Unique Access host Soren Baker sits with Los Angeles-based rapper Demrick to talk about one of the artist’s favorite albums, Dr. Dre‘s 2001.
“I just felt like, you know, we were anticipating it because you know Eminem and all that hype that was going on, making so much good music at the time,” Demrick says. “The production, the rhymes, the guests… some of my favorite Kurupt verses, and some of my verses by even Six-Two.”
Soren uses this opportunity to express how he felt that Six-Two was one of the greatest rappers that never made it to super stardom. Soren recalled a memory with legendary rapper The D.O.C. who said that Six-Two had the “It” factor when making music.
Moving onto the production aspect of the album, Baker asks Demrick how he felt about the album sonically. “You know how you can like put certain music to a point in your life?” Demrick asks. “So like for me, it’s almost nostalgic when I listen to that album, but the quality of the engineering and the production that he picked on there, and who he chose to put on the records is like perfect music.”
Eminem, who was featured on two songs, “What’s The Difference?” and “Forgot About Dre,” received high praise from Soren who stated, “Eminem on that album I don’t think fits the whole core of the album in what he represents, like the gangster side, and the LA side, but I think on those two songs in particular he had phenomenal execution.”
Demrick agrees and also names Eminem as the wildcard whose skill needs to be paid attention to.
Snoop Dogg’s appearance was warm-welcomed and applauded by both Soren and Demrick. From reuniting on “Bitch Please” to working on “Still D.R.E.” gave goose bumps to the listeners. Jay-Z’s name is thrown around when talking about lyric credit on who helped co-write “Still D.R.E.”
Demrick recalls being in Philadelphia and writing some of his first raps to the instrumental version of 2001.
While Dre is most well-known for his production, Soren claims that the super-producer is also an underrated rapper on the microphone. “I think with ‘The Watcher’ especially, and even ‘Still D.R.E.’…. you see like Dre just has a real presence on the mic. He adds, “He has a great voice, and a great delivery and presence.”
Demrick agrees and jumps in to say, “he knows how to pick the perfect cadences for records, and that’s why he always sounded so smooth.”