Detox (album)

Background

Work for the album dates back to 2001, where its first version was called "the most advanced rap album ever," by producer Scott Storch. Even at the beginning of Detox's production, it was announced that it would be Dr. Dre's final studio album, which had been confirmed at different points throughout the album's ten-year production process. Because Dr. Dre had stated he was tired of rapping about marijuana use and stereotypical gangster lifestyle, he planned to make Detox a hip-hop musical telling the story of a professional hitman and his family, with an intended summer 2003 release date. In 2004, Dre took focus off the album to work on producing for Eminem, Game, and others. Upon completion, he resumed work on Detox with a plan to release the album in late 2005. The revival and promised completion of Detox was reflected in lyrics of Eminem's song "Encore" and Game's song "Higher". The planned 2005 release date passed and Dre was still working on the album, being in the second version of the album with 18 tracks complete at the time. The album, already famous at the time for being delayed so much, was announced for a September 2007 release date, though it was delayed again once the deadline passed. After the 2007 release date passed, Dre announced that Detox would still be released while he was at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards presenting the Video of the Year award. In a 2007 interview with 50 Cent, he stated Detox was continually delayed because of Dre wanting a perfect album, saying, "He's such a perfectionist. But sometimes that can be a bad thing. You create new pressure when you wait that long. When you put a new album against the last two classics, people will scrutinize it if they become impatient."

After rumors by All Hip-Hop of Detox being complete in May 2008, both Detox and Eminem's new studio album were revealed to be released for the fourth quarter of 2008. Snoop Dogg later confirmed Detox's completion and said that Dre was still deciding which tracks would be included. During the same month, Dr. Dre revealed that he aimed to release the album in November or December 2008, saying, "I'm just now, over the last couple of months, starting to feel that it's going to be right and it's something I can be proud of, and everybody is going to love it".

In December 2008, Dre told MTV that the album would be released after Eminem's Relapse and 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct, released in May 2009 and November 2009, respectively. In 2009, 50 Cent and Eminem asserted in an interview on BET's 106 & Park that Dr. Dre had about ten songs finished for Detox.

In May 2009, Dre premiered the first official snippet of Detox in a Dr. Pepper commercial. In an interview with The D.O.C., Dre confirmed that the album was to be completed in November 2009, subsequently announcing his hope to release the album in 2010. However, in January 2010 in an interview with Slam, Dr. Dre revealed that the album would not be released until 2011, stating, "Well, I'm working on it, but also I've been working on other people's projects; you'll probably hear something in a year or so." In April 2010, in a CNBC interview with Dre and Jimmy Iovine to promote Beats headphones, Dre stated that he would "finally release it this year".

Many recorded Detox tracks, some unfinished, leaked in 2009 and 2010, including "Under Pressure", "The Doctor", "This Is Detox", "Could Have Been You", "OG's Theme", "Say Dr. Dre", "Syllables", "Coming Back", and two versions of "Topless".

Following the Leaks, Dr. Dre stated that at least some of the leaked reference tracks would not be included in 'Detox'. Regarding the leaked track "Could Have Been You", a source close to Dr. Dre's camp told MTV that Dr. Dre was expecting the song to be on Detox and was furious with the track being leaked so early. The song was later released on 50 Cent's album Before I Self Destruct, but Bishop Lamont's verse was not included.

In September 2010, at a press conference for Beats headphones, Dre hinted at a Christmas release. He also expressed the inspiration and encouragement he received to finish the album, saying,

"Being on the stage with Eminem and Jay-Z was one of the most incredible feelings I've felt in a long time. It inspired me, it made me want to hurry up and get back in the studio and put more effort and more work into my own project," and

"The response from the people out there was just incredible,". "It let me know that I still got love out there and I'm not wasting my time in the studio with what I'm doing, with the music or with all the Beats product that we're putting out."

In January 2011, 50 Cent was interviewed by MTV regarding why the album was so highly anticipated.

"I think everyone is [looking forward to Detox]. When you got a producer that has that kind of production track record, you even have to credit both Eminem's success and my success to Dr. Dre as a producer. My first single off of Get Rich or Die Tryin' — people constantly tell me it was a classic — was produced by Dr. Dre, 'In Da Club.' Without that momentum from that song, I'm not sure they would have taken to 'P.I.M.P.' the same way or '21 Questions' or any of the other hit records I released following that."

Producer Just Blaze, a long contributor to the album, stated that since 2002, multiple versions and phases of Detox had been recorded over the history of the album, saying,

"The work on Detox, it’s been a long process," Just Blaze told "RapFix." "I been going back and forth to L.A. for like eight years. Well, 2002, so it’s been nine years, actually. I’ve seen the album through different phases. I’ve heard near-complete versions of the album, then he turns around and scratches it and does the same thing two or three times over."

In May 21, 2011, Swizz Beatz confirmed that he and Dr. Dre were collaborating on both Detox, and Swizz Beatz's project, Haute Living. In an interview with Billboard, DJ Khalil said that Dr. Dre was in the final stretch of Detox work.

"Dre's album is definitely the most important thing right now, because he is definitely in the final stretch. He has the record going, but I'm sure he thinks there are pieces missing still. Until he finds those pieces, maybe he's not comfortable putting it out yet."

In August 2011, at the BMI Urban Awards, Snoop Dogg, pledged he would put all his effort to help Dre finish recording Detox, saying,

"Ya'll ain't gotta wait too much longer, the Dogg is in the building. We gonna get this shit right."

In September 2011, Kendrick Lamar confirmed that Detox was in the mixing process. In February 2012, Obie Trice stated that Detox is complete and is now waiting to be released. On July 17, 2012, 50 Cent said in an interview with Digital Spy that listeners may not hear Dre's album in full, elaborating further.

In August 2015, Dr. Dre confirmed the cancellation of Detox on his Beats 1 radio show, saying,

“I didn’t like it. It wasn’t good,” Dre said of Detox, which had been in the works since 2001. “The record, it just wasn’t good … I worked my ass off on it, and I don’t think I did a good enough job.”

Dr. Dre later elaborated in an interview with Rolling Stone that he couldn't get the record to the place he wanted it by saying,

"I had between 20 and 40 songs for Detox, and I just couldn't feel it. Usually I can hear the sequence of an album as I'm going, but I wasn't able to do that. I wasn't feeling it in my gut. So I really thought I was done being an artist."

Dr. Dre followed his announcement of the cancellation of Detox with the announcement of his next album, Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre.

Singles

On April 20, 2010 "Under Pressure", featuring Jay-Z and co-produced with Scott Storch, was confirmed by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre during an interview at Fenway Park as the album's first single. In May 2010 Dr. Dre said that the release of "Under Pressure" was pushed back due to Eminem's single "Not Afraid" being released early. The single was then confirmed to be released in June 2010 with the album following in the Autumn of 2010. On June 16, 2010 an unmastered, unmixed version of "Under Pressure" with no chorus leaked onto the Internet. Dr. Dre later talked about the leak saying, "I didn't get a chance to finish the record, the vocals are real rough, it's not blended right and there's not even a hook on the song. It's not done, the music's not done, it's just one of those things we have to deal with today in this business because of technology and all of that. It's real easy for somebody to steal your shit so what can you do?" "Under Pressure" was never officially released and Dre has since said that the song would not appear on the album.

On November 16, 2010 a song titled "Kush" leaked which features Snoop Dogg and Akon. Joseph Kahn directed the music video to "Kush" which was released on December 10, 2010. This is the second time the trio has worked together, the first being the single "Boss' Life" which featured Nate Dogg and was produced by Dr. Dre. On the same day, Dr. Dre spoke on Radio Big Boy regarding the status of his album and the leaked song "Kush", "I see a finish line right now, I'm wrapping it up, I need about two or three more songs and hopefully I will start the mixing process at the end of next month and from that point I am about 30 days out, so I'm excited about it. It ["Kush"] got leaked, it was a version of it that got leaked that I wasn't really happy about, so we are gonna go in push it and put it out because everyone seems to like it. Y'know I just thought, like, the content it's about weed smoking and I don't want people to think that's what my album is about, this is actually the only song with that type of content in it." Later that same day, a mastered version of "Kush" was released along with the creation of a new website. On November 18, "Kush" was made available to purchase on iTunes. The song peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100.

On November 23, 2010, producer Alex da Kid revealed that he was constantly working with Dre and had produced the album's second single "I Need a Doctor", featuring Eminem and Kid's protégé Skylar Grey. The song was made available for purchase on iTunes on February 1, 2011, and peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his first top-ten single as lead artist on the chart since "Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" in 1993, and also making it his second highest peak on the chart ever as lead artist, behind only "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" which peaked at number 2 in 1993. It also peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his first top-ten single on the chart since "Bad Intentions" reached number 4 in 2001.

On June 18, 2011, it was revealed that Dr. Dre and 50 Cent recorded a song titled "The Psycho," which would be the album's third single after the two artists settled their feud with each other in May 2011. 50 Cent tweeted, "I did a joint with Dre for his album that's crazy ... They were suppose to put it out this weekend but you never know with dre." After being unhappy with Interscope's treatment of his own project, 50 Cent threatened to leak "The Psycho" on July 25, 2011. However, 50 Cent decided not to leak the record out of respect for Dre, "I wouldn't leak Dre's record he has done nothing but help me in my career."

Guests and production

Dr. Dre first mentioned Detox to the press around 2002, and since that time various producers and vocalists had contributed with potential tracks. Aftermath-affiliated producers Dawaun Parker, Hi-Tek, Denaun Porter, DJ Khalil, and Focus... worked with Dr. Dre. Mike Elizondo recorded bass guitar parts for Detox. An interview with Billboard revealed that J. R. Rotem produced for the album. RZA announced that he co-produced a track with Dr. Dre that features Marsha Ambrosius, which could have be on Detox. In March 2005, Aftermath producer Mel-Man said that Dr. Dre and himself have made hundreds of beats for Detox. In studio footage was released of DJ Quik, Battlecat, 1500 or Nothin' and The D.O.C. working on production with Dre.

In January 2004, co-producer Scott Storch listed guest appearances by 50 Cent, Eminem, Game, Guvner, Knoc-turn'al, Lloyd Banks, and Snoop Dogg. A XXL article released shortly thereafter listed many of the same performers, along with Mary J. Blige. When asked about Detox by dubcnn.com, Devin the Dude claimed to have accepted an invitation to record for the album. MP3.com reported that Busta Rhymes also contributed to the album. Jay-Z and Warren G also stated that they worked with Dr. Dre. In October 2009, MTV News reported that Dre had reached out to Jay-Z asking him to record for Detox. In July 2008, it was confirmed that Nas, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne were among guests on the album. In August 2008, Ice Cube also stated he is likely to be featured. In October 2008, Dr. Dre's former assistant, Bruce Williams, said Fergie might be featured on the album. It had been said that T.I. was working on the project. It was announced that Dr. Dre had been working in the studio with fellow Compton rapper Game working on tracks for Detox and The R.E.D. Album, a picture was posted on Game's Twitter showing himself and Dr. Dre as well as Snoop Dogg in the studio with the title reading "Can You Say Detox?" this was later confirmed by both Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Also in August 2012, it was revealed that Dre had hired R&B singer Rico Love, as a ghost writer and collaborator for the album. It was confirmed by Dre, in an interview with Radio Big Boy Dre that he had been working with several new artists on the record, including Slim da Mobster and Kendrick Lamar Ashanti stated she recorded tracks with Dre and Game in 2010. In an interview with DJ Skee, R. Kelly confirmed he had recorded for Detox. Raekwon talked to HipHop-n-More about his track on Detox, In an interview with Rap-Up, Lloyd stated that he hopes to feature on the album. Lil' Kim said that she was "really excited" to record for Detox. Keri Hilson told Rap-Up that she had recorded material for the album but was unsure if the tracks would make the final cut. J. Cole stated that he recorded with Dre but refused to explain.