For whatever reason, the release of Dr. Dre's Compton: A Soundtrack prompted me to revisit the other two solo albums in his catalog. The Chronic is a classic, there will be no argument here, but his follow-up 2001 always felt a bit, well, off to me, because while half of that particular project knocked six ways from Sunday, the other half of 2001 pretty much sucks. It's a strange balance, one which many hip hop heads claim to not hear, since a lot of my peers love that album as though it were a flawless masterpiece. I like the album a lot, and I still listen to songs like "The Next Episode" (every other day, to be honest) and "Forgot About Dre" (significantly less so, as it is now remembered more as part of an in-joke between my wife and I than it is as a song I once liked, although Eminem still murders that track), but there's quite a bit of filler. So, as a writing exercise, I decided to pluck one of the no-names from 2001's guest list to see if I could figure out what Andre Young saw in them, because I still for the life of me can't figure out the Anderson .Paak thing.
Knoc-Turn'al, ye of the dumbass rap name and horribly self-serious album cover, come on down!
