Dr. Dre hosted the first episode of “The Pharmacy with Dr. Dre” yesterday (July 4). The two-hour radio show is part of Beats1 on Apple Music.
The Compton, California rapper and producer explained why he decided to do a radio show.
“Jimmy Iovine approached me with this idea about doing a radio station and broadcasting around the entire globe, man,” Dr. Dre says. “And I was like, ‘What?’ Then I started thinking. I’ve made music. I’m making movies now. So a radio station? Why not.”
One of the segments in the program was dedicated to J Dilla. Dr. Dre named the late Detroit producer as one of his main inspirations.
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“There’s actually a lot of producers that I like to listen to,” he says, “a lot of producers out there that I respect, a lot of producers that I get inspiration from, but you know what? I’m gonna write a prescription for just one. What I want right now is just a dose of Dilla. One of the most incredible things that I liked about Dilla is, Dilla was in his hospital room on his deathbed and he had his machines in his room, in his hospital room and he was still making beats before he passed away. Now you’re talking about dedication to what you really love and your passion? It gets no deeper than that. That’s why J Dilla is one of my favorites.”
J Dilla died of Lupus in 2006, days after releasing his solo project Donuts.
Dr. Dre Reflects On Eazy-E
Dr. Dre started his career as a deejay and then producer. DJ Pooh, who appears on “The Pharmacy,” gave some insight into Dr. Dre’s early music creations, including working on fellow N.W.A member Eazy-E‘s debut album.
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“Me and Dre we were making mixtapes back in the days,” DJ Pooh says. “Went from there to producing music. We didn’t want to just make mixtapes. We wanted to make the music that wound up on the mixtapes. We were just both deejays from the beginning. It’s almost like a full-circle thing coming all the way back around here. So this is so dope. I remember sitting in Eazy’s garage at his mom’s house in Compton. When Dre’s programming beats for Eazy-Duz-It and we sitting in there in the garage waiting on Eazy to bring out some Kool-Aid.”
Dr. Dre also says that it took him a long time to get on board with the upcoming N.W.A movie Straight Outta Compton.
“I don’t want anything to pour water on my legacy, so I was against it at the beginning,” he says. “I read a few scripts that were just like kinda corny, but Ice Cube, he actually grabbed the bull by the horns. He went in and got the script done and I read this new script that he brung in and it was like, ‘Oh, ok, I like that.’ Then, when [F.] Gary Gray decided he wanted to come on board and direct, I’m like, ‘Ok, we might have something here. Let’s roll our sleeves up, black out and really give these people not only what they want.’ Just display everything that it took, not only what it took to put that record together, but the friendship, the love that we have for each other, the betrayal and ultimately, trying to get back together and do a new N.W.A record before Eazy passed away.”
Eazy-E died due to complications from AIDS in 1995.
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“The Pharmacy with Dr. Dre” also featured material from several West Coast artists, including Tupac, Kendrick Lamar and Vince Staples. They also played song from Future and A$AP Rocky and throwback cuts from Nas, A Tribe Called Quest and others.
“The Pharmacy by Dr. Dre” closed with a freestyle from King Mez. The North Carolina emcee was introduced as “new to The Pharmacy family.”
For additional Dr. Dre coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
