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Was Dr. Dre still Dr. Dre?
Sure he was a legend, but following his departure from Death Row Records, middling reception to The Firm’s debut album, and an objectively lackluster Aftermath compilation, the answer wasn’t so clear. In 1999, Dre erased any ambiguities with 2001, a sophomore album that re-established the musical maestro as one of the most compelling forces hip-hop has ever produced.
Released about seven years after he revitalized the West Coast with his debut album, The Chronic, the LP is a powerhouse effort that includes features sleekly nocturnal production, bars from apex Eminem, and timeless Snoop Dogg-assisted anthems designed to reverberate into the ages. While I’d argue it’s a half-notch below the standard he set with his maiden effort, it stands as compelling evidence of why we should never forget about Dre.
Tomorrow, 2001 celebrates its 25th anniversary. To celebrate, Okayplayer ranks every single track on the album. Peep the list below.
22. "Bar One (Skit)" (featuring Traci Nelson, Ms. Roq, and Eddie Griffin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fth1vgA068U
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
A limpid placeholder that really doesn’t need to be on this LP, and it’s also not all that funny.
21. "The Car Bomb (Skit)" (featuring Mel-Man and Charis Henry)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
The thing with skits is that they’re usually only around to serve as bridges to the next actual song, so they don’t have to be anything spectacular. This one fulfills its purpose with a genuinely organic interaction between the vocalists, but it’s just a skit, so placing it here.
20. "Ed-Ucation" (featuring Eddie Griffin)
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Empty, by-the-books “women are women and hoes are hoes” rhetoric even Eddie Griffin’s expressive delivery can’t save.
19. "Pause 4 Porno (Skit)" (featuring Jake Steed)
Pause 4 Pornowww.youtube.com
Yo… was Dre serious with this? Probably not, and it’s cool because it’s some genuinely funny bit of absurdist humor.
18. “Lolo (Intro)”
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Nothing special here, but nothing especially offensive or needless. Its cinematic tone lets you know you’re in for some fire, though.
17. "Murder Ink" (featuring Hittman and Ms. Roq)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Props for the Halloween sample, but the track feels generic otherwise, with flavorless verses and a hook that sounds like it came together in exactly 15 seconds. Dre’s authoritative presence is also sorely missed on the vocal end of things.
16. "Housewife" (featuring Kurupt and Hittman)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
This one’s just kinda there. Serviceable hook and fine enough Dre verse, but it’s a mostly indistinct entry into an album that’s already deals with this whole topic — a very sexist one — a little too much. Ok, way too much. But at least the others are more fun.
15. "Let's Get High" (featuring Hittman, Kurupt, and Ms. Roq)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Out of all the 2001 tracks, “Let’s Get High” sounds the most like early ’90s G-Funk, and the spitters here bounce off each other with some engaging kineticism to make you feel like you’re at a house party.
14. "Ackrite" (featuring Hittman)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Playful, threatening and melodic, Hittman did his thing here, even if we’re toward the back end of the album at this point. He’s an underrated figure in this whole 2001 saga, as you’ll see throughout the list.
13. "Bitch Niggaz" (featuring Snoop Dogg, Hittman, and Six-Two)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
With some vaguely sinister guitar strings and menacing verses from all involved parties, “Bitch Niggaz” typifies gangsta rap of the early aughts — with Dr. Dre, of course, being at the sonic and curatorial center. And man. Whatever happened to Hittman? This dude is on the album way more than I remember, and he seemingly always does his thing.
12. "Light Speed" (featuring Hittman)
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A fog of nocturnal gangsta funk, “Light Speed” isn’t anything that its title suggests. But it is embedded with a deceptively infectious hook and another set of charismatic flows from Dr. Dre.
11. "Some L.A. Niggaz" (featuring Hittman, Defari, Xzibit, Knoc-turn'al, Time Bomb, King T, MC Ren, and Kokane)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Kudos to Dre for bringing MC Ren back into the mix, and Xzibit once again reminds us why there was way more to him than Pimp My Ride — even if I’d love to see another season in the very near future.
10. "Bang Bang" (featuring Knoc-turn'al and Hittman)
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Everyone knows the streets of L.A. have a gun problem, and it’s really not something to celebrate. Here, Dre takes a step back from glorifying the action to simply call it for what it is, and the beat, along with the guest appearances, mesh seamlessly with his ambivalent stance on the whole situation.
9. “Big Ego’s” (featuring Hittman)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Two big ego's making you realize they've got a reason to be that way — even Hittman!
8. "The Message/Outro" (featuring Mary J. Blige and Rell)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Penned by Royce Da 5’9,” “The Message” serves as a touching reflection to Dr. Dre’s younger brother, who died in a fight back in the ’80s. While it scans as a bit by the numbers, Mary J. Blige’s vocals, and the general poignance of the writing make this one resonate in a major way. Plus, it’s a nice reprieve from some of 2001’s excessive nihilism. Somber Dre can be a pretty profound one.
7. "Fuck You" (featuring Devin the Dude and Snoop Dogg)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Classic, juvenile, and probably irresponsible West Coast fun courtesy of flagrant obscenities, a stylish soundscape and delirious joint hook from Devin the Dude and Snoop. Parts of it are very cringe as it pushes the limits of blatant misogyny, but it’s all done in such casually blatant way it sort of just blends in with the silliness of the song
6. “The Watcher”
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With “The Watcher,” Dre revels in living to be an OG, emitting an unusual comfort with aging out of music industry and miscellaneous street nonsense. The rhymes here are sharp — Em reportedly wrote them — but once again, Dre sells it with matter-of-fact conviction and a beat designed for pensive thoughts.
5. "Xxplosive" (featuring Hittman, Kurupt, Nate Dogg, and Six-Two)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
With the exception of “Still Dre,” no other 2001 track embodies “Xxplosive”’s undercurrent of pristine, West Coast cool. Once again, Nate Dogg serves up a melody you can’t help but murmur, and Hittman reminds all that he should’ve had more of a career. Bonus points for this being the beat Vince Staples Blacked out on for an L.A. Leakers freestyle years later.
4. “The Next Episode” featuring Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Kurupt
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Everything about this one sounds like a celebratory climax. The David McCallum sample is epic, Snoop’s hook (lada-dada-da!) is infectious and the shit talk is sublime. All those elements were already enough, but Nate Dogg’s refrain cemented the track is legendary.
3. “What’s The Difference” featuring Xzibit and Eminem
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
A posse cut among posse cuts, this one sees Dre, Xzibit, and Em get reflective as they nod to themes of loyalty, brotherhood and abrupt honesty. The beat here is iconic and the hook itself is a challenge rooted in integrity, helping make it more than symbolic enough to be indelible.
2. “Forgot About Dre” featuring Eminem
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
A flurry of nihilistic punchlines and ricocheting rhyme schemes, “Forgot About Dre” is the rap equivalent of Mischief Night. Delivering an Eminem-written verse, Dre once again puts down all his naysayers with frequent reminders of his resume. For his part, Em turns in the most tightly wound rhyme couplets you could ever imagine, swirling them together with an impressively juvenile imagination.
- “Still D.R.E.” featuring Snoop Dogg
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
From its cinematically fluttering keys to its West Coast symbolism and general theme of the gang getting back together, everything about “Still D.R.E.” says “West Coast Classic.” Here, Snoop Dogg and Dre are back to their old tricks as the duo that put the West Coast on their shoulders to define the G-Funk era. Dre nods to fallen friends (2Pac and Eazy-E) and low-riding Cali traditions before offering sharp retort for folks who said he’d fallen off: “They say Dre fell off, how, nigga, my last album was The Chronic.” Sure, JAY-Z wrote it, but Dre said TF outta that shit. Then, there’s the two-part hook that hits with all the destructive force of a joint punch from Batman and Robin — or a LeBron alley oop from Dwyane Wade. Between the bars, the beat, and Dre’s charisma, it’s all pretty incredible. But when you throw in the nostalgia — even back then — it becomes a reassuring reminder that sometimes, the best things can live forever. Even if it's only for four minutes at a time.
English (US) · 