GRAMMY-nominated rapper/singer, drummer and producer Anderson .Paak pulled out all the stops at his latest show in London on Mar. 13, surprising the gathered crowd with an unexpected cameo from one of hip-hop's biggest legends.
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Though .Paak's set at London's O2 Brixton Academy kicked off a bit later than was advertised, there was zero grumbling from the audience, who exploded into a chorus of cheers as the one and only Dr. Dre stepped out onto the stage, joining .Paak for a medley of classic GRAMMY-nominated tracks including "Still D.R.E." and "The Next Episode," both from Dre's Best Rap Album-nominated 2001.
The Doctor has long been one of .Paak's biggest advocates, with large sections of his 2015 LP Compton serving as a coming-out party of sorts for the multi-talented young star, with .Paak's name totaling a whopping six marquee features on the 16-track album. In the years since, Dre has continued to be a vocal supporter of .Paak's deep well of talent, and .Paak has revealed that the pair work on song ideas together almost constantly, according to Hot New Hip Hop. "Whenever I’m in town I just go over there and kick it with him and make something, and we just put it away," .Paak says. "I’m always making music so I’m always sending him ideas."
Photo: Joseph Okpako/Getty Images
.Paak also revealed to Triple J Radio that his still-untitled forthcoming new album – will he says will "definitely" drop this year – features substantial collaboration with Dre, who .Paak hints "had a heavy role" in shaping the new album.
For his own part, Dre continues to operate from within the cloud of mystery that surrounds the status of his apocryphal Detox album, now in the early years of its second decade of production limbo. Over the years, the flow of details about the album has been alternatingly sparse and abundant, with Consequence Of Sound finally reporting in 2015 that Dre had officially laid Detox to rest, choosing instead to devote his efforts to Compton.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I asked Dr. Dre if Detox is permanently shelved and he replied, “I’m working on a couple songs right now. We’ll see.”</p>— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/950822757062733824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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All the same, early 2018 saw the rumor mill start grinding once again as whispers and tweets began to circulate that the project may yet have risen from the grave. Though such claims remain officially unsubstantiated, it's not unthinkable, given .Paak and Dre's history of close collaboration, that the future (whether near or far) may still yet hold the potential for an Anderson .Paak-heavy Detox release. Only time will tell.
