This week, Dr. Dre officially released the second single from Detox, "I Need a Doctor (ft. Eminem & Skylar Grey)," currently sitting at number one on the iTunes most downloaded chart. "I Need a Doctor," produced by Alex da Kid (pictured, the man behind "Airplanes" and "Love the Way You Lie"), is an unfortunately generic, Recovery-esque pop-rap song meant to blow up the charts, but lacking the FUNK of every single other song Dr. Dre ever recorded. Detox's release date has been pushed back for years, supposedly because of his perfectionism and artistic vision. Now, it's entirely possible that "I Need a Doctor" is a cheap commercial ploy, meant to build up his pop credentials for a generation that might actually have forgotten about Dre. "Kush," the first single from Detox, is a solid track, which doesn't aim for the top of the charts, but shares the "let's party" ethos at the center of all of Dre's previous solo releases. It's possible that Detox won't feature any other songs as mainstream as "I Need a Doctor," but this raises some concern.
I understand where Dr. Dre is coming from. Dr. Dre's other two albums were generation-defining Hip-Hop classics. 1992's The Chronic, possibly the most influential Hip-Hop album of all time, introduced the world to G-Funk and brought melody and a fun, laid-back approach to gangster life and Hip-Hop. By 1993, Dre ruled Hip-Hop and his production defined the West Coast sound. 2001 proved that Dre's melodic and rich production would not be rendered obsolete by a new decade and new trends. "I Need a Doctor" is troubling because, for the first time, Dr. Dre is outsourcing production, possibly signaling that he's lost his touch, or that he doesn't believe that his style of production could carry a multi-platinum album. The point is: the greatest producer in the history of rap, a man who is always ahead of the curve, may have lost his fastball. Here's hoping I'm wrong.
