R&B/Hip-Hop

Dr. Dre is following in the footsteps of rap peers like Ice Cube, 2Pac and Snoop Dogg as the West Coast legend was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Dre officially received the 2,775th star during a star-studded presentation on Tuesday afternoon (March 19). Friends and hip-hop associates who have been in Dre’s corner for decades, like Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Eminem, Jimmy Iovine and more, were in attendance.

The production icon took the podium after Iovine and Snoop Dogg showered Dr. Dre with love and appreciation for what he’s given to hip-hop.

“Growing up in Compton, I never imagined that I would one day be represented here among some of my childhood heroes,” he began.

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“I’ve been fortunate enough to make a living doing exactly what I love to do. How about that? Isn’t that the dream?” Dre asked the crowd. “Over the course of my career, I’ve had the privilege of finding and nurturing new talent as well as pushing the boundaries in hip-hop both in content and substance.”

Dr. Dre continued: “But I’m most proud of elevating the sound and clarity of how we experience hip-hop. Getting that thing right is one of my greatest achievements. I love that this honor is unique to Los Angeles and brings fans from all over the world to connect with their favorite artists. I’ll be here forever.”

The superproducer broke through as the sonic architect and co-founder of the seminal rap group N.W.A. He released his The Chronic acclaimed debut album in 1992, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

Dre left N.W.A. and went to crank out anthems for Death Row Records with fellow rap legends like Snoop, 2Pac and plenty more. With support from Interscope co-founder Jimmy Iovine, Dre launched Aftermath Entertainment in 1996 and is credited with the discovery of Eminem and 50 Cent.

Dr. Dre earned his first No. 1 atop the Billboard Hot 100 with 2Pac’s “California Love” in 1995. Other No. 1 hits on Dre’s decorated résumé include 50 Cent’s “In Da Club,” Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair” and Eminem’s “Crack A Bottle.” As a credited artist, he also reached the Hot 100 apex as part of BLACKstreet’s “No Diggity” in 1996.

Billboard named Dr. Dre as the greatest rap producer of all-time as the 59-year-old topped our list in the No. 1 slot last year.

Watch footage of the Hollywood Walk of Fame presentation below.

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J. Cole is still on the road as part of Drake’s It’s All A Blur – Big as the What? Tour, and he’s teasing more music leading into his anticipated The Fall-Off album.
The Dreamville boss unleashed the second edition of his Might Delete Later, Vol. 2 vlog recapping his travels on Monday (March 18), which includes an unreleased track featuring Cole rapping as if his rent was overdue.

Just shy of the five-minute mark, the scene switches to Cole riding his bike and getting some rhymes off over the thumping production. “Going to sleep at night praying to God release the stress/ Now I’m on G4 jets across the seas to decompress/ My recent texts, how much you think? Hmm, decent guess/ They go, ‘Cole, who you gon’ kill on the feature next?’” he raps.

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Another part of the Smack DVD-inspired content finds J. Cole reflecting on his early days of signing to Roc Nation circa ’09, when he wanted to just create a classic body of work no matter the commercial success.

However, Jay-Z had other ideas. “When I first signed to Jay, all I wanted to do was drop a classic. That sh– could’ve sold 3,000,” Cole reminisced. “But it’s gotta be an Illmatic. Once I signed to Jay and this n—a was like, ‘Nah, you not putting the album out until you got some f—ing hits.’

“I had to trial-and-error for a year and a half, two years. ‘Workout,’ I squeezed that sh– out last-minute. That was an unnatural space for me. Even if you listen to it, I can’t even hear that sh– back.”

Cole went on to release a pair of mixtapes (The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights) before delivering his Cole World: The Sideline Story debut album in 2011. The LP debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 218,000 album units sold in the first week.

Might Delete Later, Vol. 2 features cameos from plenty of Jermaine’s rap peers, including Central Cee, Drake, Benny the Butcher, Lil Yachty and meeting Sexyy Red for the first time.

There’s additional footage of Cole in the studio where he reveals there’s been “six iterations of this album” in regards to The Fall-Off, which fans can expect at some point later this year.

Watch Might Delete Later, Vol. 2 below.

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