1999 Rewind: Remembering Dr. Dre’s 2001

Are y’all ready to party like it’s 1999? We all love the 90s here at Soul In Stereo, so it’s only right to revisit albums that are marking 25 years in 2024. 1999 Rewind looks back at all your old faves and see how well they hold up.

Were you as confused as I was in 1999 when Dr. Dre dropped an album named 2001? Weird nomenclature aside – that’s a whole story in itself – the pressure was sky-high for Dre on this project. His previous offerings with The Firm and Aftermath underwhelmed, and the shadow of the legendary The Chronic loomed large. Ronald Grant is back to talk about the very controversial and complicated legacy of Dre’s comeback album.

Y’all know how we start – share your first thoughts of hearing this album.

Ronald: There’s one memory that sticks out particularly with first hearing 2001. I’m on the Seven Mile bus headed home from my after-school job at a supermarket in a suburb of Detroit and I unintentionally start ear hustling a conversation between a guy my age and another in probably his mid-20s. The older guy is saying how 2001 is basically better than any other hip-hop album that dropped so far in ‘99. While I didn’t chime in, I do remember thinking, “How good could it be? It’s been like a hundred years since The Chronic!” Still, I remembered the dude’s words and soon headed to my nearest Best Buy to scoop up a copy. While I can’t that my mind was blown, I was proven VERY wrong: 2001 had bangers to spare! I also remember being particularly taken with “Xxplosive” and “Light Speed’. Overall, I gladly ate my slice of humble pie and enjoyed 2001 throughout the remainder of ’99 and well into 2000.

Edd: Once again, this isn’t an album I enjoyed in real time. I’m a native of Virginia and in the 90s the industry remained very regional in its sounds. In the early years of my fandom Va’s sounds were directly influenced by whatever was going on in New York at the time. By the mid to late 90s, Va was more readily embracing Southern hip-hop influences. We were quite the sonic melting pot. However, that often excluded the west. Now don’t misunderstand me, it’s not like we didn’t hear West Coast artists on our radio – I was a big Snoop fan and news of 2pac’s death had all the girls crying on my school bus. That said, my tastes were strictly East Coast/Dirty South in 99, so I didn’t rush out to buy this album, even though the singles got recent radio and video play. I wouldn’t hear the album in full until the streaming era, and I quickly became a fan. And last year when I ranked the best rap albums of the 90s, I was surprised to see just how well this album continues to hold up sonically.

What’s your pick for best song?

Ronald: “Xxplosive”

It’s gotta be “Xxplosive.” Considering everything on this album, this is an extremely tough question. Between a handful of legendary singles and what seems like a ton of deep cuts that could have been singles, it took me a minute to come to an answer. But “Xxplosive” is just this buttery, bluesy wave of impeccable production that stands unmatched even by the massive radio hits. Kurupt is completely in his bag in kicking the song off and Nate Dogg’s pristine R&B in-song interlude makes it a classic. But to me, the real proof is in how sampling the song provided Erykah Badu with her first Billboard Top Ten hit in “Bag Lady”. I see it as no small feat for an R&B song to sample a hip-hop track and blow up off it when it’s usually the other way around.

Edd: “Xxplosive”

Ron never lied. “Xxplosive” is an now-iconic mix of laid-back cool and biting edge. This track pimp walks through your speakers. From that catchy hook from the underrated Hittman – the unquestioned MVP of this project – to Nate Dogg’s brand of R&B bullying, this track has become a quintessential West Coast hit.

What about best video?

Ronald: “Forgot About Dre”

“Forgot About Dre” is my choice here. Let’s face it: there’s something weirdly sinister, goofy and hilarious about Dre and Eminem when they’re in music videos together. “Forgot About Dre” is no exception. Dre must’ve said to just give this video the full Eminem treatment because it’s so reminiscent of both “My Name Is” and “Guilty Conscience.” And Em claiming to have been upstairs listening to his Will Smith CD while the old lady’s house “caught on fire” is just the perfect bit of sarcasm. In truth, “Forgot About Dre” is more entertaining than any other music video from 2001. While “Stil D.R.E.” and “The Next Episode” are classic radio singles, neither video aged well.  With “Forgot About Dre” we at least got an injection of dark comedy that we know couldn’t be pulled off today but made for a video that matched the vibe of the song perfectly.

Edd: “Forgot About Dre”

“Forgot About Dre” for sure. Ron’s points are sound – “The Next Episode” and “Still D.R.E.” are just late 90s rap visuals. They’re not poor but they certainly aren’t very memorable. “Forgot About Dre” is another level of madness. Remember, Eminem was still relatively fresh to the scene when this video dropped in early 2000, so his cartoonish antics and twisted humor were still novel. Em steals the show, making these visuals anything but boring.

And name a song that should have been a single.

Ronald: “What’s the Difference”

“What’s the Difference,” without a doubt. Upon a few additional listens, I was gonna give the nod to “Light Speed” because it just oozes that signature West Coast sticky icky bravado. But “What’s the Difference” can arguably be counted as one of the most monumental deep cuts of all time. Where else can you find upstart versions of Eminem and Xzibit, both having graduated from the battle rap circuit and at the start of their major label careers and both giving some of the most spirited, hungry verses from their respective catalogs? Combined with that sample from Dre that equal parts gritty, smooth, heavy and thumping and you have a song that would have served perfectly as another single from an album already loaded with heavy hitters. Of course, you’d need to clean up Em’s closing verse to make it radio ready. But other than that, I deem “What’s the Difference” single worthy.

Edd: “What’s the Difference”

Imma need Ron to stop stealing my answers! But I love it when you’re right. “What’s the Difference” is one of those tracks that FEELS like a single, even though that wasn’t the case officially. Those thumping horns that waddle around the track like the Penguin are instantly recognizable, as are the verses from X to the Z and Em – the latter of whom especially snaps. All this needed was yet another insane video and I think it was a hit in the making – not that this project lacked hits.

Every Dr. Dre project has stellar production. Which beat was best?

Ronald: “Xxplosive”

It’s hard to argue against “Xxplosive.” Maybe it’s a cop out on my part, but it’s literally one of the most flawlessly produced songs in all of Dre’s catalog. That silky guitar and that subtle but commanding bassline immediately engulf you in pure, unadulterated West Coast sh*t. It’s been said many times that Dre is an undeniable perfectionist, and I can see why when he and Mel-Man can come up with production this funky and saturating.

Edd: “Xxplosive”

Nope, it’s not a cop-out when it’s the correct answer, playa. The production of “Xxplosive” towers above all others, and that’s saying a LOT for a Dr. Dre project. As Ron mentioned earlier, the fact that Erykah Badu borrowed the same sample for “Bag Lady” not even a full calendar year after its release shows just how inspired the production was for others artists. Easily one of the best beats of its era. Maybe ever.

What’s the most underrated song on the project?

Ronald: “Some L.A. N****z”

I’m gonna roll with “Some L.A. N****z”. At first, I was inclined to choose “Big Ego’s,” but the former has more flavor to it and, honestly, is everything a great posse cut should be. When you consider that 2001 starts to lose steam a bit once you hit “The Car Bomb,” it can be easy to dismiss the latter half of the album. That said, “Some L.A. N****z” brings the energy back up but also masterfully mellows things out while featuring some of L.A.’s most coveted emcees in Defari, MC Ren, KnocTurn’al, Xzibit and Hittman. It’s easily the best track on the second half of 2001 and deserves more recognition as a stellar deep cut in an album with more than a few of them.

Edd: “Bang Bang”

There are lots of choices here – “Housewife,” “Lets Get High,” but I’ll go with “Bang Bang.” Dre, Hittman and Knoc-turn’al (who I really thought was next up) have so much chemistry. But it’s the track’s commentary on Cali’s never-ending gun violence that really cements the deal. What could have been the usual gangsta posturing is actually a chilling account of life in a war zone. It’s a level of depth that’s too often overlooked.

2001 is crammed to the brim with features. Who went hardest?

Ronald: Eminem on “Forgot About Dre”

Tough call, but I’ll take Eminem on “Forgot About Dre.”  Among so many memorable guest spots from Em, Snoop, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Kurupt and more, Dre knew we’d be arguing years later over who had the top guest spot on 2001. But Em’s wrap up verse on “Forgot About Dre” takes the crown, followed by Kurupt’s opening verse on “Xxplosive” and X to the Z in third place with his verse on “What’s the Difference”. Em was in rare form since he knew he still had so much to prove on his own and as Dre’s protégé, and he brought every ounce of dark satire, disturbing comedy and Midwest rapid-fire flow to “Forgot About Dre.” In the process, he likely made everyone do a double take the first time they heard him dismantle the track.

Edd: Eminem on “Forgot About Dre”

Em was in his bag on “Forgot About Dre.” I know he’s an easy target for fans today, especially younger fans who missed out on his heyday, but this verse is a masterclass. From the metaphors, the breath control, the pacing, the imagery, the humor, it’s truly Marshall at his best. And that’s not even including this tongue-twisting hook, which took me forever to learn to recite in 2000. Em makes this rapping thing look so easy.

How does 2001 compare to its big brother, The Chronic?

Ronald: The Chronic is an institution and a landmark in hip-hop that stands tall with 90s albums that have earned their own mystique and lore: Illmatic, Ready to Die, Aquemini and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, to name a few. By comparison, 2001 isn’t quite on that level. With The Chronic, it was the first time that any of us had been exposed to Snoop, live instrumentation on a hip-hop album or the overall concoction that would become known to a wider audience as G-Funk. It was something many of us weren’t expecting and were forever changed by. 2001 is undoubtedly one of the best hip-hop albums of 1999 and of the 90s period, but it’s not on The Chronic’s level, which was likely Dre’s intention anyway. I imagine he didn’t really want to duplicate what he did on the former and knew it was an impossible task. Even with 2001 not being on the level of The Chronic, it was still a memorable outing with classic tracks that we’re still bumping today. Unfortunately, it’s still overshadowed by The Chronic.

Edd: Let’s face facts – 2001 is a great album; if it dropped today, it would be my 2024 album of the year, no question. But when paired next to its predecessor, literally one of the greatest and most influential albums of ANY genre, it pales in comparison. 2001 doesn’t have the game changing influence of The Chronic, but let’s be real, very, VERY few albums can compare to that lofty legacy.  As a follow up to one of the greatest albums ever, I remember some disappointment from fans that “it’s not Chronic good” (which is why I didn’t rush to get a copy in 1999). Sure, it’s not as stellar as what came before it, but that diminish all that 2001 does well – great production, a great showcase for a new generation of artists and a great comeback for an artist who had a few bumps in the road leading up to this.

Can we talk about the elephant in the room? Several of 2001’s tracks didn’t age very well in today’s climate. Has that hurt the albums’ legacy, or is it just a product of that time?

Ronald: To make it plain, as a fan, I must own up to the fact that not only did lots of the tracks on 2001 age very poorly, so did the imagery of the videos and the overall language, attitudes and behavior towards women, especially black women. I’m personally not going to take the route of saying 2001 was just a product of its time. As a 17-year-old high schooler, I fed right into the scantily clad, booty-shaking visuals of “Still D.R.E.” and “The Next Episode” and thought they were awesome. As I’ve grown, I’ve had to learn about and own up to the darker side of hip-hop that results in women being treated as objects for the purpose of making a music video look amazing to young, impressionable eyes and minds. I don’t think that hurts the albums’ legacy, but I do think that there’s a lot that we must grapple with and answer for as younger generations discover this and similar songs, videos, albums and other content.

Edd: Man listen. I’ll admit that, growing up a fan of hip-hop, I mostly turned a blind eye to its rampant misogyny. I knew it was wrong, I just wrote it off as “jokes,” assuming no one took the disrespect seriously. I mean it’s not like Dr. Dre would ACTUALLY do something to harm a woman in real life, right?

*cough*

By 1999, as female MCs like Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Da Brat, Lauryn Hill and especially Missy Elliott became a bigger part of my fandom – along with me growing up into a decent adult who respects women – I became very weary of the “b’s ain’t ish” lyrics. It felt old and corny. And with 2024 ears, MAN, these songs don’t age well. “Housewife” for instance is  a good song from a technical standpoint – it may have Dre’s best flow on the album – but it can be pretty cringe to sit through.

Here’s the thing about legacy – it represents both the past it emerged from, along with the future it currently resides in. It’s important to remember that 1999 was a much different era than 2024 – we all knew disrespecting women wasn’t good back then, but, sadly, it was more accepted. As fans, I think we must objectively weight all those sides – recognizing that music was good and shaped a generation, remembering that those controversial themes were more accepted back then, and also loudly calling out that disrespect today to ensure we don’t go back there.

“Your body, my choice?” Get out of my face with that incel garbage. We need to do better in 2024.

Where does 2001 rank among the best albums of the 90s?

Ronald: 2001 is a dope album and possibly in the Top 5 of 1999 for me, but I hesitate to rank it among my Top 20 albums of the entire decade. The thing about the 90s is that there was such a diversity of greatness that we were seeing from every corner of the country. Honestly, I can probably name at least 10-15 hip-hop albums from the 90s that are superior to 2001. But it was an unequivocal return to form for Dre after many of us thought he was done from the eggs that were laid with the Aftermath compilation and The Firm project. He dusted himself off, went back to basics, updated the formula for G-Funk success in a new era and made us all eat crow while nodding our heads in the process.

Edd: WELL, I did rank the best albums of the 90s – see for yourself – and it fell within the top 40. That may seem low, but when you consider just how incredibly stacked the 90s were with classic, impactful releases, that’s actually very high praise. It was the comeback album Dre needed, it was the necessary launching pad for emerging artists like Eminem and the production is still a benchmark today.

Where does 2001 rank among the best L.A. hip-hop albums of all time?

Ronald: I snuck this question in because just as there’s a huge diversity of classic 90s hip-hop albums, L.A. has a boatload of classics of a wide variety, and I’m interested to know what our fearless leader Ed thinks about where 2001 ranks among them. When you consider titles like Straight Outta Compton, The Chronic, Power, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, GKMC, Doggystyle, All Eyez on Me, The Documentary, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted and more, the question gets tougher and tougher. Me myself personally, I’d place 2001 in my top 15 L.A. hip-hop albums of all time because of its sheer domination of radio and TV at the time and because no one could have reimagined and reworked G-Funk for a new era of hip-hop the way Dre did so superbly.

Edd: When you narrow the field down a bit, I think 2001 ranking pretty high among its West Coast brethren. While I wouldn’t put it above most of the albums Ron mentioned above (although I’d put it WAY above All Eyez on Me – but that’s a war for another day…) it’s still a very important piece of West Coast history. If anything, I think the biggest knock against 2001 is that it constantly resides in the shadow of The Chronic. But judged on its own merits, I think it’s a powerful – albeit controversial – piece of the West’s rap legacy. Unfairly forgotten but absolutely necessary.

Who got it right, Ron or Edd? Let us know below and share your memories of 2001 too.