There is no man more capable of residing over the production of album. No one better at it. Dre is the illest dude in front of a control board, crafting an album for the artist he's working with. His drawback is that, compared to these other kats on the list – especially Pete, Primo, Dilla and The Greatest – Dre isn’t as ill of a beat-maker. Don't get me wrong, he's sick, just not as sick. I mean, Primo is like AIDS, Dre is like syphylis.
When you here people say things like, "I'm in the studio working with Dre, working on my new album," it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a customer – like, say, Kevin Federline – the initial thought is that there's little possibility that 1.) The album will be loose, directionless and pointless with wack beats; and 2.) It won't sell. Dre is sort of like Dean Smith, in that his underlings end up being the biggest stars in all of hip hop. If there's a Godfather in hip hop, it's Dre. If there's a Quincy Jones in a hip hop studio, it's Dre.
The Modern Era Dre (post-N.W.A.) basically fathered Snoop, Eminem, 50 Cent and The Game. Even if you don’t get down with the aforementioned artists and albums, you can't escape the fact that they’re four of the biggest hop-acts in the modern era and they wouldn’t be without Dre.
This doesn't even factor in how he was at the center of Pac's leap. Pac was always popular, but “California Love” and All Eyez on Me raised his stakes.
Here's the test – take an artist that you wouldn’t associate with Dre, someone like, Royce da 5'9 or Lil’ Wayne or Juelz Santana. Dre would would take these dudes’ respective steezes and make beats and methodically direct an album that would be the best of Weezy, Juelz or Royce’s careers. That's what Dre does. He's not only a genius, he's hip hops most fool-proof guarantee that your album will polished product. Respect that.
Doin’ The Knowledge
The Chronic, 2001, Doggystyle and Marshall Mathers LP are all widely held classics. The beats bang, yes. But the product is so tight. Dre albums are like German engineered automobiles and, more than anything, it’s Dre’s albums (as opposed to his singular beats) that manifest his unique genius.
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3. DJ Premier
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2. Dr. Dre
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1. Rza
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