Dr. Dre releases first album in nearly 16 years
Jackson Croy, Staff Photographer
Originally published October 28, 2015
Album: Compton Artist: Dr. Dre Score: ★ ★ ★ 1/2
“Detox,” and starting “Compton” during principal photography for the recent movie about NWA, “Straight Outta Compton.”
“Compton,” brings instrumentally complex, classic bass lines that hit hard in headphones and car stereos, and sounds that (if the typical Dre release pattern shows us anything) will alter the game.
The album includes verses from artists Kendrick Lamar, Anderson Paak, and BJ the Chicago Kid alongside veterans like Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit (only Dre can put Xzibit on a track in 2015), Jill Scott and others from the Aftermath catalog.
Notable tracks:
“Genocide” (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Marsha Ambrosius and Candice Pillay) — Kendrick and Dre both pursue a completely new and fresh flow while discussing police brutality; the instrumental is a truly original hip-hop beatdetuned bass drones over a unique synthesized drum pattern.
“Animals” (feat. Anderson Paak) — DJ Premier lays a track reminiscent of D’Angelo’s “Devil’s Pie,” with a 21st century twist. Paak sing-raps some original, timely lines about media bias towards African Americans and Dre comes back with bars about his true inner “beast.” It’s a sort of call and response, Jekyll and Hyde type duo.
Dre brings heat on his first release in more than a decade and despite the fact it’s not “Detox,” “Compton” is a solid, worthwile album.
