The only reason Dr Dre made ‘The Chronic’: “It was a life or death situation”
Although Dr Dre has only released three studio albums, they’ve all been influential in their individual ways. The Compton rapper left NWA in 1992 and formed Death Row Records with Suge Knight, releasing his debut album The Chronic later that year. The project is home to classic songs like ‘Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang’ and ‘Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Celebratin’)’, but it almost didn’t come together in the first place.
Dre once revealed that The Chronic wasn’t even his idea. After feeling inclined to leave his longtime group, he didn’t know what to do with himself and the talent he possessed. One of the greatest rapper-producers wasn’t aware he was about to change hip-hop forever, not for the first time.
“The difference, there was money and business got involved, and it separated the friendship,” he told Kevin Hart on Hart to Heart. “I had to separate myself from [Eazy-E] because he decided to take a different route. [Ice] Cube had already left, so I’m out here on my own. I have absolutely no idea what the fuck I’m gonna do. I just know I have this talent.”
Dre explained that The D.O.C., a fellow rapper and co-founder of Death Row, convinced him to record the album. It might be one of the most well-oiled rap albums in history, but there wasn’t a real inspiration behind the project other than feeling like he had to rap.
“A close friend of mine, we’ll call him DOC, talked me into doing the Chronic album,” he said. “It wasn’t my decision, I was talked into doing that. I just went in there and went for it because I felt, at that time, it was a life or death situation.”
In another appearance on the This Is Workout The Doubt with Dolvett Quince podcast, Dre said, “The DOC, my friend, talked me into to getting on the mic and actually doing that thing. Before that, I wasn’t going to get on the mic. I was just going to lay back and produce, which was the idea of The Chronic album, my first solo album. That’s what I wanted to do.”
Produced entirely by Dre, The Chronic was recorded at Death Row Studios in Los Angeles, peaking at number three on the Billboard 200 and becoming certified three times platinum. The album, featuring the likes of Warren G, Nate Dogg, and Kurupt, is widely known for putting Snoop Dogg on the map, releasing his debut album Doggystyle to critical success in 1993.
The Chronic laid the blueprint for Dre’s solo career. He released his second album, 2001, in 1999, continuing his success with hits like ‘Still D.R.E.’, ‘Forgot About Dre’, and ‘The Next Episode’. Despite his long-awaited Detox album never seeing the light of day, he returned in 2015 with Compton, which coincided with the F Gary Gray biopic of the same name. It remains to be seen whether another solo album will be released, but if it does, it’s all because of The Chronic.