Everything about 2001 Album totally explained
}}
2001, sometimes referred to by fans as
The Chronic 2001,
Dr. Dre 2001 and
The Chronic 2, is the second album by
hip hop rapper and producer
Dr. Dre, released in 1999 and featuring guest appearances from
Snoop Dogg, Hittman,
Eminem,
Xzibit, and others. Originally intended to be titled
The Chronic 2000 (the name was changed because of litigation with Dr. Dre's former label
Death Row Records), the album was the long-awaited follow-up to Dr. Dre's classic 1992 debut
The Chronic. It has been credited with bringing the
West Coast hip hop scene back to the spotlight after years of obscurity, showed that Dr. Dre could still remain prominent with a new generation of listeners and viewers, and further established the career of Eminem, who eventually became one of the best-selling rappers of all time.
2001 debuted at number two on the
Billboard charts with over 550,000 copies sold in its first week.
Background
Concept
Dr. Dre talked of his motivation to record the album and how he felt that he'd to prove himself to fans and media again:
He spoke of how the album was originally intended to be a
mixtape; with tracks linked through interludes and turntable effects, but then changed to be set-up like a film,
Josh Tyrangiel of
Time has described the recording process with Dr. Dre employs, stating "Every Dre track begins the same way, with Dre behind a drum machine in a room full of trusted musicians. (They carry beepers. When he wants to work, they work.) He'll program a beat, then ask the musicians to play along; when Dre hears something he likes, he isolates the player and tells him how to refine the sound."
Music
Production
The album primarily featured co-production between Dr. Dre and
Mel-Man and was generally well-received by critics.
Allmusic writer
Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that Dr. Dre had expanded on the
G-funk beats on his previous album,
The Chronic, and stated, "He's pushed himself hard, finding new variations in the formula by adding ominous strings, soulful vocals, and reggae, resulting in fairly interesting recontextualizations".
The album also marked the beginning of Dr. Dre's collaboration with keyboardist
Scott Storch, who had previously worked with
The Roots and is credited as a co-writer on several of
2001's tracks, including the hit single "
Still D.R.E.". Storch would later go on to become a successful producer in his own right, and has been credited as a co-producer with Dr. Dre on some of his productions since.
Songs
Content
Three singles were released from the album: "
Still D.R.E.", "
Forgot About Dre" and "
The Next Episode". "Fuck You", "Let's Get High", "What's The Difference" and "Xxplosive" were not officially released as singles but received some radio airplay which resulted in them charting in the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. "Still D.R.E." was nominated at the
2000 Grammy Awards, and "Forgot About Dre" and "The Next Episode" were nominated at the
2001 Grammy Awards, with the former winning
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for Dr. Dre and
Eminem. The production on the album was mainly handled by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man, with
Lord Finesse providing the only guest beat. Featured artists on the album include Eminem,
Snoop Dogg,
Xzibit and
Nate Dogg.
Singles
"Still D.R.E." was released as the lead single in October 1999. It peaked at number 93 on the
Billboard Hot 100, number 32 on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and reached number 11 on the
Hot Rap Singles. The song was nominated at the
2000 Grammy Awards for
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, but lost to
The Roots and
Erykah Badu's "You Got Me".
"Forgot About Dre" was released as the second single in 2000 and like the previous single, it was a hit on multiple charts. It reached number 25 on the
Billboard Hot 100, number 14 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and number 3 on the Rhythmic Top 40. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic stated, "2001 isn't as consistent or striking as Slim Shady, but the music is always brimming with character." Entertainment Weekly's Tom Sinclair praised the production, calling it "uncharacteristically sparse sound" from Dr. Dre and that it was as "addictive as it was back when over 3 million record buyers got hooked on
The Chronic and Snoop Dogg's Dre-produced
Doggystyle" and went on to commend Dr. Dre, stating, "If any rap producer deserves the title "composer", it's he."
NME mentioned that Dr. Dre didn't expand the genre, but it was "powerful enough in parts, but not clever enough to give Will Smith the fear".
PopMatters writer Chris Massey declared that "Musically,
2001 is about as close to brilliant as any one gangsta rap album might possibly get."
Christopher John Farley of
Time stated that "The beats are fresh and involving, and Dre's collaborations with Eminem and Snoop Dogg have ferocity and wit."
The album also received criticism. Erlewine talked of how the amount and quality of guest rappers affected the album, stating "Why does a producer as original as Dre work with such pedestrian rappers? Perhaps it's to ensure his control over the project, or to mask his own shortcomings as an MC, but the album suffers considerably as a result" and also criticised the lyrics, which he said were repetitive and full of "gangsta clichés". It is Dr. Dre's best selling album, as his previous album,
The Chronic, was certified three times Platinum. The album first appeared on music charts in 1999, peaking on the
Billboard 200 at number two and the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums at number one.
|align="center"|30
|-
|New Zealand Albums Chart
|align="center"|11
|-
|Norway Albums Chart
|align="center"|2
|-
|U.S.
Billboard Top Internet Albums
|align="center"|5
|-
|U.S.
Billboard Year-End Charts 2000 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
|align="center"|1
|}
Further Information
Get more info on '2001 Album'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://2001__album.totallyexplained.com">2001 (album) Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
