S. Samuel
Producer Dr. Dre has opened up about his distanced relationship with Aftermath/Shady Records artist 50 Cent despite signing the rapper to his label in 2002.
According to Dre, he is still on good terms with 50, however, the rapper’s venture into filming has caused them to lose touch.
“Everything is cool. I haven’t spoken to 50 in a long time. He’s doing his own thing right now. Hopefully we’ll get to work together again in the future but I think he’s working on movies. As far as everybody else goes, I’m here. Everybody knows I’m working on my own thing. Once that’s done, holla at me.” (VIBE)
Recently, Dre’s former N.W.A. group member Ice Cube said he has been hard to locate.
“I didn’t get a chance to work with Dre on this record,” Cube said in an interview referring to his I Am The West LP. “He’s been M.I.A. for two to three months now. But I don’t feel bad, because Snoop [Dogg] can’t find him either — I think, really, it’s because people expect so much from him. People expect, when Dre does a record, it [will] change the trajectory of music. Not just be an album and it come out and be good. It has to come and take us in a different direction. And that’s a lot of pressure.” (MTV)
Dre is currently working on his long-delayed upcoming Detox album.
“Absolutely, I’m leaving this event and heading right to the studio,” Dre said from the 23rd ASCAP Awards when asked about a Detox release. “I’m getting it cracking and trying to put it out by the end of the fall. I’m trying to give everyone what they’ve been waiting for and make sure they’re not disappointed. This it, that’s all I’m doing. [The leaked ‘Under Pressure’ was] absolutely not [real.] I didn’t get a chance to finish the record, the vocals are real rough, it’s not blended right and there’s not even a hook on the song. It’s not done, the music’s not done, it’s just one of those things we have to deal with today in this business because of technology and all of that. It’s real easy for somebody to steal your sh*t so what can you do?” (Hard Knock TV)
Last year, 50 weighed in on Dre’s delayed release.
“Dre is actually working,” 50 promised in an interview with DJ Enuff. “I heard eight records. When it takes this long, I’ma tell you what I heard. I heard eight and [Eminem] said it’s ten. So it’s probably two I didn’t get a chance to hear. I think [the wait] actually builds more pressure. Are you trying to get it or are you trying to scare the sh*t out of ’em? I know, its been taking him a long time. [He’s also] so critical of himself at the same time. You know what it is too, I look at it like this. I love some of the things he thinks that are just ‘good’… I kinda feel like I can gauge what is necessary at this point…When’s the last time you heard a hip-hop record that didn’t have an R&B chorus in the Top 10? You understand what I’m saying. It’s changing hip-hop music to the point where it’s necessary for you to have an R&B artist or perform like an R&B artist on the hook…You can tell the deejay to slow down but when motherf*cking [Black Eyed Peas‘ ] ‘Boom Boom Pow’ is No. 1, how you gonna tell the artist what to make?” (The B-Side)
Check out Dr. Dre speaking on Detox down below:
