Legends hanging out with legends will never fail to attract attention. So when pioneering turntablist Grandmaster Flash linked with celebrated Hip Hop producer Dr. Dre in Los Angeles over the weekend, naturally it piqued some interest.
On Sunday (August 1), Grandmaster Flash shared a photo of himself with Dr. Dre to the official Furious 5 Instagram account and revealed he’d been kicking it at the Beats By Dre mogul’s house following a DiscOasis event with music icon Nile Rodgers. Flash also revealed Dre played him a project that will apparently have an asteroid-sized impact on the culture.
“GRANDMASTER FLASH & DR. DRE,” he wrote in the caption. “Here in LA doing the Disco Oasis with Nile Rogers tonite, I get a call from one of my heroes he invites me to the CRIB.
“He takes me down to the STUDIO he played me a project that will change the game!! Totally incredible, we top off the day for 2hrs talkin about Music, Family Health and Life thanks for the Invite Dr Dre.”
Dr. Dre fans have been holding their collective breath for another solo album from the N.W.A visionary for years — specifically the nearly mythical project Detox.
Following Dre’s brain aneurysm and subsequent hospitalization in January, the 56-year-old got back to the studio rather quickly. Aftermath Entertainment-affiliated producer Dem Jointz shared an Instagram photo of Dre, The D.O.C. and several others posted up in front of a mixing board.
While that’s not necessarily anything too out of the ordinary, the caption caught fans’ attention.
“And we back!” Dem wrote in the caption. “#Detox21.”
Dr. Dre announced Detox in 2002, but it reportedly delayed so he could work on projects for 50 Cent, Eminem and The Game. In 2015, Dre claimed he’d officially scrapped the project after working on the album for over a decade and instead, gave Dre fans Compton: A Soundtrack By Dr. Dre.
In an August 2020 interview with VladTV, Akon spoke about the Detox sessions and suggested Dre’s perfectionism is what’s keeping the project from seeing the light of day.
“I don’t think [Dre] understands his power sometimes,” he said at the time. “I don’t think that — I think he’s gonna win no matter what because he’s Dre! Just drop that bitch! Like he got bangers though.
“I know for a fact I did a couple of bangers that the world probably will never hear. But man, from what I did hear when we were working together and I was submitting records for ’em, man, they got so much heat. But he’s just a perfectionist — too perfect.”
Dre is currently in the middle of a high profile divorce from his wife of 24 years, Nicole Young, who filed in June 2020, citing “irreconcilable difference.” Since then, he’s been spotted with Omarion’s ex Apryl Jones and another “mystery” woman just last week.
