An apparently unfinished version of the single “Under Pressure,” the Jay-Z, Dr. Dre joint project rumored to be a part of Dre’s highly anticipated Detox project, leaked online. Despite a missing chorus, the song, which can be found online at several prominent hip hop blogs features a bouncy synth, spacey sweeps, and a typical Dre boom-bap drum pattern, with Dre on the first verse, and Hov on the second.
Overall, it’s an OK track, nothing entirely groundbreaking, but a decent effort from the two hip hop veterans. Once the completed song is out, with chorus filled in, and proper mastering, it’s sure to have its run as a club banger, though we’ll be honest, it doesn’t seem to have quite the impact we were hoping for, even with the rough draft status in mind. It does, however, sound like the kind of track that can easily grow on you, so expect to be hearing this one for a while.
The long awaited Jay-Z, Dr. Dre collaboration was long-rumored, after Dr. Dre and Interscope exec Jimmy Iovine confirmed its existence during a baseball game broadcast back in April. Despite his starts and stops with artists (Eve, Rakim) and the ever-delayed Detox, “Under Pressure” starts off with Dr. Dre spitting “The long awaited Detox, trick…” furthering the hopes of many that his opus may finally be on the way, possibly even this year as he stated to Billboard.
Dr. Dre has since spoken out about the song, which generally received less than thrilling feedback, according to AllHipHop.com, saying “I want to set the record straight for everybody who’s been waiting to hear my music. The song that’s on the internet is an incomplete song that I’m still working on. When it’s ready, you’ll be hearing it from me.”
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