Dr. Dre - Compton (2015)

Who in the world has better ears than Andre Young? Throughout his many incarnations, the common thread in Dr. Dre's career has been his ability to hear things differently from everyone else, and his certitude that millions of paying customers will want to hear those things too. Paradoxically, he's been both prolific and patient: It doesn't seem like he's ever stopped working, and yet somehow 16 years have elapsed since his last solo LP.

Throughout, Dre's rhyming (aided as always by co-writers) is impressive. He trades his familiar stentorian boom for double-time syncopations, hoarse snarls and even bursts of song — Eminem and Kendrick Lamar, both of whom cameo, clearly rubbed off on him. The latter in other ways, perhaps: This is Dre's most explicitly political album, featuring lines from him and guests that evoke police violence, particularly the killings of Michael Brown ("Blood on the cement, black folks grieving") and Eric Garner ("I can't breathe, I can't breathe"). He's still full of contradictions — on "Animals," he calls himself a "product of the system, raised on government aid," but on "Darkside/Gone," he raps, with palpable disgust, that "anybody complaining about their circumstances lost me, homey." It adds up to an album by turns confounding and enthralling. It's no Detox. It's something realer, and better.

TRACKLIST

01. Intro
02. Talk About It (feat. King Mez & Justus)
03. Genocide (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Marsha Ambrosius & Candice Pillay) Prod. by Dem Jointz
04. It’s All On Me (feat. Justus & BJ the Chicago Kid) Prod. by Dr Dre & Bink!
05. All In a Day’s Work (feat. Anderson Paak & Marsha Ambrosius)
06. Darkside/Gone (feat. King Mez, Marsha Ambrosius & Kendrick Lamar)
07. Loose Cannons (feat. Xzibit, COLD 187um & Sly Pyper)
08. Issues (feat. Ice Cube & Anderson Paak)
09. Deep Water (feat. Kendrick Lamar & Justus) Prod. by Dem Jointz
10. One Shot One Kill – Jon Connor (feat. Snoop Dogg)
11. Just Another Day – The Game (feat. Asia Bryant)
12. For the Love of Money (feat. Jill Scott & Jon Connor)
13. Satisfiction (feat. Snoop Dogg, Marsha Ambrosius & King Mez) Prod. by Dem Jointz
14. Animals (feat. Anderson Paak) Prod. by Dr. Dre & DJ Premier
15. Medicine Man (feat. Eminem, Candice Pillay & Anderson Paak) Prod. by Dem Jointz
16. Talking To My Diary