Missionary was a critical and commercial flop. It was also pretty heavily panned by the fans.
I feel that album was produced by the same Dr Dre who tried to go down the ‘Been There Done That’ route. He failed to hit the mark then just as he failed to hit the mark this time. People just don’t care to hear that type of stuff from Dre as, frankly, it doesn’t work. You can argue as to why that is until the sun comes up, People did like Marsha’s Casablanco mind you, so I have to give him that. It worked for that type of album with that type of artist.
One of the reasons I think he tries to pivot away from the type of music we want him to make as a hip hop producer, and lead artist, is that he doesn’t feel comfortable in the role he once played. Dr Dre is, and probably always has been, a normal (read; not at all gang related or gangsta) person. Especially now that he’s a billionaire and involved the straight laced business world.
I personally think that he should make the artistic decision to become Andre Young from here on out, and to maintain Dr Dre as simply a character, to be used as a means to an end. Personally I think his best move would be a concept album telling a story with an ageless Dr Dre as the lead. He’d be unburdened by restrictions and subject matter, which clearly hold him back nowadays,
Snoop actually does this character work and he has done for a long, long time. We know he isn’t really hanging in the LBC with the Rolling 20s, gang banging and pimping hoes. Eminem also reintroduced the Slim Shady character in an interesting way recently. So even in his own orbit he has inspiration to draw from.
It all would depend on Andre Young’s appetite to make that kind of music of course. I guess he may not have the appetite for it any more, and that’s fair enough if so. But if he wants to have one last hurrah as THE hip hop super producer, then this would be the play imo. Concept, story driven, guest starring roles for other artists who fulfill most of the rapping duties (just as he prefers). Kind of like a West Coast version of Prince Paul’s ‘Prince of Thieves’.
I feel that album was produced by the same Dr Dre who tried to go down the ‘Been There Done That’ route. He failed to hit the mark then just as he failed to hit the mark this time. People just don’t care to hear that type of stuff from Dre as, frankly, it doesn’t work. You can argue as to why that is until the sun comes up, People did like Marsha’s Casablanco mind you, so I have to give him that. It worked for that type of album with that type of artist.
One of the reasons I think he tries to pivot away from the type of music we want him to make as a hip hop producer, and lead artist, is that he doesn’t feel comfortable in the role he once played. Dr Dre is, and probably always has been, a normal (read; not at all gang related or gangsta) person. Especially now that he’s a billionaire and involved the straight laced business world.
I personally think that he should make the artistic decision to become Andre Young from here on out, and to maintain Dr Dre as simply a character, to be used as a means to an end. Personally I think his best move would be a concept album telling a story with an ageless Dr Dre as the lead. He’d be unburdened by restrictions and subject matter, which clearly hold him back nowadays,
Snoop actually does this character work and he has done for a long, long time. We know he isn’t really hanging in the LBC with the Rolling 20s, gang banging and pimping hoes. Eminem also reintroduced the Slim Shady character in an interesting way recently. So even in his own orbit he has inspiration to draw from.
It all would depend on Andre Young’s appetite to make that kind of music of course. I guess he may not have the appetite for it any more, and that’s fair enough if so. But if he wants to have one last hurrah as THE hip hop super producer, then this would be the play imo. Concept, story driven, guest starring roles for other artists who fulfill most of the rapping duties (just as he prefers). Kind of like a West Coast version of Prince Paul’s ‘Prince of Thieves’.
