Last week, news broke that hip-hop icon Dr. Dre had been handcuffed after a scuffle with a motorcyclist outside his home in Malibu, California. The motorcyclist allegedly pulled up outside the rappers home and when Dre pulled out his mobile phone to record the incident, the motorcyclist made a call to police and claimed that Dre had pulled a gun on him.
Image: Hip-Hop DX
Now, Dr. Dre’s former N.W.A manager Jerry Heller has had his say on the incident, noting that the episode appears to be a racially motivated. In a video posted to YouTube, a TMZ asked the controversial music guru what his thoughts were on the incident. The response was as diplomatic as it was thought-provoking.
“Personally I’m not a fan of Dr. Dre, but I think this is all bullshit… what did he do? He was just trying to leave his house! Without knowing all the facts, it seems to me like it was a racial issue, and it upsets me.”
When asked if he thought the same thing would have happened if it had been a white person involved, or even himself, Heller simply said “No. If it was me, definitely not.” You can watch the interview below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT3HRkpR8Jg
The incident has once again highlighted the ongoing issue of racial profiling in America, a situation which has reached a new low point with multiple incidences ending in tragedy over the past few months.
Thankfully, leadership figures are starting to emerge from the fold, with Snoop Dogg and The Game holding a forum for gangs in LA last week. In addition, figures such as Kendrick Lamar and Iggy Azalea have been recognized for the influence they have brought to the wider community through their art and message concerning human rights.
However, if this incident is true to reports, there is still a long, long way to go.
Image: The Source
Aesop Rock turns 40 years old today, and Kanye West turns 39 on Thursday. Pusha T turned 39 last month, too. They’ve all released music this year. All of it has been incredible; fresh, real, lauded by fans across the globe.
Rappers, much like pop and certainly electronic artists, are seemingly getting younger every day, with many emerging artists too young to legally drink in many countries. Vic Mensa has the year “1993” tattooed across his stomach, while many of his contemporaries like Vince Staples, Chance the Rapper, Earl Sweatshirt, Rae Sremmurd, Raury, Casey Veggies, Joey Badass, Little Simz, Bishop Nehru and plenty more are the same age or younger. Hip-hop has always been youth-focused, both from the artist and audience’s perspective – but nowadays that’s changing.
Vic Mensa, 22. Image: Clash
It’s interesting to see the direction hip-hop goes in when rappers age. Almost every rapper started out as young teens, and those emerging into mainstream fame are usually around 18-20. However, it’s the kind of music which typically has to change with age; people at 40 are different to who they are at 20. Like with anything else, if they acted or spoke in the same way, it would feel stale, desperate, and, well, old.
Today there are so many older rappers who are just as fiery, electrifying and relevant as ever. Although his latest album was admittedly sub par, at 46 years old, Jay Z‘s two very recent features on tracks from Pusha T (39) and Fat Joe (45) and Remy Ma (36) are his best in years. At 51, Dr Dre‘s Compton was a masterpiece, while Run The Jewels (both 40) have released two of the most important albums of the past decade – with a third undoubtedly on the way soon, to give a handful of examples.
It’s interesting and kind of weird that forty seems to be such a big deal for many rappers, although I suppose the same can be said for anyone, and that it’s just more noticeable in hip-hop, where your musical output is often very specifically grounded in who you are at that time in your life. Like I said, rappers can’t spend twenty or thirty years rapping about the same shit. Not only is this boring on a musical level, but it becomes disingenuous and false.
In an interview on his 40th birthday, Nas described it as “incredible.” “I was always this dude,” he responded to a question about what’s changed. “When you’re young and you on fire, there’s nothing like that feeling. Where I’m at now is a more relaxed place, but I think it’s still in me when I need to get crazy.” He went on to say that it wasn’t so much that his music is more cautious or reserved, but that, “The speed changes. You have to adjust your life, you got new things in your life, you become more of a businessman, you become a father, that matters, that weighs in.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=210&v=MnnZk86jme8
Similarly, 50 Cent addressed the big day last year in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel noted that his music had changed, to which 50 replied, “I gotta work on it. Sometimes when I write things, it’s where I’m at right now. And it’s like, ‘no, that makes sense, take that out.’ You can’t have maturity in your music.” This is an incredibly interesting, and rather wise comment coming from someone like 50 and the type of rap he’s put out.
Rappers often use age as a way to reflect, a la Jay and Push on the fantastic new single Drug Dealers Anonymous. Many others shift their focus to other areas, like film, the recording industry, labels and more, like Jay Z, Ice Cube, Puffy, Eminem and Dr Dre. Others collaborate with younger artists, not necessarily within hip-hop, in a way that keeps their output new and exciting – MF DOOM‘s 45 and he just dropped one of the coolest verses this year on the new Avalanches track, while Raekwon (46) fits perfectly on Flume‘s new album, more than twice the age of the other two rappers featured, Mensa and Staples, both 22.
But what about the rappers who have found themselves in a renaissance at that age? How do you explain it in a world where the young are the most powerful? Or, more importantly, why does it need to be explained?
It’s remarkable that in a world so heavily populated by teenagers, older rappers can come out and not only produce phenomenal new, incensed, powerful music, but receive the praise and attention they deserve.
Pitchfork set the scene well in a 2014 feature on Run The Jewels: “It’s October 2014 and, in the upside-down free-for-all that is modern popular music, one of the hottest hip-hop duos in the United States is made up of a pair of 39-year-olds who’ve banked off interstitial cartoon music for a rare late-period career renaissance.” Around the same time, El told Rolling Stone that “There’s really no fucking way that you’d ever think, ‘I’m gonna make my best friend at 35,” a statement which could no doubt be repeated for music.
When Aesop Rock rock was asked to describe his new album to The Source, he had this to say: “The Impossible Kid is me closing in on 40 and just going over it all. It feels sorta reflective in the sense of going through some childhood memories, some family stuff, some friend stuff, some music stuff, some moments of being baffled by the youth of today, and just coping with getting older.
“I kinda feel like turning 40 is a very specific thing in our society. It somehow holds more weight than any other age, even though in some ways it’s pretty arbitrary. For whatever reason, it’s the age that we are officially old. Maybe because if we’re lucky, it’s the halfway point. In your 30s, you can kinda still pretend to be young, but there’s not much pretending at 40. It’s the age that looms more than any other. So yeah, this is the sound of me sliding into 40.”
The point of this is just to note that the ‘ageing rapper’ is no longer considered a death sentence. Hip-hop has traditionally focused heavily on youth, in terms of artists, subject matter and intended audience – but none of this is necessarily true today.
50 Cent said there cannot be maturity in music, and while this makes sense for him and his music personally, as a whole I disagree; it just depends on context. Growing up doesn’t necessarily make them softer or more boring or anything like that – you can hardly say Pusha T or Dr Dre are making the hip-hop equivalent of dad rock – it’s just that the game changes, as Nas said. You grow, you have a family, a business, different ambitions and priorities. Your life changes, so your music changes. Not for better or worse; it just grows, like you.
Image: PMCaregivers
It has been a busy week for Anderson .Paak, who has not only combined The Season/Carry Me and The Waters into one outstanding music video, but is the core focus of a brand new documentary presented by Beats by Dre.
The entire clip is fairly abstract and is made up of stunning mixed-media backgrounds that closely resemble the cover of his incredible debut album Malibu. The film clip was directed by .Paak and Chris Le and features .Paak moving through fantasy worlds as a struggling farmer, a frustrated sanitation worker, and a potential religious convert among other characters. As a sanitation worker, .Paak is forced to face a garbage monster with the face of Donald Trump. The clip is unlike any other music video and is more like an old musical, using collages of old photographs and stop motion animation.
The Season/ Carry Me/ The Waters makes for a fantastic watch, and it is clear .Paak has put a lot of thought and effort into once again exceeding everyone’s expectations.
The day after .Paak performed at Coachella, Beats by Dre dropped a mini-documentary, All in a Day’s Work, named after one of the many tracks featuring .Paak on Dr. Dre‘s excellent 2015 album Compton. The documentary follows him as he prepares for his Coachella set, and looks at how he was simply a fan of the festival just one year earlier. The main point of the documentary is to shed light on .Paak and Dr. Dre‘s chemistry, as the pair have clearly connected very quickly, and will hopefully be collaborating more in future.
“The people I like to work with, you know their voice from the first syllable,” Dre said.
“It’s fun to work with a producer that is versatile and has a great ear and knows how to get great vocal performances out of you.” .Paak said. “I can hear it, it’s like night and day when I work with him on a song and when I work by myself. And after I was done working with Dre, I had a different approach of how I went into the studio. It was just more tenacity.”
Check out the mini documentary below.
Read our recent interview with Anderson .Paak here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnpoK6BEDQc
Image: Pitchfork
Ever the location for surprise collabs and on-stage guests, Anderson .Paak kept his Coachella crowd more than entertained during its second weekend, bringing out Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar to drop some of their timeless rhymes.
Wearing a Prince symbol shirt, Dr. Dre wowed fans by performing three classic songs, California Love, Still D.R.E and of course, The Next Episode. Dre’s involvement with Anderson. Paak’s set isn’t overly surprising, seeing as Paak is signed to Dre’s label, and he featured on a huge number of tracks on Dre’s long-awaited 2015 album Compton.
The good doctor also joined Ice Cube on stage, reunited all four surviving members of N.W.A for his own set.
#coachella2016 #kendricklamar #andersonpaak
A video posted by Best Choice (@dessilina) on Apr 24, 2016 at 10:45pm PDT
Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar performed Backseat Freestyle during his surprise appearance. While the pair haven’t officially collaborated yet, their close friendship has been well documented. In an interview with Complex, Paak mentioned that the two had become friends after Dre’s Compton came out and hinted that there might be a possibility that the two might work together. “After my album Malibu came out, Kendrick called me up and he was just like, ‘Thank you bro, for giving me something to listen to’ it felt really good to get that respect from him because he’s one of my favourites. So, you never know, I think there’s light.”
Image: rollingstone
Suge Knight’s jail saga continues, with the Deathrow Records founder’s lawyer claiming that Dr. Dre hired a hitman to murder Knight back in 2014.
The allegations have been made in relation to Knight’s claims, which suggest that he has been mistreated in jail, with his human rights being violated by having all communication with the outside world blocked. Knight’s lawyer Thaddeus Culpepper has claimed that this is due to a mass cover-up orchestrated by the police department in order to stop a connection being made between the 2014 shooting of Knight in the 1Oak nightclub and the 2015 murder charge.
Specifically, Culpepper claims that the primary detective on Suge Knight’s murder case had also investigated the 2014 shooting at 1Oak. He allegedly told Knight that an individual known as Tee-Money had apparently confessed that he and a friend had been paid $50,000 by Dr. Dre to carry out a hit on Knight, and that an off-duty sheriff’s deputy, “was seen on video letting the gunmen in the front door” of the nightclub at which the shooting took place. He was later seen again at LAX airport helping the alleged gunmen leave the country. Culpepper also claims that police, “inexplicably released Tee-Money.”
The connection between the two cases appears to be Suge Knight’s defence, in which he claims that he was trying to flee from Terry Carter and Cle Sloan when he inexplicably ran the two of them down resulting in the death of Carter, after attempting to reach out to Dr. Dre on the set of Straight Outta Compton. Arguing that by issuing the orders to halt Knight’s mail and phone privileges, they are attempting to stop a connection being made between the two cases, which although fairly shaky, could possibly give Suge Knight’s story some legs.
In response to the allegations put forth by Suge Knight’s lawyers, TMZ reports that attorneys for Dr. Dre have called the claims, “ridiculous”.
The tapestry of suggested lies and deceit by Dr. Dre and the police department being woven by Thaddeus Culpepper is definitely an intriguing one, which could potentially lead to a much bigger scandal than the one currently surrounding Knight – if any of it can be proven. Dr. Dre’s legal team will undoubtedly be working overtime to stop any of these allegations actually gaining traction against the 2001 rapper. However, the same can’t be said for the off-duty sheriff’s deputy, with Culpepper claiming that he has in his possession the videos showing the thus far unnamed deputy letting the gunmen into 1Oak, as well as LAX Airport footage of him accompanying the alleged gunmen to their flight. The Suge Knight case is indeed growing more curious by day.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04seFO6BEmw]
Image: watchloud
It was a long time between drinks for Dr. Dre when it came to putting out new music. But now, after last year’s release of Compton, inspired by the critically acclaimed N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton, the legendary hip-hop icon has more new music in store for us.
According to HipHopDX, Dre will be releasing new music as part of the adaptation of the graphic novel entitled LOADED. It is scheduled for release sometime later during this year and will see Dre providing an audio soundtrack to go along with the book.
The project will also see him teaming up with long-time collaborator and friend Mark Batson.
“I’m excited to work with Mark on the music for LOADED. When he gave me the book, I immediately fell in love with the story, so I’m honoured that he asked me to be a part of the process,” Dre said.
The graphic novel centres on the background story of an elite assassin who remains nameless throughout. Robert Patla, who is the General Manager of the company which released LOADED, went into detail about how the project would end up. “Imagine if James Bond or Jason Bourne came from the streets of The Wire… Now imagine that story set to the music of Mark Batson and Dr. Dre,” he said.
“Typically with these kinds of stories, you only get a glimpse of these hardened assassins as adults. But at one point, they were normal. The uniqueness here lies in the detailed depiction of the transition.”
However, for Dr. Dre it doesn’t stop there either. Writer David C.Wilson (The Man from U.N.C.L.E) has signed up to work on the television adaptation of LOADED. While the series is also set to feature original music produced by Dre and Batson, alongside a whole host of as yet unnamed artists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkEWh2-LHRA
You can read
Image: Fact Mag
Anderson .Paak has dropped a bombshell – and we’re not just talking about his incredible new album. Paak, who has just signed to Aftermath, has suggested that Dr. Dre may be working on new material – despite the fact that Dre called his 2015 album Compton his “grand finale,” signifying that he would be hanging up the mic for good.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1Xtra, Paak hinted at the possibility of a new project from the good Doctor.
“He’s doing a lot of work right now. I can’t really speak on it,” the Malibu rapper said, “I don’t know of too many dudes in the position that he’s at that still really care about the music.”
While this doesn’t necessarily mean that Dr. Dre is recording a new album or even a single, it definitely dangles that dream in front of his fans. Considering the world had largely considered his musical career over, having instead turned to the world of Beats headphones, Beats 1 Radio and Apple Music in general, it sure is exciting to think he might not be done just yet.
Although he’s not exactly known for a quick turnaround when it comes to tunes, it may well be true that Dre still has a couple of musical tricks up his sleeves.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFcv5Ma8u8k]
Main Image: Eventful
Words by Maxine Johns
When you first look at Curtis Young, you are immediately struck by the similarity and likeness to hip hop legend Dr Dre, his father and mentor. However looks were the only similarity for the pair for many years, as Young only discovered his blood connection to the legendary hip-hop producer at the age of 12. For many years Curtis Young would listen to the music of Dr Dre, idolising NWA and growing up on the streets of Compton never knowing of his ultimate connection to the icon…. Until he did.
After discovering that he was indeed the son of Dre, Curtis Young, as one would expect, was in a state of disbelief. Following DNA tests officially confirming the news, Young met his father at age 20, only to discover they had more in common that blood and appearance. For Curtis, hip-hop was always in his veins and was already a budding rapper with the moniker Hood Surgeon, with a list of growing features on mixtapes around the West Coast circuit. Meeting and bonding with father further solidified the legacy, and he began to cultivate his song writing, rapping and more recently production skills to create a path all of his own.
As most children of successful celebrities, most enjoy the lifestyle trappings that come with being the offspring of the rich and famous. For Curtis, he never experienced it, and had never expected nor entertained the thought of using his obvious connections for the advancement of his career. His journey has been self-made, self-created and self-sustained and it is within those very character traits that lies his ultimate connection as one of the strongest seeds of hip-hop.
Founding his own Forever Young Foundation, which cultivates new, up and coming artists under his tutelage, to providing community supported programs to the people and services that need a helping hand, Curtis Young is a student of the school of paying it forward.
Ahead of his forthcoming album, aptly titled Product Of My DNA, Young released new single We Get Down on December 15, his birthday. The latest in a weighty discography of 13 mixtapes and EPs, the 34-year-old artist is well and truly ready to change the game and build an empire of his very own.
Hi Curtis – thanks so much for your time. How are you and how has life been treating you?
Life has been good, keeping me busy and just focussed on finishing my album Product of My DNA is really what I have been giving most of my energy to. I have also been developing my own companies exploring film and production called Son of Chronic also so that has been keeping me busy and of course developing my own artists and just making sure everything is running right.
Congratulations on the success you have been receiving in the lead up to the release of your album Product of My DNA – can we talk a little on the conception of this album, production and the overall message you wish fans to capture when they hear your work?
Well the general message behind it is me finding out that my last name was Young, after having grown up as Curtis Macklemore and finding out who my real father was over an argument I had with my dad that raised me, telling me that he wasn’t my real father. So it basically tells the story of how I had the DNA testing done and found out that my real father was Dr Dre, and I guess from that point on I realised that the musical talent I had inside me all along was something I knew I wanted to do. I mean I was always into music before finding out who my dad was but I always thought I would pursue a career in professional football, *laughs* but as it turns out is not case. I got into the music at a young age, and after that argument led me to the truth, I just wanted nothing more than to meet my dad. After we met, I watched him, I was around him all the time, in the studio while he worked on 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Trying, working with The Game, just anything he would let me be around to learn from him and help me grow and become a better artist until I was ready.
I then built my company Forever Young, and started the Son of Chronic business. I did my best to write this album that allows the fans and curious alike to understand my story and who I was before I met my father and the journey I was on way before I met him.
Can you describe who Curtis Young is as an artist and a young black man navigating the waters of modern day hip-hop in America?
The best way to describe who I am is like this: I am a young man who likes to have a good time in life, I like to be positive and I like to understand the obstacles of life and how to overcome them. I am a trendsetter and a leader, not a follower, and I’m recognised as an artist that is paving his own way and walking the same path as my father or anybody else in the hip hop community. My personality is energetic, funny, I love to laugh and tell jokes and I cook like crazy *laughs* and I love enjoying my wife and my kids so that’s me in a nutshell.
How have you ensured that you remain an artist in your right, away from the celebrity of your father and stay authentic and true to your destiny?
I would have to say by not following his same footsteps and staying in my own lane. Those are some huge footsteps to follow and that’s not something I have ever tried to do. For me, I follow the steps of the most high, and I know that my purpose and path for what I am doing in hip-hop is different to that of my father’s journey. I am trying to keep my music as positive and clean as possible, it’s a grown and sexy feel, and I want to be known as a new era and trendsetter in hip-hop.
Can we touch on if and how things are progressing with the relationship with your father Dr Dre? I have read a few interviews and articles where a lot of speculation about your relationship with your dad and how you came to find out about him? Not wanting to add to the rumour mill but can we talk about how you found out about your dad and how your relationship is going given your both in the hip-hop music world?
It’s a just a dad and son thing to be honest, as I am totally independent with my music. Obviously he gives me advice and guidance when I need it, but as you know he is busy *laughs* so whenever we get a chance to kick it he makes the time for me. There’s a lot to factor in with us both, but our relationship is one based on respect. Like any father, you want your son to be better than you, so it is something that I am aware of and whilst I never want to be in comparison to my dad, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree *laughs*.
Curtis, hip-hop means different things to different people, it is much more than just a genre of music though. Can I ask what hip-hop means to you, how it has shaped your life and how you wish to leave your blueprint in this game?
Hip-hop means a whole lot to me. It means life, something to stand for because if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything, right? Hip-hop has helped so many people pave a way and has given so many artists life. You gotta ask yourself sometimes, what really is hip-hop?
You gotta understand the grass roots of hip-hop. I know as a student of hip-hop what was before me and what lies ahead of me in my time now. These new artists and whatever it is that they do, praise to them for doing their thing, but they also have to realise the importance of the genre they have stepped into and know their history and not fall prey, just becoming a part of the status quo. Are they paving a way for the youth or just part of a trend? You gotta ask yourselves these questions so you are equipped to deal with the changes that come with any music genre – especially in hip-hop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WszLxzSCC_k
What does Curtis Young know about Australia – anything you can teach me about my country?
Well I’ve been to Australia on a six city tour a few years ago with Tha Alkoholiks, DJ Yella and a few other artists and we performed in major cities like Perth, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney to name a few. I loved it out there man, I would love to come back. From what I can remember it was a super cool place so hopefully I will be back soon.
Who has had the greatest inspiration or influence in your life and why?
I would have say a lot of great inspiration in my life would be my dad Dre, Pac, Jay Z, Nas, Biggie and of course what my dad and his crew NWA did was a huge influence to me from a young age.
This interview originally appeared on Ms Hennessey Speaks Blog and has been reposted with full permission.
Californian crooner Anderson .Paak had a huge year in 2015, breaking out in a big way after appearing on The Documentary 2 by The Game as well as copping features on no less than six of the songs featured on Compton: A Soundtrack, the triumphant comeback and simultaneous swansong album of Dr. Dre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcfnr7TW0us
Clearly recognising that this partnership pays dividends, Dre and .Paak today took to Twitter to announce the latter’s signing to the former’s iconic rap label Aftermath: With the hugest of huge handshakes, Dre welcomes the new Aftermath signee with a literal ‘bam’, ‘Anderson .Paak baby!’. .Paak didn’t say much apart from a ‘Yes sir!’ and a few celebratory ‘brrap brraps’, but afterwards captioned the video on his Twitter ‘Aftermath gets the last laugh’. Watch it below:
https://twitter.com/AndersonPaak/status/693641292966854656
The signing comes after .Paak’s latest record Malibu dropped just over a year ago and received wild acclaim from fans and critics alike (you can read our in-depth review of Malibu right here). A follow-up record looks like it’s already brewing, with .Paak announcing earlier in January that he has been recording music with none other than super-producer Flying Lotus. Though a title and a release date still needs to happen, it looks as though Dre has jumped right on board to back .Paak and make sure his next record is even bigger and better than Malibu was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvPeJLcK2Lk
Exactly how much involvement Dr. Dre might end up having in both the production and performance on that next record remains to be seen, but odds are that this is a partnership that will continue to produce the goods.
Hopefully Aftermath will have the last laugh on this one, .Paak is a highly promising young talent and Dre’s nurturing and influence should only help his career reach the heights it deserves to.
Get to know Anderson .Paak the man a little more by reading our interview with the King of Cali.
(Photo from Billboard.com)
Dr. Dre hit the airways on Saturday with the year’s first episode of his Beats 1 Radio show Pharmacy. The west coast legend celebrated a fresh year by launching a previously unheard track, Back to Business.
The previously unreleased song features T.I as well as Justus, Victoria Monet and Sly Piper. From the lyrical content of the track, it would seem that this was one of the songs that didn’t make the cut into last year’s long-awaited new album, Compton.
The smooth beats of the track provide the perfect platform for Dr. Dre and T.I to rhyme about their outstanding music-making hustle and grind, while Victoria Monet, Justus and Sly Piper provide the smooth backing vocals.
It’s currently unclear if this previously unreleased song will find its way onto someone’s album or if it will just exist as part of Dr. Dre’s Pharmacy show, a similar fate to that of Naked, which featured Marsha Ambrosius and Sly Piper. The song was released during an episode of Pharmacy in November last year and toted as a never-before-heard track (as opposed to a *new* one).
Dr. Dre has casually cruised back into the rap spotlight, with last year seeing not only the release of the biopic Straight Outta Compton which the rapper played a major role in crafting, but also the unveiling of his third solo studio album and his first in sixteen years, Compton. It has also just been announced that he, alongisde the rest of N.W.A, are to be inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame.
Compton is nominated for best rap album at this years Grammys, alongside albums by Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj and J.Cole.
With 2015 being such a major year for the 50-year-old super-producer and entrepreneur, only time will tell what else he’ll deliver in 2016.
https://soundcloud.com/hustle-hearted/dre-back-to-business-ft-ti-justus-victoria-monet-and-sly-piper