Ice Cube and Mike Epps premiered their new podcast, Listen & Laugh, with a very special guest: Dr. Dre. Of all people, Ice Cube has the best chances to land a guest of that calibre – his history with Dre goes back to before N.W.A. even started.
In this episode, Dr. Dre talked about his legacy in music and the future he sees outside it.
Apparently, Dre is considering taking a year or two off from making music. He is in a place right now where he treasures his peace and is ready to discover the world outside of the studio walls. Dre says he’s spent all 41 years of his career in the studio.
I’m thinking about moving on to some other things. What if music is in the way of something else that I’m supposed to be doing? I’m so fucking excited about discovering the man I’m going to be next. For the first time in my entire adult career, I’m going to take a break from that. I’m going to go away. I’m going to get off the grid for a year or two. And come back!
Even when you’re outside the studio, you’re thinking about it. You’re looking at storefronts or bumper stickers that can give you an idea for the next time you go into the studio. You’re never away from it. You’re always tethered to this thing. For the first time in my life, I won’t be.
What if there’s something else waiting for me that could give me the same exact feeling I felt when I discovered music?
The amount of music Dr Dre has created over those years is hard to imagine. By his own estimate, only about 20% has been released. The rest is locked up in his famous vault. But it is not enough. Apparently, Dre keeps sending beats to the artists he would like to work with, Ice Cube included.
I’m waiting for somebody to respond and say, “Listen, I fuck with this. Let’s go experiment”. No matter how nervous you may be, let’s just go in and experiment. If it doesn’t work, nobody has to hear it. I just like recording. I feel like, since my beginning in 1985, maybe 80% of the music I’ve done nobody has heard.
Let’s just say from 1985 up until now, 2026, only 20% of the music I’ve done has come out. I have this incredible vault of music, ideas and vocal ideas that’s just sitting there.
By the end of the conversation, Mike Epps brought up Eminem as if signing him was something Martin Luther King should have warned Dre against. Dr. Dre laughed so hard he could not respond. Eventually, he came up with an answer that once again put an emphasis on Eminem’s skills as a rapper, not on his race, and both hosts agreed.
Mike Epps: When you worked with Eminem, did you ever think about Martin Luther King? Did it cross your mind? Did you hear his voice say, “Now, you know better than playing this damn Eminem”?
Dr. Dre: Shut the fuck up. I was really trying to come up with an answer to that, but I don’t have one. I’m all out. Of course I knew it was going to be controversial and looked at like, “What the fuck is he doing?” But I knew that us as Black people – we’re not going to deny that shit if it’s dope. I put my head in the guillotine, and I forgot he was white after that.
Mike Epps: That’s how I felt when I heard him. I forgot he was white.
Ice Cube: As a top-notch producer, he deserved those beats. He deserved that production because he’s a top-notch rapper.
Dr. Dre: It wasn’t even just that. We got along, and we became – and still are – really good friends. We talk all the time. Most of our conversations are funny shit and jokes. I love creating long-term relationships – present company included.
For Dr. Dre, making music is personal. And no amount of AI he’s started using will change that.