**
-My guest today is a icon, and I really do mean that.
He is one of the most influential cultural forces
in American history, and that's not overstating things in the least way.
Okay? The man is one of the architects of rap and hip-hop,
and he changed the way that we listen to music.
And by "change," I do mean change.
He and Jimmy Iovine created Beats headphones,
which of course have taken the world by storm.
Who am I talking about? Well, by this time, you should know.
None other than Dr. Dre. Come out here, Dre.
How are you, man? -I'm great, man.
-Good to see you, champ. -Thanks for having me.
I appreciate you. This is big. -Yeah, man.
-This is bigger than big.
-You know, I don't come outside much, man.
-I already know, That's what I'm saying. This is big!
-Yeah, so it takes quite a bit to get me the fuck outside, man.
-This is huge. -Yeah.
-So I can't fuck up my opportunity.
I got to make it worth it. You know what I do here.
I believe that great conversations happen
over a great glass of wine.
This is a conversation that I'm excited to have.
-Okay. -Why am I excited
to have a conversation? Because there's so much shit
that I want to know about you, your road to success,
your now stance in success,
your business mind while being a success,
your take and place on music, how you listen to music,
who you fuck with in music. I want to know so much.
This is what we're going to dive into today. But before we do...
-That's a whole lot, Kev. That's a lot.
-Well, yeah. We've got an hour. Come on.
Hey. Come on, D. This is my somm, DLynn.
-Alright. -What are we drinking today?
-Mr. Young, Mr. Hart. -Mm-hmm.
-Well, I've got something for Mr. Young already.
One of the world's finest gins for you.
-Thank you. -And, of course, a Black family
that situated themselves in the Napa Valley
in the late '70s, early 1980s. -Mm-hmm.
-A reclusive blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel.
-Reclusive. -2017 vintage.
-That's a good year. -Excellence.
-What the fuck is going on around here?
-That's my somm. -Okay.
-He breaking down the wine. -Okay. Alright.
-Okay. You think I just drink any type of wine?
-I know it's real fancy in this motherfucker right now.
-You're goddamn right it was. It's a reclusive.
-Okay. -Reclusive blend.
-Okay. -May I just in case?
-No, I'm straight. Thank you. -Absolutely. Thank you.
Alright, man. -Enjoy.
-That's a bold man right there, asking Dre to his face...
To you, man. Here. Cheers, cheers.
-Cheers, man. -Thank you for coming on.
Dre, God damn. Where do I start? Where the fuck do I start?
-It's your show, man. You tell me.
-Let me tell you where I wanna start.
I got to work with Cube. Me and Cube did a movie
called "Ride Along,"
and while doing the movie "Ride Along" --
or "Ride Along 1" -- you know, I was very honest with Cube,
and I said, "Hey, man, this is a big opportunity.
Working with you is dope as hell.
But there's so much shit that I want to know.
Don't think at any point
that, you know, I'm trying to be a pain in the ass.
But throughout the course of this film, man,
I'm with you for two months, I'm gonna, like, ask questions.
-Of course, as you should.
-And a lot of the questions that I was asking,
you know, they were based off of the trajectory
that these young guys had from the hood of Los Angeles
and coming together as a group,
reaching this phenomenal, crazy place of success,
and really being a part of the change in music,
the change in hip-hop. -Right.
-Did you ever see or foresee --
and I know this is a traditional question --
-It is. -But I mean it when I say it.
-I know where you're going with it, but go ahead.
-Like, from there, you guys get together.
You're a group, and it's a rap group.
It's gangsta rap, whatever you want to call it.
-Yeah.
-You're now sitting at the top of, like --
-By the way, I've never liked it being called that. Gangsta rap.
That's never what we went in to do.
-What is it -- What did you--
-We were just making hard-core hip-hop.
That's all it is. You know?
I don't know why it got that title
or who gave it that title.
I don't know who the fuck that was, but it wasn't us.
-At the time -- I mean, you guys were adamant
about correcting it at that time, as well,
when it was being called gangsta rap or did you --
-No, we just let it go. We just embraced it and let it go.
But that's not what we decided to do. That's not what we called it.
We were just doing hip-hop. Hard-core hip-hop.
-Hard-core hip-hop representing the West Coast.
-Yeah.
-After representing the West Coast,
after making, I guess you could say,
a handprint in the game of rap, it quickly takes off.
-Yeah.
-Success happens. Holy shit. NWA.
-Yeah, we didn't know what the fuck we were doing, man.
We were some 20-year-old kids. You know?
I think Cube was still in high school when we started.
-Mm-hmm. -So we're kids.
I'm exploring.
I'm trying to develop my skills and trying to figure out
what I'm gonna do with my life,
not sure if that was gonna be it or not.
I wanted that to be it, you know,
because I didn't see myself doing anything else.
And it just so happens I left my mom's house
and I moved in with my auntie,
who happened to live a couple of houses down from Cube,
and that's how we hooked up.
He was still in high school at the time.
So we're some kids trying to figure out
what the fuck we're gonna do with our lives, you know?
And fortunately, we came together, and the shit clicked.
-At that moment, though, in rap,
who acted as influences at that time?
-Oh, my God.
At that time, it was, of course, Rakim.
Eric B. and Rakim. Run-DMC. Slick Rick.
These are the artists that we were listening to at the time.
And those were our major influences.
And we were like, "Okay, we can do this, too.
We can do this, too." Also Public Enemy.
Public Enemy was a big influence on me.
Shocklee and The Bomb Squad and the whole shit.
So those were major influences on me
from a production standpoint, you know?
-And it was always --
For you, it was always making the music.
It was always the idea of beats,
the idea of rap, from a young age?
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, I started when I was 14.
-Okay.
-And -- Deejaying and shit like that.
But when I started going to the pros, "to the pros,"
professionally, with making music,
I guess I was like 18 or something like that.
I'm not sure what age I was when I met Cube,
but that was the connection right there.
And, like, okay, let's get together
and let's do something great.
We knew we could do something great,
but it was only supposed to be great for the neighborhood.
We didn't know it was gonna go worldwide at the time.
So, but -- -Not only did it go worldwide,
I mean, you're talking, once again,
about being responsible for change.
You're talking about sitting at the forefront of real change
and the understanding and the identity behind --
-Yeah, it's still crazy to me that that happened, you know?
We were able to do something as fucking kids
that just changed the way a fucking genre of music was done
and the way it was looked at, you know?
So, yeah.
-What's most intriguing, man, to me is, like,
when you talk about success that comes from the hood
and makes it out of the hood
while still embracing the hood, right?
Sometimes those lines get blurred a little bit
because the expectations of what you're supposed to do,
who you're supposed to bring with you --
-Yeah, but you can't bring that into a creative space.
-Okay, okay.
-We never -- At least I never brought that
into the creative space. We're just in there, we're kids,
and we're saying the most wild, outlandish shit
just to get some attention and see, okay,
we're not gonna hit them over the head with a pillow.
We're gonna hit them over the head with a sledgehammer
when we come out.
"Straight Outta Compton." "Fuck the Police."
All of that. So we wanted to come out and get attention.
-Mm-hmm. -You know? And like I said,
it was really just to impress our neighborhood.
If we can be good in LA
and everybody in LA is paying attention to us,
that was good enough for us at the time.
Little did we know, you know,
we were gonna get attention around the world
and from the FBI and that whole shit.
It was crazy. -Do you feel like
the movie was made correctly?
Do you feel like you guys were able
to correctly grasp the story? -Absolutely, yeah.
-And if so, where do you feel like
the navigating of that story came from?
-I think that everybody that was involved in the movie
at the beginning didn't believe in the movie
and didn't trust it. -Okay, okay.
And then myself, Cube, and Gary Gray,
we went for it.
-Yeah. -What you see on the screen
is the result of what myself, Cube, and Gary did.
-Got it. So, here's what I want to know, then.
After seeing it, right, my takeaway from the movie was,
I had no idea that you guys
had the battles at that level with the law.
I had no idea that the battles at that level
came from the threat of, "Don't perform these songs,"
"You cannot do these songs," and, "If you do do these songs,
then you'll be arrested or handled accordingly."
-Yeah, that happened. -And decisions that were made
for y'all to say, "Fuck it. We're gonna do it anyway."
Were on spur and, like, real moments. I didn't know --
-Yeah, that happened, specifically in Detroit.
Yeah, they chased us down.
The way it's depicted in the movie
was pretty close to the way it really happened.
-At some point -- Was there ever a point in time
where the law started to get on your ass when you said,
"You know what, man? Like, maybe we should kind of cool out"?
"Like, maybe we need to, like, take some steps back."
-No, no. Absolutely not. -It was always full gas.
-Again, we're 20-year-old kids.
We're wilding the fuck out. We're doing what we want to do.
Like, "Fuck them. We're gonna do what we want."
That's what it was at the time. -After Detroit,
were there other cities that followed in the same suit?
Because in the movie, you can only say so much.
How many times did the same thing present itself to...
-That was the only problem we had.
-Okay. -Yeah, in Detroit.
Everything was good after that.
-Okay. Let's take a quick break.
Guys, please do not go anywhere.
The conversation will get better.
This is Dr. Dre. We'll be right back.
**
-Guys, welcome back. This is "Hart to Heart."
We're sitting with Dr. Dre.
Dude, let's get into the career of Dre,
the blossoming of Dre as now a solo artist.
You drop your solo project. Holy shit. "The Chronic."
Dre now becomes a conversation
of, "Holy shit. This is the guy."
What is the difference in you then than you with the group?
The solo success compared to the group success.
What was that change?
-Well, I think that the difference there
was money and business got involved,
and it separated the friendship. -Okay.
So I had to separate myself from Eazy,
because he decided to take a different route.
Cube had already left. So I'm out here on my own.
I have absolutely no idea what the fuck I'm going to do.
I just know I have this talent
and I've been developing these skills
with mixing and this whole shit.
And a close friend of mine, we call him D.O.C.,
talked me into doing the "Chronic" album.
And I went in there, and I --
-So that wasn't even a Dre decision.
-No, it wasn't my decision. I was talked into doing that.
-Okay. -And, yeah, I just
went in there and went for it because I felt like at that time
it was a life-or-death situation.
-Back is against the wall.
Life-or-death situation.
This record is gonna determine
whether I'm gonna stay in the studio or not.
-Yeah, this is a career make-or-break moment for you.
-Yeah. Absolutely. -And, by the way,
that's when people do their best work --
when you have no other choice, when all the eggs are in one basket,
and either this basket is going to be responsible
for how I eat or it's going to break.
-Yeah, it's really weird. It's a really weird dynamic.
Moving forward, it's like -- it's really tough to find
that kind of ambition and energy right now today.
-Today. Yeah. -You know?
-I was gonna -- I was going to get to that.
But I like that you're there now, right?
Because we're talking about the difference in your then
and, of course, getting to your now.
But the group -- phenomenal success.
Business economics.
Business. Deals done right, wrong.
Separation. People go their separate ways.
-Yeah, but it doesn't mean shit
if you're not getting treated right.
I don't give a fuck. I've walked away
from millions of dollars, Kevin.
You know? If it's not right, I'm not with it.
-Yeah. -I don't give a fuck
how much money you're offering me, you know?
I'm not about to leave with a wet ass.
You know what I mean? I'm not doing that.
Fuck that. Okay. You keep your money.
I'm taking everything with me, which is the talent.
-Okay.
-So I have absolutely no problem
with betting on myself, you know?
And I'm gonna win.
I always call myself a fucking professional winner.
-I don't see anything wrong with that.
You won, and you have done it at the highest levels.
Associating yourself in that regard to me is a line.
Like, there's -- I don't -- That doesn't make me go, "Whoa!"
I get it. I'm a guy that goes, "I get it."
-Oh, yeah, you feel like you won
because I left all this money for you.
-Yeah. -Yeah. You have that moment.
Have your fucking 15 minutes. Guess what I'm about to do.
-I'm gonna go do it again, but this time do it double.
-Yeah, and every time, it gets bigger and bigger.
And my -- the ultimate form of revenge for me is success.
I'm gonna keep being successful and make you look like shit.
-Yeah. -That's what it is.
If you've done me wrong. -Yeah.
When you talk about the motivation, right --
And this is a great -- It's a great conversation
because the success that you have found in yourself,
you've duplicated that success
by aligning yourself with new talent,
with being a part of the discovery
of some of the biggest names in the business today.
More importantly, the biggest albums, right?
When you go to music, well, you can attach yourself
to the career of NWA --
-It's not about attaching, Kevin,
I don't like that word. It's not about attaching.
-Give me a word. -It's about collaborating.
-Okay. Okay. Better word. I like it.
-Yeah, collaborating with some of the smartest motherfuckers
and the most talented motherfuckers
that ever stepped in the studio. -How do they happen?
How are you outsourcing said opportunities at that time?
-It's -- The only person that I ever heard on a demo tape
that I really liked and fucked with in the studio was Eminem.
Everything else is word-of-mouth.
It's exactly what you said. "Oh, you've got to hear this guy.
Hey. You've got to hear Snoop.
You got to hear this guy named Snoop."
Okay?
Brought him in the studio, and he started rapping.
He didn't even understand how to song structure
or anything like that.
I think D.O.C. taught him how to do that shit.
But it just happened like that.
-Okay. -You know?
-Has there -- Was there ever a time
with the artists that you were collaborating with,
whether it was Eminem, Snoop, 50, Kendrick, right --
Was there ever a time where a conversation had to be had?
Even Pac. Was there ever a time where it was like,
"Hey, man, either we're gonna do the work or we're not"?
Did any of them ever present themselves
to be about anything but the work?
-No. No. Never. -It was always the work.
-Always the work. It was always the work.
And it was always collaborating with the creativity
and seeing what we can do next that could be amazing.
-Mm-hmm. -What the fuck can we do next?
We're still having these conversations.
I love long-term relationships.
You know, if I'm fucking with you,
hopefully I want to fuck with you for life.
-Mm-hmm. -You know?
We're in a relationship. We're making this music.
We're making money. We're getting creative.
It's not just a one-off with me. -Okay.
-I love long-term relationships.
-So a working environment with Dr. Dre is what?
Like, when I sign up to go in the studio with Dre,
am I signing up for anywhere
between 12-to-16-hour studio days?
-No, hopefully you're signing up for a lifelong relationship.
That's why I'm going into it. -Okay.
-Okay, we're gonna make this music,
and hopefully this is a stepping stone
to a fucking fantastic relationship moving forward.
Not just with the music. We can talk about life.
We can talk about relationships.
We can talk about our kids or whatever.
That's what I look for. -Who can grow.
In this thing, we should grow, right?
-Yeah, it's a give-and-take. -Absolutely.
-I'm giving you this, and I want something back.
-Absolutely. -You know?
-I agree, and I understand where you're coming from.
And I want to make sure they do, too.
Guys, stick around, because we're gonna hear more
when we come back after this break.
**
Welcome back. This is still "Hart to Heart."
I'm Kevin Hart, and I'm sitting across from Dr. Dre.
Now, Dre, you've collaborated -- your word, I love the word --
aligned yourself with the conversation of so much history.
Through that, the history of will Dre go back
and do it again?
-Do what again? I'm doing it.
-No, no, no. Will Dre -- -What again?
-Well, the conversation is always,
will there ever be another "Chronic?"
And this has been, like, the conversation --
-Kev, I'm fucking -- I'm pushing 60 years old.
-I know that.
Damn! -[ Laughs ]
-Sorry, go ahead, I just had to do that.
-That was fucked up what you did to Don Cheadle,
by the way.
-No, you're pushing 60, absolutely.
I mean, look -- but, you know,
it's the elephant in the room regardless.
You know, I like that you let the elephant in the room
just stay in the room, but you know,
the reality is what? Like -- -I mean, I feel like
I'm in a business where I can be as creative as I'd like,
for as long as I would like, but being the front man,
getting on the mic and all that shit, I don't know.
I think, you know --
I was funny about doing the Super Bowl
because I'm at this age, but I felt like
because we're in LA and the Rams are here and --
-I like that you're mindful of that, though.
Because some people are lost in it, and you don't, like --
you know, you don't want to accept the fact that hey, man,
look -- these times change. -Yeah.
This thing that we do, especially hip hop,
is a young man's game. -Yeah. Absolutely.
-How long can I get away with this?
I mean, I can get away with producing young artists
and, you know, I can --
On my 90th birthday, I can blow out 90 candles,
and produce a young artist that's 22.
I can produce and stay in the background --
-We don't want to see you at 90 with the bandana --
-You're not going to see me, though.
No, I'm just in the studio playing
and doing my thing. But --
-With the Dickies on.
-No, you won't see that, Kevin.
I promise you, you won't see that.
I was funny about doing this shit, so --
-Yes, but I had to make you understand.
I said, "Dre, I got you." And as you see,
like, what I said is exactly what I mean.
It's exactly what I said it would be.
-I knew it was going to be fun.
You know, I don't like coming outside. But --
-But this is a good reason to because I feel like people
don't get a chance to --
people don't get a chance to hear you speak.
People don't get a chance to hear your passion.
We can see it from afar, we can assume --
-It's definitely a massive amount of passion,
and at this point in my life, I only want to come out for big.
I only want to come outside for big shit.
-OK. -I only want to come out
when it's just, like, it really means something.
You know, like the Super Bowl and the Grammy shit.
I'm not trying to pat myself on the back
and shit like that right now, but it's like,
I want to come outside for big shit.
-Mm-hmm, the Super Bowl,
what I love about the Super Bowl,
is it was a collaboration, right?
-Yeah. -It was a --
-Again, that word, collaboration.
-It was a collaboration.
It was a celebration of --
-I didn't mean to segue into the Super Bowl
to start talking about that shit and patting myself on the back.
-No, no, but this is a great segue,
and going along with the direction of the conversation.
What I love about the Super Bowl,
the collaboration, for one. The celebration of rap
being embraced on that stage is always dope,
because America gets to see it and --
-Yeah, we had to do it right because it was the first time
it was done, so I went all out.
I spent money out of my pocket
to get that show to look the way that it did.
-Production was A1. -Yeah.
-OK, so let's go -- let's go now and look --
look past Super Bowl.
Oh, my God, blown the fuck away. People are blown away.
Oh, my God, what a look for LA, what a look for Dr. Dre,
a look -- what a look in general across the board.
Oh, shit, Fif, Eminem, Kendrick, Snoop, Mary, this is a big deal.
-They all murdered it. Each person in that segment,
like Kendrick, Eminem, murdered shit.
-Murdered it. Murdered it. Right now, you get to sit
and you get to look back at these moments, right?
And you said to me earlier, you were like,
"It's a hard time. I have a hard time
finding that thing,"
like you were talking about, like when the back
was against the wall and that level of creative.
So then where do you find it?
Like, for you to collaborate with these people,
you're finding something, you're digging from somewhere.
So where do you find the energy to create --
-I don't know, Kevin. You know what?
It's like -- It's really weird right now,
trying to find inspiration, and you know,
being in the place that I am with my life,
massive amount of freedom, not just because of my divorce,
just a massive amount of freedom
and I'm, for the first time in my life,
I have all of this freedom and I'm trying to figure out
what I'm going to do next creatively,
and it's like a good thing and a bad thing.
You know? -OK, do you feel like --
do you feel like you're the happiest you've ever been now?
-Absolutely. -OK.
-At this moment, this very fucking second,
I'm the happiest that I've ever been in my life
because I have a complete free line to be creative.
I'm free for the first time in my life,
and I'm not just talking about relationships.
My kids are grown. They're out of the house.
I don't need money. I only have to work if I want to.
So I think that's the true -- for me personally,
that's the true definition of success.
-Was there, at the highest level of success,
the idea of stress, pressure, anxiety, whatever.
-Of course. -What were the lows for you?
-The lows for me are just trying to keep up
with everything that you just said.
-OK, OK.
-Just trying to keep up with that thing.
And making sure that I look right to my family
and my kids and shit like that.
-OK. -But I don't know --
-Did that appear to be too fast?
-No, no, I don't know,
the way you just put it is a little bit fucking weird.
I don't know if I've ever, like, at least in the last
let's say 20 or 30 years experienced extreme lows.
Outside of deaths in my family.
Outside of that, which were like --
I can't even tell you how low I was around those times.
But other than that,
I don't know if I've ever experienced like extreme lows
when it comes to just show business and shit like that.
-Well, you know what I was getting to
or alluding to --
-I know where you're trying to go.
-Yeah, it's, like, because you sometimes
reach these crazy levels, and after reaching the levels,
the pressure that we put on ourselves --
I talked about it with several artists,
several entertainers that have come on this show --
there's a high level of pressure
that we sometimes put on ourselves,
and that pressure sometimes puts us in a place of like, fuck!
-Yeah, but it's unnecessary pressure.
-Absolutely, but you have to discover that
and figure that out.
-For me, it's unnecessary pressure
and I don't like bow into that.
It's just about me trying to figure out
what I'm going to do next. And I'm like --
Especially now, I'm in a place where all I have to do
is think about what I'd like to do next,
or what I'd like to buy next, you know?
I have that luxury. -What is that?
Do you have an idea of what that is?
-I have no idea.
I don't know what I'd like to do next creatively,
I don't know if it's, like, movies, TV, music, art.
I draw, I don't know.
-I got it. Who is Dre's, like, they did it right?
-I don't know, man. It's just like,
I'd have to go, like, way back to a guy named Larry Smith,
who never really gets his props. -OK.
-Producer named Larry Smith who produced a lot of Run-DMC
at the beginning, LL Cool J, a lot of shit for Def Jam.
Houdini, * Friends, how many of us have them? *
Those records that I grew up on.
Larry Smith, Hank Shocklee, the Bomb Squad, Marley Marl,
those are the -- of course, Quincy Jones.
-The big dog. -Quincy Jones --
-The way you say those names.
-Yeah, Quincy Jones and Bruce Swedien.
It's, like, the "Thriller" album
was my go-to when I started engineering
and developing my skills on the mixing board and shit.
That was my go-to, to try to make my music
have that type of clarity.
-Was there anybody that was a part of that growth,
like when you talk about, you started
learning the boards and figuring --
-No, man, I did all that shit on my own.
I taught myself the board.
-No school, that's all just the art of consistency
and trying and figuring it out as you go.
-Yeah, that was just me, alone in the garage,
figuring it out on my own. So, yeah, I'm self-taught.
So, as weird as that sounds.
-No, it doesn't sound weird.
But being self-taught,
of course you have a high level of understanding now.
I can only assume that you're passing
that down to the artists that you work with --
-All the time.
-Making sure that they gravitate
and understand the complete ecosystem.
-Yeah, all the artists that I'm around,
and a lot of the artists, when they come in,
it's like, "Show me how you do..."
I have no problem with, like, sitting there, this is what I'm,
this is why I'm doing this, and this is -- if you do this,
this is what's going to happen, and the whole shit,
not only with artists that I'm around, but my kids and shit.
Especially with my son. My son, Truice --
he's really in it and make shit happen.
-How old? -He just turned 25.
-That's dope. -Yeah.
-That's dope. I mean, that's the biggest compliment to any dad
is to see their child pick up the love or passion --
-Yeah, I guess. To keep it real with you,
I didn't want him to get into this shit.
-Really? -No, I didn't.
-OK. -But what can you do?
-Why, just because of you knowing the --
-The bullshit that comes along with this business
and the politics and all that shit.
It's just like, it's so many let downs
that comes along with this shit, so you know.
-It's in his blood, whether you like it or not.
It's in there. -That's it.
-Yeah, you did that.
And success will happen. It's in his blood.
-Yeah. -And the understanding of how
and figuring it out is in his blood too, so --
-Hundred percent. -I can only imagine
what he may be or will be one day.
But it comes from what he saw, right?
Being in that environment, that's dope as fuck.
-Whatever it is, it's going to be the shit so --
-Congrats, man. That's huge, toast to you.
Toast to your son. -Thank you.
-And him just figuring it out.
Dre, let's stop for a second and take a quick break.
Guys, we've got more Dr. Dre
when we get back after these messages.
-And me, you know, I'm 56 years old.
-Damn!
I'm sorry.
**
-Welcome back to "Hart to Heart."
We are still talking with Dr. Dre.
The conversation is nothing short of amazing.
Dre, I want to know what -- On this side of the table.
Got another good question for you, right?
-Alright.
-We're talking about music now.
We're talking about artists now.
Who does Dr. Dre listen to now?
Who is Dr. Dre embracing in these times?
-I get this question all the time, Kevin.
It's like -- -Well, don't fucking make it
seem like my question wasn't shit.
-No, no.
-That's a great fucking question.
-It is a good question --
-I thought I just hit you with a doozy.
-Stop, stop that. No, I didn't mean it like that.
-Who do you like?
-I'm listening to different genres
of music all the time.
I might -- this week, I might be listening to '70s soul,
next week I might be listening to rock or the Beatles,
or some shit like that. I'm all over the place.
I might be listening to some fucking polka
or something when I leave here. I don't know.
I get inspiration from all types of genres of music.
I don't know, I don't have a --
I don't necessarily have a favorite.
I have a favorite of the week, let me put it like that.
-OK, OK, I like that.
When we're talking about the artists,
I'm beyond impressed with the work
and body of work of Kendrick Lamar.
-Yeah. -For you to be somebody
that was influential
and, of course, a part of his career early on,
to see him now grow into the artist that he is today.
-I can't take credit for that. -I didn't say take credit.
I'm saying to see him grow. I didn't say responsible,
I'm saying for you to see him grow into what he is today.
-Kendrick Lamar is a real motherfucking artist.
-Yeah. -Like, the true definition
of the word. -Absolutely.
-And the only thing I can take credit for
is opening the door for him.
Because he's done everything himself.
Him and Dave Free. -What's that relationship like,
with you and Kendrick? -Oh, we have
a fantastic relationship. Yeah.
-I like -- I like the fact
that you're -- well, the way that I look at it,
I'm extremely observant and watching Kendrick.
Seeing Kendrick from early on, young rapper,
the BET Cyphers to eventually getting to the album "DAMN."
-Yeah. -To then growing and developing
into an artist that really had to be moved to go
and actually put his craft in a space for people to hear it.
To then get to where he is like today, in tour --
-No, he's a fucking -- no, he's amazing man, let me --
Kendrick is one of those artists that we call "forever artists."
-OK. Define that for me.
-He could disappear for fucking five years
or something like that, and come back and fuck our heads up.
-Yeah. -Some artists feel like,
"I have to do something all the time so I won't be forgotten."
You know? That's not him.
He can disappear and come back with something that's shocking,
that's amazing, and everybody's going to tune in and listen.
-Do you have another example of a forever artist?
-Um...
Snoop, Eminem, forever artists.
If we're talking about just artists that I've worked with.
-No, just in general, just I like that.
-Yeah, you know I mean,
that's a really tough question to answer,
because all of a sudden
we're talking about Michael and Prince,
all that shit, you know what I mean?
Of course those are forever artists.
-Let's talk about, like, the climate now of rap now, right?
A lot of older rappers, some of them that come from --
-What's older? -Well, you know.
We're not going to put an age on it, right?
-We're not going to, but let's just say
a lot of rappers from back then.
-From back in the day. -Yeah, a lot of rappers
from back in the day. -Like how far?
-Rappers that can relate to either "hoowah," or --
-Oh, you're going back that far?
-No, this is good, yeah
[ Both shouting emphatically ]
-Either [shouts]. -That's a long time ago.
[ Laughs ] -Yeah, or "Bitch!"
At the end -- like, the rappers that can punch a curse word
at the end in doing it or a noise.
Rappers have been quoted just speaking
on the state of hip hop today,
right, or the artistry, or the enthusiasm, or if it is --
-Are you saying rappers today
speaking on the state of hip hop today?
-Rappers from -- -Or older rappers --
Rappers from back -- older rappers speaking
on the state of it, right? -OK.
-Some have been quoted as not supporting or against
or not embracing younger rappers.
It just felt like we don't get enough love from the old heads.
-Fuck that. -What is your take on that?
-Fuck that. Let me tell you something --
hip hop is what it is.
Anybody that's talking about the state of hip hop right now
and talking about it from a negative place
sounds like somebody's fucking grandfather.
-OK. -You know what I'm saying?
-I love that. -This is just what it is.
Hip hop is evolving.
If you don't like it, don't listen to it.
You know what I'm saying?
Keeping it all the way one hundred with you --
some of this shit, most of this shit I don't like.
I don't listen to a lot of that shit.
But, I'm not hating on it. -Yeah.
-I'm never going to hate on it. It's evolving.
And these kids are using
what they have at their fingertips, right?
I mean back in the day, I used to have to go out
and buy motherfucking keyboards and buy sounds from pawn shops
and shit like that to get my sounds out.
They have everything at their fingertips right now,
but you can't be mad at that. This is what it is.
If you don't like it, motherfucker,
do something about it. -Yeah, change it.
-If you don't like what's happening right now,
are you fucking strong enough or talented enough
to do something new to change it to make it,
to do something that you like?
Other than that, shut the fuck up.
That's it. Stop hating.
No, absolutely I agree.
Wait, wait, before you carry on any further,
let's pay some bills. Guys, this is "Hart to Heart."
I'm sitting with Dr. Dre, we'll be right back after this.
**
-Welcome back to "Hart to Heart."
Dre, so what are you like as a boss?
Working for Dr. Dre -- like, this attitude,
this bravado right here --
the people that have to be around you,
the people that are a part of your environment
and the creative, is this the energy that matches?
Is there a very strong approach to, "Hey, man, look,
either we going to do what we got to do,
or we not, and if you're not going to do this,
then this ain't the place for you, you got to go."
Or is there a more patient world to understanding?
-Kevin, usually I'm --
I treat everybody the way I want to be treated.
-OK. -That's what it is.
I don't lead with my ego or anything like that.
I don't feel like I'm better than you or you're better
than me or anything like that. The people that work with me
and for me may say something different.
But I don't know, I just feel like --
I feel like I'm the coolest motherfucker ever and especially
when we're working in the same space.
If we're working together,
I'm not tripping on no egotistical shit,
I'm not thinking that because I've done everything I've done
in my career that I'm better than you or whatever.
We're on the same fucking playing field,
and we're in there to make some magic.
That's all it is.
-If there could be a dream, like, project
or a dream opportunity, right, the reunion of,
or the collaboration between all the artists
that I've had the privilege to work with --
Any of these things, have any of these things --
-Dead or alive? -I mean, damn.
Wow, I'm going to say both. If you could combine it.
If you could pick your dream -- your dream work.
This is my dream work project.
My dream work project attached to music, and this right here,
"Oh, my God, if I had the opportunity to do..."
What would that be for you? -Man, that's -- man.
You should have started this motherfucking interview
with that one. -That's a great one.
I would have started with that. We're getting close to the end.
You start to get the big bangers at the end.
-Yeah, it's going to sound really weird --
Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Kurt Cobain,
Jimi Hendrix, Freddy Mercury.
-Music buff.
-Yeah, I mean I can go on. Barry White.
-Wow.
-Isaac Hayes, Led Zeppelin, well, yeah.
-Wow.
-So, you know, those are most of my heroes, and of course --
this is a really fucking crazy story -- Stevie Wonder.
There's a couple of times in my career
where I fucking bowed out and just --
-I was going to ask you that next.
Who did you have the opportunity to work with
and you was like "nah" then, but you regret
and that you should have worked with?
But, I don't want to throw your story off.
-No, but yeah, that's a good segue.
Prince. Michael Jackson.
-You bowed out from working with them?
-Yeah, yeah. -Both of them?!
-Yeah.
-You didn't work with both Prince
and Michael Jackson?! -Yeah.
-Was it like a demo tape or something?
-No, they just asked me to work with them,
and I just -- like, "What the fuck am I going to do with them?"
-What?! -Yeah, that happened.
-What?! -Yeah.
-Was there, like -- -What the fuck am I going to do
in the studio with them?
Those are my fucking heroes, man, you know?
-You're Dr. Dre! -Stop.
-You're Dr. Fucking Dre, what do you mean?
-And most recently, Stevie Wonder.
So I'm working on an album with Marsha Ambrosia, right,
and we -- -So talented.
-She's amazing. And we did some music,
a song using Stevie Wonder's music,
and he had to clear it, and he called me up,
like, "Oh --"
For some reason, Stevie Wonder calls you,
like, super early in the morning.
Like, 6:00-7:00 in the morning or some shit.
I'm like, just because you can't see the time...
Like...
[ Laughter ]
The fuck? Right? So, true story.
He's like, "I don't like the lyrics.
I don't like the lyrics, Dre."
Like, OK, we went in and changed the lyrics.
He's like, "Why don't we --"
[ Laughter ]
Stop, Kevin, I don't want to elaborate on that shit.
It's like --
-"Stevie, Stevie, it's 3:00 a.m."
"What?"
[ Laughter ]
-Like really, is it like --
what the fuck -- What the fuck is the difference,
like 5:00 a.m. or 5:00 p.m. to Stevie?
[ Laughter ]
So this shit happened.
-You're going to hell. [ Laughs ]
-No, this shit happened. -So he just called you,
he didn't like the lyrics.
-He's like, "I didn't like the lyrics."
And he called me back, he's like, "OK, yeah, you know,
Dre, I like the lyrics.
Why don't we get together and just write a song together?"
I'm like, "Yeah, alright, alright, Stevie, alright."
And uh, yeah, I didn't show up.
-You said, "No, I just can't do it."
-What the fuck am I going to do
in the studio with Stevie Wonder?
-I mean. I mean.
-Touch the drums? No. Touch the keyboard? No.
-Yeah. Yeah. -What the fuck?
-Yeah. -Nah.
-You want to be able to give the best --
-Yeah, I went that way. -But Michael!
You could have figured it out with Mike.
-Like -- -[ Stammers ]
-No, you know what it is? It's like --
-Do that again, Mike. [ Scatting ]
-Imagine that, imagine me telling Michael Jackson,
"No, Mike, I didn't like that.
We're going to need that second harmony one more time, Mike."
Man, imagine that shit. Nah.
-[ Scatting ]
"I'm sorry, Mike, are you singing that or what is that?"
-No, that's not going to happen. No, so --
-Mike, say fuck one time. "Fuck."
-These motherfuckers are my heroes, man.
It's like, what the fuck am I going to do in the studio
with Stevie Wonder?
-Yeah. -What the fuck?
When you explain it, I understand it.
I just thought that, like, you were like no --
-I was curious. I'm definitely curious.
I'm still curious, but.
-But, you clearly have an appetite
for a high volume. You clearly have a volume --
a high understanding for music in general.
You just went through your people that you listen to,
and I mean, you were at Led Zeppelin at one point.
You were all over the map in genres, like you said.
So is there an opportunity for you to,
I don't know, not just produce on behalf of,
but be responsible or collaborate
with the next version of your successful talent
from that spectrum? -That is different.
-Yeah. -That's different
than working with Prince.
-Yeah, because you're going, "Somebody's here and going up."
-My enter life and career has been dealing with
and working with new artists.
That's what I like. Nobody comes in with an agenda.
These motherfuckers show up on time. Everything.
So and it's a ball of clay when they walk in the room.
You can just form it and do what you want.
That's what I want.
Everybody else, especially my heroes, they're coming in
and there's a set plan as to how the shit should sound.
-Yeah. -I can't explore.
-You can't put together -- -I'm not using that --
-You're not putting together your puzzle the way that you --
-Yeah, I guess I'm using that as an excuse.
But I -- -That's not an excuse,
I think you're talking about your workflow
and where the winds that -- -And not only that,
these are my fucking heroes, and I like it from here.
I like the idea of what I grew up listening to,
and I want to keep it like that
and I don't want to fuck up that idea and that look.
I like the way I feel about Stevie, Prince, Michael,
Bruce Springsteen, and all of these amazing artists.
I like the way I feel about them,
and that could change it by working with them.
I don't know. I like it from here.
I don't need that on my resume.
-No, I definitely, clear.
Stop right there though, let's take a quick break.
Guys, we've got more "Hart to Heart" when we get back
after this. It's Dr. Dre.
You don't want to go nowhere.
**
-Welcome back. This is still "Hart to Heart,"
and Dr. Dre is still across from me.
Dude, what I like is that at the age 60,
all jokes aside, you are --
you're talking about life now, right?
And you're like, "Dude, I'm happy."
That's the first thing. -Yeah.
-I'm giving my takeaways. "I'm happy, Kev.
A lot of weights that once were are no longer,
and I'm in a space of free, and my struggle
is trying to figure out what to do with that free."
I listen, I sit and I listen, and you saying,
"I'm trying to figure out what to do with that free
and figure out my next version of creative."
Well, that's basically saying -- -Which is fun.
The discovery of that. -You're still trying
to figure out what that next thing is.
-Yes, but the discovery of that
and just even thinking about the discovery of that,
is amazing, it's an amazing feeling.
-That's the now adventure. -Yes.
-That's the now adventure. -That's it.
For the third act of my life, it's like what the --
it's just a clear playing field for me to just go.
-For your 60th birthday, was there a big, like --
-I'm not 60 yet, Kev. -When is it?
-I just turned 58.
-Just turned 58, so it's kind of --
well, basically, you're 60. -Yeah, alright.
-We can fight it, but you're right here.
-Alright, I'm knocking on 60's door.
-You're knocking on 60's door. A big extravaganza, a big event.
-OK, so what I plan,
and I've been talking about this since I was 25,
on my 60th birthday, which is in February 2025.
-OK. -Right, I'm just going to float
and travel.
It's like, I'm divorced now.
I do want a companion at some point.
I really do want a companion,
somebody to share the rest of my life with.
I'm not sure if it's marriage,
but I want to have somebody to take care of me,
somebody that I can spoil and just travel with.
So, February 2025, what I want to do is just travel
and just go to a bunch of places I've never been.
-What you just did just now
was just get an inbox full of IG models
about to hit you with 2025, I'm --
-What the fuck are you talking about?
-"I'm free Dre, for the world tour."
[ Laughter ]
-No, I'm just speaking my truth. -I love that, man.
-That's what I want. -That's what I mean.
Like, people don't get to hear you talk.
People don't get to -- get to hear this, man.
At the end of the day,
a lot of the people that we look up to,
a lot of the people that we idolize --
and by idolize I mean follow,
that we respect and admire, because of their success.
-I understand what you're saying.
-You forget they're human.
And what I love about "Hart to Heart"
is that I get to tap into the idea of human.
I get to tap into the idea of real conversation,
real questions, real answers.
And you talking about, "Yo, man, I'm at a point, I just want --
I want to do some different shit for me.
I want to go around the world,
and I want to do it with somebody."
That's vulnerability and just being honest and transparent.
-Yeah. -That's amazing.
-That's my mission -- finding that person
that I can laugh and joke with
and just that camaraderie that I can spoil and take care of,
and they're nurturing and taking care of me
and I can just travel with. That's all I want to do.
-You said another thing. -As soon as I turn 60,
that's what I'm going to do. -You said another thing
that I want to highlight before we go,
and you said "the third act."
I've only heard three people in my life break down life in acts.
And it's so dope when you hear it,
because it really is in line with how your life breaks down.
From the first act to the second to the third,
to then what will be considered the fourth.
And you being in this place of understanding,
you being in this place of clear where now is free --
brother, man, you deserve it.
-Thank you. -Your life was an open book
and a place of story, and how the story was told,
whether the road to the story being told correctly
was smooth or not -- -No, it's absolutely bumpy.
-But it was -- it's a story, man,
of a lot of fucking bumps,
and ultimately, you needed those bumps,
because without those bumps,
you don't have the clarity and understanding --
-And get this, I don't know --
I don't know if I would change anything
that happened in my life, including the mistakes.
I made some fucked up mistakes in my 20s, as most people do.
But they are all there to turn me into the person that I am.
And I'm just trying to be a fucking good person
and move forward and have a blast
with the rest of my life, bro, that's all it is.
-You can't do that if you don't get
to a place of understanding for the mistakes
that were once made. -Yeah.
-And if you don't address
the world of what that is,
and personally know that you've got to grow
and move on from that, then you're stuck in that.
-Yeah. -So, I love the fact, man,
that you're an example of change, of growth.
-Thank you. -More importantly, success.
And Dre, genuinely, man,
I appreciate you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you.
-Listen, man, thank you for having me, man.
Thank you. It takes a lot for me to come outside,
but I came outside for you, Kev.
-I appreciate you, man. Genuinely.
-Yeah. -I mean that.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is "Hart to Heart,"
and that was the legend himself, Dr. Dre.
It doesn't get better. Thank you, man.
-Yeah. -Look at that.
Easy. I didn't fucking lie to you.
I told you, no bad business, no bad shit.
-That was easy, Kev. -It was easy. It was great.
I'm very happy you came outside. -I am.
-He's like --
[ Laughter ]
-"I am, Kevin." -[ Laughs ]
Conan, Les, let's do the big promo thing.
Then we'll go from there. That's dope.