2001, sometimes referred to as Chronic 2001 or even Dr. Dre 2001, is a 1999 hip hop album by famed rapper and producer Dr. Dre, featuring guest appearances from Snoop Dogg, Hittman, Eminem, Xzibit, and others. Originally intended to be called The Chronic 2001 (the name was changed because of litigation with Dr. Dre's former label Death Row Records), the album is the long-awaited follow-up to Dr. Dre's classic 1992 album The Chronic. It brought the West Coast hip hop scene back to the spotlight after years of obscurity, showed that Dr. Dre could still make hits, and further established the career of Eminem, who went on to eventually become one of the best-selling rappers of all time. 2001 debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts and was eventually certified 6x platinum by the RIAA.
The album was well-received by most critics, if not on quite the same level as Dre's revolutionary debut The Chronic. Some complained that several of the rappers who featured prominently on the album (such as Hittman and Ms. Roq) were not particularly talented and crowded out Dre himself. Critics generally considered the album's production top-notch and innovative, though, and praised Snoop Dogg and Eminem's contributions to the album.
Royce da 5'9" also did extensive ghostwriting for Dre on the album, though when that information was leaked to the media by Royce's then-manager (who Royce refused to fire at the time), Royce was disassociated with Dre and one track, "Xxplosive," was even retouched; the original version had featured Royce's vocals, which were removed. He also wrote the song "The Message," the only non-Dr. Dre-produced song on the album (done by Lord Finesse), which Dre dedicated to his late brother Tyrece Young, who was killed in a gangfight.
Dr. Dre faced a couple of legal battles as a result of this album's content. George Lucas sued him over the use of the THX boom in the album's intro, and the London-based music publisher Minder Music Ltd. was awarded $1.5 million in a federal copyright infringement lawsuit against the rapper, claiming the bassline for "Let's Get High" was stolen from a 1980 tune called "Backstrokin'." In 2001 the album won the Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year.
Most recently, 2001 has re-entered in the UK Top 40 R&B albums peaking at #21 (highest entry, the week before it was #24) in March 2006.
Two other versions of the album exist: a censored (Clean) version with no profanity, and an instrumental version. The instrumental version does not have tracks #14 and #16.
| Year | Album | Chart positions | ||||
| Billboard 200 | Top Canadian Albums | Top Internet Albums | Top Internet Albums | Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | ||
| 1999 | 2001 | #2 | #3 | #5 | #9 | #1 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Forgot About Dre" | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks | 14 |
| 1999 | "Still D.R.E." | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks | 32 |
| 1999 | "Still D.R.E." | Hot Rap Singles | 11 |
| 1999 | "Still D.R.E." | Rhythmic Top 40 | 29 |
| 1999 | "Still D.R.E." | Rhythmic Top 40 | 31 |
| 1999 | "Still D.R.E." | The Billboard Hot 100 | 93 |
| 2000 | "Forgot About Dre" | Rhythmic Top 40 | 3 |
| 2000 | "Forgot About Dre" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 25 |
| 2000 | "Forgot About Dre" | Top 40 Mainstream | 32 |
| 2000 | "Forgot About Dre" | Top 40 Tracks | 24 |
| 2000 | "Fuck You" | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks | 61 |
| 2000 | "Let's Get High" | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks | 77 |
| 2000 | "The Next Episode" | Hot Rap Singles | 9 |
| 2000 | "What's The Difference" | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks | 76 |
| 2000 | "Xxplosive" | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks | 51 |
| 2000 | "The Next Episode" | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks | 11 |
| 2000 | "The Next Episode" | Rhythmic Top 40 | 2 |
| 2000 | "The Next Episode" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 23 |
| 2000 | "The Next Episode" | Top 40 Tracks | 28 |
1999 albums | Dr. Dre albums | Platinum certified albums in the US
The Chronic 2001 | 2001 (album de Dr. Dre) | The Chronic 2001 | The Chronic 2001
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