The clouds have parted and hip-hop fans are celebrating to know that Dr. Dre's classic solo album The Chronic will be available digitally for the first time via Apple Music. Never before has the album been available through other streaming platforms. The album is a favorite among hip-hop fans for its defining "g-funk" style and hits such as "Nuthin But A 'G' Thang," "Let Me Ride" and "F*ck Wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')."
Many were shocked that the breakthrough didn't occur during 2014 upon the initial launch of Beats Music. After all, Apple had bought up Beats, which Dre was a majority owner of, and he—at least in theory—owned the rights to The Chronic.
The latter fact turned out not to be entirely true.
The Chronic had been the biggest jewel in the long-running legal battle between Dre and Death Row Records, the label owned by Suge Knight on which Dre had recorded the landmark album. The parting of Dre from Death Row was less-than-cordial, and Knight was less-than-excited to turn over one of the bestselling albums in the label's history over to the departed Dre. Thus a battle continued for more than a decade, and became more amplified when the concept of digital rights emerged. Eventually a judge ruled during 2011 that Death Row did not have the right to distribute the album digitally (but could continue to do so physically).
It's the second major album to get approved for Apple Music in the last week, joining Taylor Swift's 1989...although Swift's withholding of her catalogue from streaming platforms has been entirely royalty-based, while Dre's been dealing with legal issues. Still, it was somewhat surprising that he couldn't get it prepared for Beats Radio three years after the final ruling on the digital rights.
The only announcement that could be more exciting to hip-hop-heads is if Dre finally confirmed the existence of Detox.
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