Helter Skelter - Dr. Dre & Ice Cube (circa-1994)
Shortly after Dr. Dre and
Ice Cube reunited in 1994 to record “Natural Born Killaz” for the
Murder Was The Case soundtrack, they announced they were making an entire album together. Bootleg t-shirts were everywhere, as was the hype. Dre soon left Death Row Records and became focused on Aftermath while Cube got deeper into his movie career, and began another super-group of sorts - Westside Connection with
WC and
Mack 10. Last year Cube couldn't even get a Dre beat on his latest album,
I Am The West.
How did it get Started?
When Ice Cube left NWA, it was instant beef between him and the remaining members. Cube left because he felt he was underpaid (or unpaid all together) for the work he put in writing the songs. He said he wrote 40% of the music, but was receiving far less than 40% of the money. In 1992 when Dre left for the exact same reasons, he ended up reconciling with Ice Cube. Their mutual resentment for Ruthless Records bonded them again.
After the decision was made to record a duo album, Dre came up with the title "Helter Skelter". The album would feature the two artists rapping over Dr. Dre's beats, with Ice Cube and The DOC handling the writing (Dre never really wrote his own lyrics).
A poster was available for a short time in 1994 with a painted Dr. Dre featuring a white "Helter Skelter" baseball cap on his head.
What Could it have been?
Rumored Tracks Included: "Can't C Me", "Gimme 50 Feet", "Game Over", "Natural Born Killaz", and "Grand Finale 2".
Cant C Me was later given to the Tha Dogg Pound as the lead single for Dogg Food. But Suge made a decision that no Dre produced songs should be on the record. The track ended up on 2Pac's All Eyes On Me.
Natural Born Killaz ended up on the Murder Was The Case OST, and Game Over was given to Scarface for his Untouchable album.
So What happened?
There is no definitive answer for why this album never materialized. It was probably due to a number of things.
There may have been problems with paper work, organizing Death Row and Priority (Cube's Label). Death Row was famous for being difficult to deal with. Also, Cube was also just beginning his long career as a film star. And with Dr. Dre being a half owner of Death Row records, he had other duties than just making music.
It's likely that "Grand Finale 2" was The DOC's idea. It was during the recording for Helter Skelter that The DOC was having issues with his voice. DOC felt he was still capable of rapping, while Dre thought otherwise. This left a sour taste in DOC's mouth. Dre had discovered The DOC in the late 80's and brought him to California to join Ruthless Records. Now without Dre's support, and without his regular speaking voice, The DOC felt he had little support at Death Row. He ended up leaving the label in 1995 and taking the writings for Helter Skelter with him.
To spite Dr. Dre and Death Row, The DOC released his own version of "Helter Skelter" in January of 1996 with the lyrics he had originally penned for Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. The album went on to achieve very limited success, but is still sought after by die hard fans.
Not Those nikkaz Again N.W.A reunion album (circa-2000)
At the turn of the century there was a lot of talk about an N.W.A. reunion with
Snoop Doggreplacing the deceased Eazy-E (DJ Yella was never mentioned in reunion plans). Dr. Dre, Ice Cube,
MC Ren and Snoop hit the studio and recorded
“Chin Check” for the
Next Friday soundtrack in 1999. They followed it up the next year with Ice Cube’s “Hello” (without Snoop) and Snoop’s “Set It Off” (without Dre). By early 2002, after no progress, they conceded the album would not happen due to scheduling conflicts and endless red tape from all the labels involved.
Make Up to Break Up - Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre (circa 1998)
In the spring of 1998 when Snoop Dogg was in the midst of leaving Death Row Records, he stated a lot of plans for the future - none of which were signing with No Limit Records, which is what he did months later (in fairness, he did eventually make that mediocre 213 album with Nate Dogg and
Warren G in 2004). After recently collaborating with Dr. Dre again on
“Zoom Zoom,”* Snoop had plans to reunite with the good Doctor for another LP together, called
Make Up To Break Up. Not only has this not happened in the 12 years since, but Snoop has released eight solo albums with just nine Dre beats. Speaking of Snoop projects that never happened...
Chairmen of the Boards - Dr. Dre & Timbaland (circa 2001)
In 2001 both Dr. Dre and Timbaland said they were going to make a joint album called
Chairmen of the Boards (still a great title). It would feature artists from both Dre’s Aftermath and Timbo’s now defunct Beat Club label, both Interscope Records subsidiaries.
Erick Sermon’s name was also mentioned (only by Erick) as was
Jermaine Dupri’s (before the dust-up). After three years or so and no progress the album was officially scrapped so Dre could concentrate on
Detox
Chronic 2 - Dr. Dre (circa 1995)
How did it get Started?
The Chronic 2 (also known as: "A New World Odor: Papa's got a Brand New Funk") was set to be Dr. Dre's second solo album released on Death Row. After starting the label off on the right foot, and helping the other acts on the label reach high levels of success, he (and many others) felt it was his turn again.
What Could it have been?
The original Chronic album is looked at as a milestone in Hip Hop. Dre zigged when everyone else was zagging. He set a new precedent in Hip Hop music. And he very well could have done it again.
Rumored tracks were to include: the original recording of "California Love", being a Dr. Dre solo, "Keep Their Heads Ringing", "Blunt Tyme", "OG to BG", and a song using the beat from the end of the "California Love" video.
"Been There, Done That", may have also been intended for the album, although this is not clear. The song was recorded during Dre's time at Death Row (as is evident by Suge owning publishing on the song).
So What happened?
From 1994 - 1996 a lot had changed at Death Row. Dr. Dre was mainly focused on the music, while Suge handled the business aspects of the label. Suge started bringing in new artists; people Dre had never heard of. Naturally Dre was reluctant to work with these people. Fights became a regular thing during studio sessions, while little work on the music would actually take place. It was too much partying and fighting that eventually led to Dre's decision to leave Death Row records in 1996. When he left Death Row, he left the album as well.
