New Eminem/Royce song; Detox ‘almost finished’
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News trickles out of Dr. Dre’s Aftermath compound in sporadic, unreliable bursts, but Friday yielded a rare little dispatch. To refresh your memory, ‘Detox’ has been ‘almost done’ for a decade, and half of its original collaborators are probably planning their IRA’s, and yet no release date been set. That’s right, no release date. Still. You see where I’m going with this.
Just last week, Snoop Dogg sniped at Dr. Dre for forgoing loose studio exuberance for tightly controlled perfectionism. But Friday, Kendrick Lamar, who many assume will be filling Snoop’s role on the original ‘Chronic’ (i.e., fiery young upstart with star potential) has confirmed that he has been confirmed on several songs on Dre’s long-delayed third solo record. That is, if the album ever sees the light of day.
So as if to allay the massive skepticism that Dre’s ‘Chinese Detoxcracy’ has accrued over the last three presidencies, DJ Khalil announced that ‘Dre’s in the final stretch of recording the LP.’
‘Dre’s album is definitely the most important thing right now, because he is definitely in the final stretch,’ Khalil told Billboard. ‘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... It’s definitely a West Coast sound -- more futuristic West Coast sound -- at least from what I’ve turned in,’ he says. ‘I don’t know what he’s keeping, though.’
For those of you keeping score, ‘Detox’ is coming, you know, soon. When? No one knows but Dre. And there are songs on there that may or may not feature Khalil’s production. And Kendrick Lamar. And Game, from what a reliable source told me two weeks ago. That is, if they all don’t get cut from the final tracklist. So what does the good Doctor think of all this? Surely, he’d like to step forward, clarify the rumors and give a concrete release date, right? Uh, well, he’s busy making Chrysler commercials with director Mark Romanek and Lakers player Shannon Brown. Because nothing says gangsta rap like a modestly priced Detroit-manufactured automobile and a backup shooting guard for a team that got swept out of the playoffs.
You may be wondering if there is any music coming out of the Aftermath/Interscope camp, besides the string of big promises and middlebrow vehicles. Well, the duo of Bad Meets Evil (Eminem & Royce da 5’9’) have leaked their latest single. It’s called ‘Lighters’ and it features Bruno Mars and a sugary Top 40 hook about a ‘sky full of lighters.’ You can hear it on 2 Dope Boyz.
Feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments section. For those of you of a certain age who remember the original Em and Royce collaborations, my best advice is to go listen to ‘Scary Movie’ on repeat and remember a simpler, better time when they were writing songs about big-budget horror movie spoofs (warning: link contains profanity).
-- Jeff Weiss