Sixteen years ago this year, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg brought along some friends to form arguably the most iconic hip hop tour of all time. The "Up In Smoke Tour" of 2000 went six times platinum in the U.S. (which I didn't even know tours could do), and not to mention seven times platinum in Australia and two times platinum in France. The tour also featured hip hop giants like Eminem, Ice Cube, Xzibit, and Nate Dogg, and was so widely successful that DVDs were made of the July 20th show of the tour, shot at The Centrum in Worchester, Massachusetts (which is filled with incredible bits of backstage footage along with the actual concert performances). History was made with this tour, and as amazing as it was, for a second there, there were talks of a "second coming" of the tour earlier this year. So my question is.... WHAT IN GOD'S NAME DO WE NAME IT?!
"This is one of the things that I've dreamed about doing. I want to call it 'Beats & Rhymes'. I want it to be me and Snoop. I want it to be Eminem. I want it to be Kendrick Lamar," Dre said. "Take our full stage over there and show Europe the same amount of love that they been showing me throughout my entire career. So, that's my dream. Hopefully we can make that happen." Snoop Dogg suggested an alternate tour name: Hoodstock, since the lineup "sounds like Woodstock on steroids." (Via Pitchfork)
Obviously my first choice would have been something to do with the "smoke" theme of the tour given Dre and Snoop's history (maybe something like "The 2 High Tour", etc.), but given Eminem's sobriety and Kendrick's known "laced blunt" escapades (as detailed on Good Kid Maad City), maybe a "Detox" theme wouldn't be so far fetched (or wouldn't take 16 years to come together). Either way it'd be a dream concert experience, just imagine that concert intro!
(The intro to Dre & Snoop's set on the "Up In Smoke" tour, which if you haven't seen, is very much NSFW)
Not to mention all of the new music to catch up on (and they'd have to include the West's new king, if you don't know him he goes by the name of Kendrick Lamar Duckworth). It's been 16 long years since this legendary tour took place, and in that span Eminem has released 5 solo studio LPs, Snoop Dogg has released 9, Ice Cube 3, Xzibit 4, Dre finally put out another album in Compton: A Soundtrack, and Nate Dogg unfortunately passed, but not before putting out another 3 solo albums himself (how dope would it be to see a Nate Dogg tribute, possibly a hologram?) What better time than now to do this?!?!
This tour could be the summing up of everything. Dr. Dre's illustrious career of music and producing fused together with the massive careers of Eminem, Snoop, Kendrick Lamar, Nate Dogg and more. How does an NWA reunion sound? It could be done. Dedications to Tupac, Nate Dogg, and Eazy-E? Why the hell not? The possibilities lie not only in the careers of the headliners, but in the careers of who the headliners have brought with them along the way. Kendrick bringing out TDE, Eminem bringing out Slaughterhouse, Bad Meets Evil, or D12 could be an actual thing. The idea of this tour is so great, it'd be impossible to disappoint (unless Dr. Dre says the tour would only come to Europe, then of course all of these dreams get shattered like pre-burned Detox CDs). At least we can still occasionally enjoy a leaked Dre track every now and then. Well, if you have Apple Music and listen to The Pharmacy Beats 1 Radio, that is.
Enjoy the reminiscing of old clips on Dre's "I Need A Doctor" extended music video below, and if you have a creative name of your own for Dre's alleged tour, comment it below, or on any of my social media pages (my Twitter, my Facebook, or my Google+ page!).
(*I do not own these videos, songs, or the rights to them*)
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