Ice Cube has opened up about Dr. Dre's lack of involvement regarding his upcoming I Am The West LP, and why the hit-making producer has been missing in action for the past 90 days.
Despite initially planning to work with the Doc, Cube said he understood Dre is under pressure from fans' anticipation.
"I didn't get a chance to work with Dre on this record," Cube said in an interview. "He's been M.I.A. for two to three months now. But I don't feel bad, because Snoop [Dogg] can't find him either -- I think, really, it's because people expect so much from him. People expect, when Dre does a record, it [will] change the trajectory of music. Not just be an album and it come out and be good. It has to come and take us in a different direction. And that's a lot of pressure." (MTV)
Writing via his blog earlier this month, Cube informed fans that his former N.W.A. member would no longer be featured on the project.
"I'm almost done with my record, I AM THE WEST. I've been mixing songs and dealing with paperwork all week and I'm down to my last 4 songs to mix. It's bangin'. I think we'll end up wit about 15 songs when it's all said and done and I'm real happy wit it. As a matter of fact, I'm in the Lench Mob Studios writing this blog right now. I'm going to Philly in the morning to promote Lottery Ticket. I get a lot of love in Philly...Go Mike Vick! Many asked about Dr. Dre working on my album. Negative, Dre has been M.I.A. for a few months now. I asked Snoop has he heard from him and he said, no. I can't wait. I gotta turn my sh*t in by Aug. 20th to make street date...Sept 28th. I'll keep you posted if anythang new develops." (Ice Cube)
Despite not linking with Dre for his album, Cube recently said he would be featured on the producer's upcoming Detox project.
"Dre is a master. What's cool about working with Dre is he stays the same. Everyone else change and trip, but I remember working with Dre back when we just in the garage. Just the two of us. And he works the same way. Don't come up with an empty palette, bring a lot of ideas to the plate...He's making a great record. I'm on it. I'm proud to be, I can't wait to get back to L.A. to get back in the studio with him. I'm trying to get a few tracks for my record I Am The West that's coming out..." (All Hip Hop)
Currently working on Detox, Dre recently opened up about his music leaking which includes an early version of a Jay-Z collaboration called "Under Pressure."
"I'm not mad at the fans. I'm mad at the person that leaked the sh*t. I have no idea how it got out. It's not even worth looking to see who did it. It happens. The most painful part about it is that I'm passionate about what I do so people should hear it in the right form...Somebody actually hacked into our emails, so that made our red flags go up. We're in a new age and that's a sign, 'Wake up motherf*cker.' You have to be more careful with your sh*t. That's all there is to it. I know what's up now." (VIBE)