After a decade in limbo, fans surely have questions as to whether Dr. Dre will ever deliver his highly anticipated third solo album Detox. Now, in writer Jerry L. Barrow’s interview with Dr. Dre for VIBE‘s upcoming fifteenth anniversary Juice issue, the legendary producer hopes to dispel the public doubts about the project. According to Dre, his work producing for other artists and signing talent to his Aftermath imprint have prevented him from completing the final project.
“I thought [making Detox] would take at worst case a couple of years,” he said. “For example, actual work time on The Chronic was nine months and actual work time on my last album, 2001, was about 10 months. The actual work time on this album is about half of that, where I’m seriously focusing on it. There is always something coming up. Like signing talent, old and new.”
Dr. Dre also discussed the numerous leaked reference tracks off of Detox, including the Jay-Z-assisted single “Under Pressure.” He says that many of the reference tracks were the result of an email hack. Although he doesn’t blame fans for going to such desperate measures to hear his new music, he is upset that “Under Pressure” leaked in such an unfinished form, lacking even a hook.
“Somebody actually hacked into our emails, so that made our red flags go up,” he said. “We’re in a new age and that’s a sign: Wake up motherfucker. You have to be more careful with your shit. That’s all there is to it. I know what’s up now.”
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He also added, “[The ‘Under Pressure’ leak] was a little bit more frustrating because at least [Eminem’s] ‘Crack a Bottle’ had a hook on it. I wouldn’t be as mad at a leak if the song was done…I’m not mad at the fans. I’m mad at the person that leaked the shit. I have no idea how it got out. It’s not even worth looking to see who did it. It happens. The most painful part about it is that I’m passionate about what I do so people should hear it in the right form.”
Click here to read the full excerpt of the interview.
