And so it seemed strange that Compton was going to be something else: A relatively quickly-assembled record inspired by the release of the new N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton. Dre is a notorious perfectionist, a Kubrick type who forces vocalists to record their parts over and over until they’ve nailed exactly the sound that Dre had in his head. When Dre announced the album’s existence last week, he also said that he was shelving the long-gestating Detox because he didn’t really like it anymore. So he’s made the conscious decision to ignore that impulse entirely. Dre is richer than God, and he doesn’t have to make hits anymore. But he’s also taken that gift for expansiveness and allowed it to become messy and idiosyncratic. That’s absolutely there on Compton musically, this might be the brightest, most expansive thing I’ve heard all year. Dre has already operated on the principal that rap music can and should sound as bold and expansive and huge as, say, Quincy Jones’ production for Michael Jackson. On the first few lessons, it becomes hard to tell when one song ends and another begins - partly because the songs themselves are changing so much, partly because there’s so much sonic information that it takes your brain a few listens to even process it. Songs switch up halfway through, completely interrupting their own flows and becoming entirely new things. Instead, those textures are ends unto themselves, towering monuments to themselves. There’s not a single surefire radio single on the album.
All those flourishes don’t necessarily serve songs or prop up hooks.
DR DRE COMPTON ALBUM TRACKS FULL
Compton is an album absolutely stuffed with music, with vast orchestrations full of expensive sonic details and gleaming gunmetal textures. Instead, he’s come back with something overwhelming. Dre has done with Compton, his first album in 16 years. When an important artist disappears for years on end, the fear is always that the artist will finally return with something underwhelming.
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