Dr. Dre Has ‘The Best Understanding Of Rap Music,’ Says Symba

If Dr. Dre ever retires from rap, he might have a second career as an acting coach. At least, that’s Symba‘s opinion.

During a recent interview on the Hotboxin’ With Mike Tyson podcast, the Bay Area rapper opened up about his experiences working with the Compton icon. Symba said that Dre encouraged him to start acting out his lyrics, and his performance improved immeasurably.

Symba showed what he meant by spitting a short excerpt of his song “Can’t Win for Nothing” twice. The first time he delivered it in a monotone fashion. But in the second he added emphasis, sounding like he was actually going through the events and emotions the lyrics were addressing.

“I didn’t know how to do that until I got around [Dre],” the rapper admitted.

That wasn’t the only praise Symba had for the good Doctor.

“He also has the best ear and the best understanding of rap music,” Symba said of Dre. “I don’t say a motherfuckin’ thing when I’m in [the studio] with Dre. I’m just listening. And everything he tells me to do, it ends up being two times better than what I thought.”

Symba has been talking about his time with Dre since late last year.

“We got a lot of music, I can say that,” he told HipHopDX in December 2022 of his work with the icon. Symba speculated that some of their work together might be released on Dre’s upcoming joint album with Snoop Dogg, Missionary, which was announced back in October. Snoop recently told fans that the record would be completed by November.

Notably, Symba made headlines just a few days ago by suggesting that he was a better rapper than another Dr. Dre protege, Eminem.

“I respect Eminem on a level as a man,” he told Tierra Whack during a panel at REVOLT WORLD. “But as a rapper, I feel like I can name five better rappers.”

He followed that up by explicitly saying he was superior to Em.

“Anyone can rhyme words, [but] what are you saying?” he asked.