It's no secret that Dr. Dre is a private man. When he recently shared the news that his daughter was accepted into USC, the celebratory moment was met with backlash on social media, forcing the hip hop mogul to retreat back into his shell. Outside of scandals that plagued him in his younger days that may follow him into his current career, Dre rarely grants interviews and stays grinding behind the scenes, cranking out hits as he's still one of the greatest music producers to ever hit the studio.
However, last weekend Dre's longtime friend LL Cool J was able to convince the Compton legend to sit down for an exclusive interview for his Sirius XM show, Rock The Bells Radio. The pair discussed a myriad of topics including Dre's love for the turntables, his passion for music, and his tendency to shy away from the spotlight. “You can’t learn if you’re talkin’,” Dre said. “I like to listen. I’ll listen, and I’ll speak up and give my opinion when necessary. And, it really depends on who I’m in the room with...I want my work to talk for me, and hopefully the work I’m doin’ and the way I carry myself to be an inspiration.”
Dre also shared that, unlike many other artists, he doesn't create music because he wants to drop an album. According to him, the music he makes isn't necessarily made for the public to hear. “This is the thing...I’m a recording artist, and I just love recording,” he said. “Most of the sh*t that I do is not for the public. I’m gonna go in the f*ckin’ studio and work tonight, it’s just for us and how we like to feel. It’s a habit. It’s a hobby. It’s a passion. This is what the f*ck I do; I just love making music. Some of it can come out and be a commercial success or whatever the f*ck. But I would say 75-80% of this sh*t is just for us, just for us to vibe to and have fun with. Because most people have this f*ckin’ thing in their head, ‘Whatever I do, I want people to hear’ or ‘it’s supposed to come out.’ I’m the opposite.”
LL confirms Dre's statements by saying that they have dozens of unreleased tracks that no one has heard. “We did unbelievable music," LL said. "We have what, 30, 40 songs we’ve done together?” Dre replies, “At least...great sh*t." Then the pair chuckled about the possibility of some of those tracks one day seeing the light of day.
Would you be down to hear some unreleased LL and Dr. Dre collabs?