Dre released an album, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were still a couple, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' was still on air, girls were wearing low-rise jeans with their thongs on show, Skechers were still a thing and the most famous Kim was Eminem’s ex-wife (and muse).
Yep, it was that long ago. Dr. Dre’s 2001 album was hot, and he spent the next decade promising us a follow up titled Detox, which never materialized. 16 years later, Dre is finally back. Announced only last week, Compton has been released exclusively on Apple Music, the streaming service Dre has a stake in (sorry, TIDAL).
The album is the soundtrack to the upcoming, highly anticipated biopic Straight Outta Compton. The film documents the rise of N.W.A, the legendary Gangsta Rap pioneers Dr. Dre was a member of. Compton, for those who don’t know, is a city in California which has become synonymous with crime, has been the setting of black gangster movies and gave birth to Gangsta Rap. The city has also produced some of the world’s most celebrated artists (Kendrick Lamar, The Game) and athletes (the Williams sisters).
With Compton, Dre pays homage to the city he’s never lost touch with and love for (he’s donating his royalties from the album towards the funding of its new arts centre).
But the question remains: does Compton live up to the hype after making people wait over a decade? If Twitter is anything to go by, the answer to that is a resounding hell yes.
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