Maps of Music

Compton (2015)

Where the lyrics of Compton take you, and where it was really made.

Dr. Dre scrapped his long-delayed Detox album and released Compton instead, a soundtrack-inspired record that grew out of the Straight Outta Compton shoot.

Key places

Kaufman Astoria Studios, a recording site for Compton (2015)

Recording site Kaufman Astoria Studios — The album's production was done at several recording studios in 2013–2015. This studio is linked to the recording of the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Encore Recording Studios, a recording site for Compton (2015)

Recording site Encore Recording Studios — The album's production was done at several recording studios in 2013–2015. This studio is linked to the recording of the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Record One in Los Angeles, a recording site for Compton (2015)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — The album's production was done at several recording studios in 2013–2015. This studio in Los Angeles is linked to the recording of the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Sony in Culver City, a recording site for Compton (2015)

Recording site Cocoa-Butt — The album's production was done at several recording studios in 2013–2015. This studio in Culver City is linked to the recording of the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Compton: third studio album by Dr. Dre
• Released 7 August 2015 on Apple Music and the iTunes Store
• Physical editions followed on 21 August 2015
• Follow-up to his second album, 2001 (1999)
• Devised when production of the N.W.A biographical film Straight Outta Compton inspired a soundtrack

Background

• Dre spent 11 years on the Detox album without success
• He canceled Detox on 1 August 2015 during an episode of his Beats 1 radio show, The Pharmacy with Dr. Dre
• He said the album did not meet his standards
• In the same episode he announced Compton, to be released on 7 August on iTunes and Apple Music
• Ice Cube had announced the album earlier that day in an interview with Power 99FM
• Dre called Compton an 'inspired by' album and described it as his 'grand finale'
• The 'grand finale' claim proved false, as Dre hinted at a fourth album
• Guest artists include Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Xzibit and The Game

Recording

• Production for the album began with Detox
• Album-specific production took place in 2013–2015 at several recording studios
• Producers include Dr. Dre, Focus..., Dem Jointz, Trevor Lawrence, Jr., DJ Dahi, Cardiak and Theron Feemster
• Anderson .Paak, Marsha Ambrosius, Ice Cube, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem appear as featured guests
• Mastered by Brian 'Big Bass' Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Los Angeles, California

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Andre Romell Young, born February 18, 1965 in Compton, California, known professionally as Dr. Dre.
• Began as a DJ in the club Eve's After Dark and joined World Class Wreckin' Cru in 1984.
• Co-formed N.W.A in 1987 with Eazy-E, Ice Cube and Arabian Prince; the group popularized explicit gangsta rap.

Career

• Credited as a key figure in crafting West Coast G-funk in the early 1990s.
• Left N.W.A in 1991 and founded Death Row Records with Suge Knight; debut solo album The Chronic (1992) became a cultural phenomenon.
• Left Death Row in 1996 and founded Aftermath Entertainment; signed Eminem in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002.
• Released 2001 (1999) and Compton (2015) as solo albums; has won seven Grammy Awards.
• Co-founded Beats Electronics, which Apple bought in 2014.
• Performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show in 2022.

Members

• Former N.W.A members: Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Arabian Prince, DJ Yella, MC Ren.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released to widespread critical acclaim
• Metacritic average score of 82 from 36 reviews
• Rolling Stone critic Jonah Weiner called the album "by turns confounding and enthralling"
• Weiner wrote that it "contains some of his most ambitious, idea-stuffed production ever"
• Vice's Robert Christgau was somewhat less enthusiastic
• Christgau named "Genocide" and "Animals" as highlights
• Christgau wrote that the record benefitted significantly from Dre's absence from half the songs

Reappraisal

• Pitchfork named Compton the 32nd best album of 2015 at year end
• The Guardian ranked it 35th
• Billboard ranked it as the 45th most popular album of 2015 on the Billboard 200

Records

• Debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200
• First-week total of 295,000 album-equivalent units, including 278,558 copies sold
• Dre's third solo album to debut at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart
• Sold over 600,000 copies in the United States as of June 2016
• Certified Gold by the RIAA
• Debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 45,721 copies, including 2,079 streaming sales
• Dre's first number-one album in the UK
• Certified Gold by the BPI

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Dre announced the Detox cancellation on his Beats 1 radio show, The Pharmacy with Dr. Dre, on 1 August 2015
• Ice Cube announced the album in an interview with Power 99FM on the same day as Dre's show
• Dre called Compton his 'grand finale', a claim that turned out to be false
• Mastering was handled by Brian 'Big Bass' Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Los Angeles
• Compton became the first UK number-one album by an artist with a non-physical release, since its physical version came out two weeks later

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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