An Open Letter to Dr. Dre

Dear Mr. Dr. Dre,

I am not a huge fan of your work as a lyricist. I think you glorify a culture that deserves to be vilified while profiting hugely off of your own personal pain and suffering, as well as the pain and suffering of others in the "game." That is unfortunate, but I don't decy your right to express yourself in such a creative light.

That being said, your production capabilities are nothing short of astounding. Your reliance on your own musical growth is beyond admirable and presents albums that are truly iconic works of art within hip-hop, music and the creative world as a whole. Albums such as Easy E's Easy Duz It and your own Chronic and 2001, songs like Eve's Let Me Blow Ya Mind, 50 Cent's In Da Club, Busta Rhymes' Break Ya Neck, and everything worthwhile Eminem has ever realeased... that shit is beyond dope. It's elevated to a level other artists can only hope to match, in scope, candor and vision. They are all, also, very much so "you," without becoming a stale, forgotten sound. Your recent work on Eminem's Relapse / Refill is shocking and refreshing in a world where mainstream hip-hop is dominated by trashy house bullshit and uninspired R&B.

All of that being said - where the fuck is Detox?

Your long-awaited followup to 2001 is already considered the hip-hop equivalent of Guns 'n' Roses' interesting disaster Chinese Democracy. You've had been talking about a concept album, but in a hilarious twist, I can't help but note that article's statement about the album Detox being released "next year" - but that article is from 2002! We're moving into a new decade - you've been discussing releasing this album for ten years, and have seen release dates pop up in 2003, early 2004, 2005, 2007, May 2008, November / December 2009... We've heard about thirteen track albums with numerous singles, we've heard Ice Cube say he's on the album, but then that no N.W.A. members were on the album.

As it stands, it's looking more and more like Detox is going to become this decade's Duke Nukem Forever. That's really too bad.

Love,

Hip-hop fans.

P.S. Please devote more time to your music and less time to designing ugly, expensive headphones. The world doesn't need more headphones, especially ones made by companies as shady and rude as Monster.