1996 SPECIAL REPORT: "DR DRE"

Dr. Dre leaves Death Row Records due to money concerns and the unpredictability of Suge Knight. He forms Aftermath Entertainment.

Essentially, he is repeating the same moves as when he exited Ruthless Records, taking his talents elsewhere for a more financially stable situation and more creative freedom. Aftermath remains his home to this day. Dre’s “California Love,” originally intended for Chronic II but given to Tupac Shakur (who is now the focus of Death Row), is a hit, complete with the iconic, over-the-top hip-hop gone Mad Max video.



Along with an appearance on Blackstreet’s “No Diggity,” Dre becomes a ubiquitous part of urban pop, but no longer its primary rap spokesmen. Tupac Shakur is murdered in Las Vegas on September 13, a shocking tragedy and result of coastal beefing very much encouraged by Suge Knight and Death Row Records. In November, Dre releases the compilation Dr. Dre Presents The Aftermath. It’s a success, though somehow feels like something of a misstep given his impeccable N.W.A through Doggystyle track record. A year of transition.

rightfully so—his verse is shot-out-of-a-cannon energy (“Out on bail, fresh out of jail, California dreaming”). It’s also a song rife with tension, a fairly sunny anthem that brought with it the East Coast versus West Coast context nevertheless, as well as a widescreen and clean beat from Dre quite different from Tupac’s usual soundscapes (which tend to be spare and underwhelming) to better serve emotive lyrics.

Shakur’s death in the fall of 1996, coupled with Dre’s desire to move away from the drama of Death Row, means we didn’t get to hear catchier, more comfortable Tupac songs like this. It’s a tad perverse to imagine, but Dre and Tupac forming a Dre and Snoop-like relationship could have yielded plenty more pitch-perfect street-pop like “California Love.”