Dr. Dre has shared a bombshell revelation about his classic album The Chronic, admitting it wasn’t even his idea and that he had to be “talked into” making the record.
The legendary producer sat down with Kevin Hart for his Hart To Heart series on Peacock, and said that N.W.A‘s tense final years caused him to begin to distance himself from the group.
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“The difference, there was money and business got involved, and it separated the friendship,” Dre said. “I had to separate myself from [Eazy-E] because he decided to take a different route. [Ice] Cube had already left, so I’m out here on my own. I have absolutely no idea what the fuck I’m gonna do. I just know I have this talent.”
Dre went on to say that his close friend and collaborator, The D.O.C., told him that he needed to just get in the studio and start creating, convincing him to start crafting his debut album as a solo artist.
“A close friend of mine, we’ll call him D.O.C., talked me into doing the Chronic album,” he continued. “It wasn’t my decision, I was talked into doing that. I just went in there and went for it because I felt, at that time, it was a life or death situation.”
Dr. Dre released The Chronic on December 15, 1992. The album reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and spawned a pair of top 10 Hot 100 hits with “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” (No. 2) and “Dre Day” (No. 8). “Let Me Ride,” meanwhile, earned Dre his very first Grammy Award.
Beyond its commercial success and critical acclaim, the album is widely credited with elevating the sound of Hip Hop and helping the West Coast dethrone New York as the genre’s dominant region at the time, while influencing generations of rappers to come.
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The Beats By Dre mogul previously spoke about The D.O.C.’s influence on The Chronic during an appearance on Dolvett Quince’s Workout The Doubt podcast last summer, where he explained he originally didn’t plan on rapping on the project at all.
“The D.O.C., my friend, talked me into to getting on the mic and actually doing that thing,” he said. “Before that, I wasn’t going to get on the mic. I was just going to lay back and produce, which was the idea of The Chronic album, my first solo album. That’s what I wanted to do.”
The D.O.C.’s creative impact has been revered for years. He’s penned multiple hits for N.W.A, Eazy-E and Dre, and enjoyed success as a solo artist in 1989 with No One Can Do It Better. Just months after the album’s release, the Texas native’s vocal cords were severed in a car accident, all but ending his burgeoning solo career.
In more recent news, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg have been getting fans excited as they continue to tease their long-awaited new album, Missionary.
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Taking to Instagram last month, Snoop shared a photo of Dre sitting behind the boards, coffee in hand, as he reflectively chipped away at some new tunes.
While a release date remains elusive for the project, Snoop confirmed in the caption that fans will soon get their hands on some new music from the West Coast legends, writing: “Coming soon.”
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Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that Dr. Dre will finally receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2024.
