I en ny bok avslöjar Dr. Dre att han var nära på att lägga ner musiken redan 1992. Det är i LL Cool J’s “The Streets Win: 50 Years of Hip Hop Greatness” som N.W.A.-legenden skrivit en text om sin karriärstart.
I texten reflekterar han kring tiden i början av 90-talet när han knappt fick betalt och musikskapandet stagnerade, vilket fick honom att ifrågasätta en karriär inom musikbranschen. Men bara en vecka senare skulle han hitta en kreativ lucka och började skapa “the best music I had ever made”, vilket man får anta är den musik som senare skulle utgöra klassikern “The Chronic”. Förståeligt nog, ett livsavgörande ögonblick för den numera ikoniska producenten.
“In 1992, I had just bought a new house. Eazy-E and Jerry Heller were trying to starve me out and refused to pay the money they owed me. I was driving on the 101 freeway headed to the studio and, on that drive, I was thinking about quitting”, skriver Dre.
“I had been working on music for ‘The Chronic’ for at least a month, and everything I was doing either sounded like what I had already done or not as good as what I had already done.”
Han fortsätter:
“I started second-guessing my ability and whether music was what I was supposed to be doing, but I pushed those doubts aside and persevered. A week later, I started making the best music I had ever made. That moment was crucial to helping me solidify my determination to be a success. It also confirmed that I possessed everything I needed, and all I had to do was stay patient and persistent.”
“If I had listened to that little thing that told me to quit, my entire life would be different now. People are either pushing or pulling, and I wish I had known the difference early on in my career. I could’ve saved myself a lot of heartache in that area.”
“The Streets Win: 50 Years of Hip Hop Greatness” släpptes igår tisdag, den 3 oktober, och beskrivs “commemorating the birth, rise, and progression of Hip Hop’s culture and its indisputable impact on American music over the past 50 years.”
Utöver Dr. Dre har också ett antal stora namn bidragit med texter, däribland Eminem, Nas, Snoop Dogg, DJ Kool Herc, Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, KRS-One, Mary J. Blige, Grandmaster Flash, Run-D.M.C., Beastie Boys, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Big Daddy Kane och Fat Joe.
Foto: Jonathan Mannion / Rock The Bells / Rizzoli Books
