Dr. Dre Announces New Album For Release This Week

By Sameer Rao Aug 03, 2015

For all the heads looking for Dre’s highly-anticipated "Detox" to drop, you’re out of luck for now. Otherwise, the namesake leader of Beats by Dre and "Straight Outta Compton" co-producer has given hip-hop fans something to celebrate.

Dr. Dre, whose government name is Andre Young, announced on Saturday that he’s releasing his first albums since 1999’s "2001" (also known as "The Chronic: 2001") on iTunes and Apple Music this Friday. He announced the album on his own Beats 1 Radio show, a video clip of which you can see in his tweet below:

During the announcement, Dre said that the album was inspired by his experiences on the set of the "Straight Outta Compton" flim, and that he was moved to create the album during production: 

"I was leaving the set, coming to the studio, and I felt myself just being so inspired by the movie that I started recording an album. And I kept it under wraps. And the album is finished."

The album is slated to feature appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and Jill Scott, among others. 

Dre also mentioned that he put "Detox" on hold because it was subpar: 

"I don’t think I did a good enough job, and I couldn’t do that to my fans, and I couldn’t do that to myself, to be perfectly honest with you. I just wasn’t feeling it."

The album announcement comes on the heels of controversy after a casting call for "Straight Outta Compton" was leaked; the call, for which the casting agency has apologized, used racist and sexist language in calling for various "tiers" of women to be cast in the movie. 

"Straight Outta Compton" will be released in theaters on Friday, August 14. 

(H/t CNN