Metro Boomin and Timbaland both apparently agree with Dr. Dre‘s take on the state of Hip Hop production.
In an Instagram post on Monday (October 21), Timbo shared an excerpt of a recent interview Dre and Snoop Dogg did with Stephen A. Smith. In the interview, Dre criticized rap albums that feature production from a large number of producers.
“Find your collaborator. I don’t like the fact that there are, like, nine different producers on one album. I like the idea of one producer on one album. Continuity is everything,” he said.
Asked by Smith where the trend came from, Dre replied: “I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”
He added: “If you a producer, you should be able to produce the entire album. That’s what I thought it was supposed to be. That’s what I was doing at the beginning.”
Timbaland added a caption to the video expressing agreement with Dre’s sentiments.
“Preach!!!!” he wrote.
Metro Boomin agreed, writing “All facts!” in a comment.
Check the post below.
Other notable artists, DJs and producers weighed in as well. Scram Jones attempted to provide some clarification.
“People getting confused,” he wrote. “[You] can get outside beatmakers and still be the main producer of the album if u orchestrate what to do w those beats and control what vocals and formats are placed on those beats, and are in charge of sequencing and mixing the entire project.”
Legendary producer Buckwild appeared to disagree, mentioning a few high profile albums Dre worked on that had a variety of beatmakers.
Elsewhere in that same Stephen A. Smith interview, Dre admitted that he never listens to any of his classic material.
“I don’t look back,” he told the sports broadcaster. “I never listen to my old music or anything like that.”
To show that he wasn’t exaggerating, Dre continued: “I’ve never listened to my old music. I never let anybody play it around me. I feel like that’s masturbation at the highest level.
“I’m always thinking forward. I don’t live my life with a rear-view mirror. I don’t give a fuck about what I did or what’s in the past.”
I get what Dre is saying but its not 1990 anymore. The artist is the one who controls the musical journey, not the producer. If the rapper has a budget, its very likely he may shop beats based on what works best for him. Dre and all these people dont like it because they arent making the same amount of money they used to make for beats. They make their money through other promotions and investments.
Because God forbid your album has a diversity of sounds. Nothing wrong with just using one producer, but neither is using multiple. Using too many can cause inconsistency but using one can sound stale after a few tracks. It’s a balance.
With that said, let’s not forget all the uncredited producers on Dre’s albums.
it started with ‘Illmatic’. it was the first rap album with multiple producers.
I get it from the standpoint of a different producer for every song on an album. What I don’t get is how Dre expresses frustration about different producers when he has yet to release Detox. I doubt Snoop Dogg’s Missionary ever comes out, and had Rakim possibly worked with different producers, we could’ve witnessed what would’ve been a great album if he allowed Rakim to take creative control of his unreleased album Oh My God. I love the executive produced albums by one producer, but history has shown us that your career can be hindered if you just stick to one producer especially if they decide to be wishy washy. On top of that, Dre hasn’t impressed me with music for quite a long time.
Well I think there is no definite answer for that. On the other side, a lot of classics only had one or two producers. Just look at the first wave of Wu Tang albums for example. Then again, albums like Illmatic showed that it can work with multiple producers as well.
But yeah, thinking about it.. When we look at some of the greatest classics of the genre, Dre isn’t wrong.
We’re not feds like you Dre so we don’t have the resources you have and in the 21st century we can’t take 15+ years to make an entire album like you.