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2001 (also referred to as The Chronic 2001 or The Chronic II) is the second studio album by American rapper and record producer Dr. Dre. It was released on November 16, 1999, by Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records as the follow-up to his 1992 debut album, The Chronic. The album was produced mainly by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man, as well as Lord Finesse, and features several guest contributions from Hittman, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Xzibit, Eminem, and Nate Dogg. 2001 exhibits an expansion on Dre's debut G-funk sound and contains gangsta rap themes such as violence, crime, promiscuity, sex, drug use, and street gangs. The album debuted at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 516,000 copies in its first week. It produced three singles that attained chart success and has been certified 6× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); as of August 2015 the album has sold 7,800,000 copies in the United States. 2001 received generally positive reviews from critics, many of whom praised the production and music, although some found the lyrics morally objectionable. Title and release In 1995, the original successor to The Chronic was to be titled The Chronic II: A New World Odor (Poppa's Got A Brand New Funk). However, this version of the album was scrapped after Dre departed from Death Row Records. After the creation of Aftermath Entertainment, the album was initially titled Chronic 2000 until Priority Records, who had become Death Row Records' new distributor decided, in conjunction with Death Row's founder and then-CEO Suge Knight, to call their newest compilation album Chronic 2000. Death Row owned the trademark for The Chronic as did Interscope Records who previously distributed the Death Row catalogue. Knight became aware of the title of Dr. Dre's album when notification for the trademark use was required by his label, Aftermath Records. When Aftermath heard that Priority and Death Row planned to use the same name for their album, Dre sought legal action. According to his lawyer Howard King, "both sides agreed that we'd allow the other to use the title, and then let the public decide which one they preferred". After the release of Death Row's Chronic 2000, Interscope announced that Dr. Dre's album would now be named Chronic 2001: No Seeds through teaser posters displaying a "Summer '99" release date. Amongst the roster of guests listed on the posters were rappers Sticky Fingaz and RBX, who neither were featured on the finished album. Years later, in an interview with Sticky Fingaz, he stated the song featuring himself and RBX was the Eminem song "Remember Me?", which, at Eminem's request, was put aside for his then-upcoming album, The Marshall Mathers LP. Shortly after, Interscope began the main promotional campaign displaying a new release date, "October 26th 1999", and a new logo that drops the subtitle No Seeds. At this point, Priority decided not to honor the original agreement and threatened to sue Dr. Dre if the Chronic trademark were to be used in any capacity. Dre eventually decided to release the album as simply 2001 on November 16, 1999 In an interview with The New York Times, Dr. Dre spoke about his motivation to record the album and how he felt that he had to prove himself to fans and media again after doubts arose over his production and rapping ability. These doubts came from the fact that he had not released a solo studio album since 1992's The Chronic. He stated: For the last couple of years, there's been a lot of talk out on the streets about whether or not I can still hold my own, whether or not I'm still good at producing. That was the ultimate motivation for me. Magazines, word of mouth, and rap tabloids were saying I didn't have it anymore. What more do I need to do? How many platinum records have I made? O.K., here's the album – now what do you have to say? The album was first intended to be released like a mixtape; with tracks linked through interludes and turntable effects, but it was changed to be set up like a film. Dr. Dre stated, "Everything you hear is planned. It's a movie, with different varieties of situations. So you've got build-ups, touching moments, aggressive moments. You've even got a 'Pause for Porno.' It's got everything that a movie needs." Speaking of how he did not record the album for club or radio play and that he planned the album simply for entertainment with comical aspects throughout, he commented "I'm not trying to send out any messages or anything with this record. I just basically do hard-core hip-hop and try to add a touch of dark comedy here and there. A lot of times the media just takes this and tries to make it into something else when it's all entertainment first. You shouldn't take it too seriously." Recording Some of the lyrics on the album used by Dre have been noted to be penned by several ghostwriters including Eminem, Jay-Z, and Hittman. Royce da 5'9" was rumored to be a ghostwriter on the album and though he was noted for writing the last track, "The Message", he is not credited by his legal name or alias in the liner notes. A track he recorded on the album, originally named "The Way I Be Pimpin'", was later retouched as "Xxplosive". "The Way I Be Pimpin'" has Dr. Dre rapping penned verses by Royce and features Royce's vocals on the chorus. Royce wrote several tracks such as "The Throne Is Mine" and "Stay in Your Place" which were later cut from the album. The tracks have been leaked later on several mixtapes, including Pretox. The album's production expanded on that of The Chronic, with new, sparse beats and reduced use of samples which were prominent on his debut album. Co-producer Scott Storch talked of how Dr. Dre used his collaborators during recording sessions: "At the time, I saw Dr. Dre desperately needed something. He needed a fuel injection, and Dre utilized me as the nitrous oxide. He threw me into the mix, and I sort of tapped on a new flavor with my whole piano sound and the strings and orchestration. So I'd be on the keyboards, and Mike [Elizondo] was on the bass guitar, and Dre was on the drum machine." Josh Tyrangiel of Time has described the recording process which Dr. Dre employs, stating "Every Dre track begins the same way, with Dre behind a drum machine in a room full of trusted musicians. (They carry beepers. When he wants to work, they work.) He'll program a beat, then ask the musicians to play along; when Dre hears something he likes, he isolates the player and tells him how to refine the sound." Music Production The album primarily featured co-production between Dr. Dre and Mel-Man and was generally well-received by critics. AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that Dr. Dre had expanded on the G-funk beats on his previous album, The Chronic, and stated, "He's pushed himself hard, finding new variations in the formula by adding ominous strings, soulful vocals, and reggae, resulting in fairly interesting recontextualizations" and went .... Discover the Bailey Bradford popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Bailey Bradford books.