After suffering a brain injury earlier this year, it was widely reported that Dr. Dre was back in the studio working on his fabled album Detox just a matter of days after being discharged.
However, lesser-known, is that the rapper and producer has been working on Detox for over 18 years.
The studio album was originally announced way back in 2002 and was reportedly delayed so that Dre could work on projects with Eminem and 50 Cent instead.
The album seemed to be completely off the table when, in 2015, Dre shared that he wouldn’t be finishing it.
“I didn’t like it. It wasn’t good,” he said at the time of Detox. “The record, it just wasn’t good … I worked my ass off on it, and I don’t think I did a good enough job.”
Instead, Dr. Dre released Compton, just a week later. The record featured Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, and debuted at No 2 on the US Billboard 200. It received an outstanding reception with Rolling Stones critic, Jonah Weiner, saying “by turns confounding and enthralling” and that it “contains some of his most ambitious, idea-stuffed production ever”.
Fortunately, it seems that Dre may have had a change of heart about releasing Detox.
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Several photos of Dr Dre have emerged on social media of him in the recording studio. He was joined by Dem Jointz who captioned the image of them with, ”And We Back!! #Detox21.”
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In August last year, Akon acknowledged the existence of Detox and shared that he recorded some sessions for the album.
“I don’t think [Dre] understands his power sometimes,” he said in an interview with Vlad TV. “[But] I don’t think that. I think he’s gonna win no matter what because he’s Dre! Just drop that bitch!
He added: “I know for a fact I did a couple of bangers that the world probably will never hear. But man, from what I did hear when we were working together and I was submitting records for ’em, man, they got so much heat. But he’s just a perfectionist — too perfect.”
It’s also been rumoured that Eminem was (is?) set to appear on the album. Actor and singer-songwriter Page Kennedy tweeted that he’d listened to Dr Dre’s album (though he didn’t specify the name of the album).
“[T]his Dr. Dre album sounding [fire],” he tweeted.
When a fan asked about Eminem releasing an album, Kennedy spilled the piping hot tea.
Whether or not Dr. Dre is actually releasing a new album, and if so, whether that album will be the long-awaited Detox, is yet to be determined. However, signs are definitely looking promising and, if Akon is to be believed, it sounds as though it will be worth the almost two-decade-long wait.
