I’m really trying to pinpoint where my loathing of the guy began, but somewhere along the line I grew tired of his fame and glory.
Wait, that’s not right; I’ve never liked Dr. Dre.
It’s probably because I grew up in Tucson which it way too close to the West Coast and always felt the need to latch onto what was popular in Cali (gangs, music fads, traffic). And while I could appreciate the sentiment behind “F— tha Police”, it was a bit too pedestrian for my tastes, which ran much more in the vein of De La Soul and Public Enemy. Basically, I dodged the whole N.W.A. thing, which probably set me behind the learning curve when it came to Dr. Dre.
“Deep Cover” had a dope beat, I’ll give it that, but by the time The Chronic rolled around I was completely sick of gangsta rap. I didn’t want to hear it anymore. Maybe it was because the tales they told were essentially just down the block, so there wasn’t really the allure of escapism or voyeurism. Perhaps it was because I found those tales lyrically lacking. But the beats really didn’t hit me like that.
Of course this is when Dr. Dre was being hailed as a genius. For the life of me I couldn’t get it. Here I was waiting for the latest Pete Rock remix or Large Professor remix, while everyone is slathering Dre with acclaim. Could my sensibilities really be that out of touch with that of the Joe Average? (It was around this time that I postulated that mass acceptance or embracing equally appealing to the most common denominator and thus showcased a lack of creativity.)
Anyway around this time I became 100% anti-Dr. Dre. So much so, in fact, that I’ve still never listened to It Was Written because I can’t bring myself to listen to “Nas is Coming.” I’ve since lessened my stance, but I doubt I’ll ever listen to the song.
What I don’t understand about Dr. Dre fans is that, much like Tupac fans, they can’t bring themselves to acknowledge his shortcomings or failures, much less give props to any rivals.
I mean, am I the only one to remember the Aftermath compilation? If Dr. Dre is such an amazing producer why wasn’t The Firm a success? Does no one remember that both Eve and Rakim were supposed to release albums on Aftermath yet those albums never materialized? And if Dr. Dre really does have the golden touch then why didn’t Busta’s The Big Bang do big numbers?
Dr. Dre gave us Snoop Dogg and Eminem, but that’s it. That’s all. He’s not a great producer. His beats aren’t phenomenal. He uses both ghost writers and ghost producers. He’s an average businessman who got lucky, twice. If it wasn’t for Eminem, Dre would be remembered for “Been There, Done That”.
I know it’s probably asking too much but I really wish that Dr. Dre would return to acting so that his zealots could actually take a look back at his musical career. And not just the peaks, but the valleys as well, because it’s his fans that really keep me hating him.
