Dr. Dre Compton [Explicit Content] (2 Lp's)

For 16 years, the third Dr. Dre album was supposed to be The Detox, but that once-mythical, canceled LP was replaced by Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre, a supposedly final effort that was "inspired" by the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. When Dre says "inspired" he likely means the film gave him a reason to consider his history, and how he went from local gangsta to national threat, and on to billionaire businessman extraordinaire. Still, the most pleasing element of Compton is that it touches on all of the above but lives in the present. This brilliant kaleidoscopic LP, which was recorded in under a year, focuses on the veteran producer's connection to the modern world as it references Eric Garner, frames it with N.W.A.'s history, and decides that little has changed. It also celebrates the new breed, taking the busy, jazz-inspired structure of Kendrick Lamar's masterpiece release To Pimp a Butterfly, and adds grooves that are entirely Dre, playing it steady, swaying, and lockin