Dr. Dre celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut solo album, The Chronic, with a roller-skating-themed event during Grammy Week.
Interscope Records has teamed up with the owner of his Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace, which now operates trendy roller rinks in New York City and London, to bring the company’s legendary original Los Angeles, formerly known as Studio 54 On Wheels. The atmosphere of the place was reproduced.
Usher, Flipper’s brand ambassador, has worked with Adrien Brody, Cedric the Entertainer, Floyd Mayweather, Sir Paul McCartney, Top Dawg Entertainment founder Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, and Teyana. Hosted an evening featuring actors such as Taylor, and Dre’s longtime partner Jimmy Iovine coming out to mark the groundbreaking album.
Busta Rhymes, Chris Brown, Danileigh, DJ Drama, Fivio Foreign, Mona Scott-Young, Machine Gun Kelly, Jermaine Dupri, Swizz Beatz, and Yo Gotti were also present at the event on February 4 at the Hollywood Palladium.
The Chronic was initially released on December 15, 1992, while Dr. Dre chose to celebrate his multi-platinum debut during Grammy Week.
The illustrious producer said that the project had returned to streaming sites via its original distributor, Interscope Records, just before the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. Dre also expressed his gratitude to the label’s vice chairman Steve Berman and chairman John Janick for helping to re-release the album digitally.
I’m overjoyed to bring The Chronic back to Interscope Records, the album’s initial partner in distribution, Dre remarked.”Working with my longtime colleagues, Steve Berman and John Janick, to re-release the album and make it accessible to fans all around the world is a full circle moment for me.
In addition to playing the album on their favorite streaming platforms, fans can also purchase new Chronic-inspired merchandise from Interscope’s online store. The collection ships on March 10th and includes hoodies, sweatshirts, and t-shirts.
The Chronic was available for streaming until last March, after which the album mysteriously disappeared from major platforms along with many other Death Row Records releases. His dismissal came just weeks after Snoop Dogg became the new owner of the legendary Gangsta Rap His label and launched his recording career.
During an appearance on Drink Champs a few weeks later, Snoop explained that he pulled the album from DSP because he plans to launch a Death Row streaming service where fans can hear the label’s catalog exclusively.
At the actual Grammy Awards on Sunday (February 5th), Dr. Dre won the first Dr. Dre Global Impact Award.
Established in partnership with The Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective, the award “recognises contributors, creators and professionals with an uplifting black music track record.”
Dre was presented with an award of the same name by his fellow hip-hop pioneers LL COOL J. In his introduction, he hailed the 57-year-old as “an icon who helped define West Coast hip-hop and became one of our most influential success stories.” . …the time has come, praise.”
