Here is a career and life retrospective for one of hip hop's greatest producers, Andre "Dr. Dre" Young", broadcast on MTV about a year after Chronic 2001's release. In this documentary you will learn about Dre's tremendous impact from the early years of N.W.A., up to 2001 as told by his collaborators such as Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Jimmy Iovine, also a few his close friends and associates. From witnessing media coverage and criticism which attempted to close the door on Dr. Dre's innovations of hardcore hip hop music, The Journey Of Dr. Dre is an intimate and honorable look at his career accomplishments as a producer, songwriter and cultural icon.


When looking back on Dr. Dre's last album Chronic 2001, it is amazing when I realize the impact it's left on today's hip hop production. I can hear the most basic of ideas and sound founded by that album in the work of many current producers who are dubbed as the next best thing. The perfected hip hop drum sounds of 2001 encouraged a deeper attention to detail in programming and engineering, showing that as one of many instruments it can be used to tell it's own story. Dre's use of live instrumentation and orchestration reached another level of providing emotional depth in song, encouraging producers to construct more seamless compositions through the use of synths, live players and obscure samples. The melodic chorus singing style and overall West Coast rhythm has slowly become a signature style for artists to define their own musical identity coming from this region. We all must thank Dr. Dre, Scott Storch and Mel-Man for the great effort they took to redefine such a large part of hip hop.