Dr Dre hasn’t been inspired by a hip-hop album in a decade
Dr Dre, who is behind some of the greatest rap albums of all time, has revealed that he hasn’t been inspired by hip-hop in a decade. The Compton rapper and producer recently released his new album with Snoop Dogg titled Missionary on December 13th and now he has opened up about his thoughts on today’s music.
During a conversation with Snoop, Dre stated that he hasn’t encountered any music that he’s been envious of for a while, claiming most of the hip-hop that’s being made just isn’t doing it for him.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful to anybody right now, but I’m not really inspired by what’s happening with hip-hop these days,” he told Complex. “It’s not for me. I’ve always said I’m not going to disrespect it or anything like that, but I haven’t heard anything that makes me go, ‘Fuck, why didn’t I do that?’ I haven’t heard that in a long time, which makes my job easy to be honest.”
When asked to name the last person or album he was inspired by, he replied, “Well, if you’re talking about new shit, I would say good kid, m.A.A.d city and To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar were the last hip-hop albums that inspired me.”
Notably, Dre served as an executive producer on both good kid, m.A.A.d city and To Pimp a Butterfly, which were released on his Aftermath label. He also featured on ‘Compton’ from the good kid album while also appearing on the deluxe track ‘The Recipe’. In addition, he has background vocals on Butterfly‘s opening track ‘Wesley’s Theory’ featuring George Clinton and Thundercat.
Despite being uninspired of late, Dre revealed that Timbaland is one of his biggest inspirations earlier this year. “This guy is so fantastic, man. One of my inspirations. He doesn’t know it but he’s been one of my main inspirations throughout my career,” he said at the Iovine and Young Center for High School Education Benefit Auction.
He added, “Can you believe the amount of songs this motherfucker has recorded? I was just back here talking to James Corden, and he was like, ‘Listen, I didn’t know he produced that.’”