. 3. They reaffirmed the fact that Detox will be out this year. Who here still has hopes? (Hip Hop N More)
The song is produced by hitmaker Scott Storch.
Famed Grammy Award-winning producer Scott Storch has come together with legendary Grammy Award winning super-producer Dr. Dre to produce the long awaited first single, “Under Pressure” off the highly anticipated album, “Detox.” This project has been in the works for some time, which has created a wave of hope and anticipation. (Market Wire)
Dre recently said his new single would likely be released in April.
“Yes, hopefully we’ll be releasing [‘Under Pressure’] in the next two weeks or so,” Dre said in an interview referring to his Jay-Zcollaboration. “And I’m definitely gonna be putting the album out this year. Finally, you know, and I think everybody is gonna be happy with it. That’s it right now. I’m just trying to finish this record, finally get it done, get it out and start promoting it.” (CNBC)
Dr. Dre’s last album, The Chronic 2001, was released in 1999.
Listen to the track below:
