WHAT: Dre Day party
WHERE: Triple Rock Social Club, 629 Cedar Ave
WHEN: Saturday February 19th
COST: $12 adv/$15 door
HeâÄôs the Doc who brought you your Ice Cube, your Easy-E and yes even the Snoop D-O double G. He taught you to smoke trees, distrust the police and transformed a Detroit nobody into the best-selling artist of the last decade.
Dr. DreâÄôs influence on the rap game is unparalleled and still felt to this day, proving that even in our post-modern era of Auto-Tune and cash-money hip-hop, this is and always will be the millennium of Aftermath.
And in honor of the chronic beatmakerâÄôs 46th birthday, the Triple Rock Social Club and graphic design firm Burlesque of North America is hosting their ninth annual celebration known simply as Dre Day.
âÄúDr. Dre in particular is one of the rare hip-hop artists who has managed to remain relevant over a long period of time,âÄùMike Davis (a.k.a. DJ Mike 2600) said. âÄúSince the mid-âÄô80s, [Dr. Dre] has not only been able to reinvent himself but dictate what the popular sounds are.âÄù
Davis, who has been involved with organizing the event since its second year, said the idea for Dre Day was first conceived at the offices of the now-defunct graffiti magazine âÄúLife Sucks DieâÄù just a couple months before Feb. 18 âÄî Dr. DreâÄôs birthday.
And according to Davis, Dre Day has been upping the proverbial ante since. This yearâÄôs soiree boasts DJ sets from Davis, DJ Plain Ole Bill, a rap video mix by DJ grocery and live music from Minneapolis hip-hop band Heiruspecs.
âÄú[Dr. Dre] brought funk into the modern hip-hop language,âÄù bassist Sean McPherson of Heiruspecs said. âÄú[The Chronic] was such an inspiring moment for my generation âĦ every line just felt like a chorus.âÄù
McPherson said this yearâÄôs set will feature renditions of songs from NWA, Snoop Dogg and, of course, the Doc himself.
But instead of simple carbon-copy covers, Heiruspecs will draw from the tracksâÄô source material, visiting the classic soul and funk samples from James Brown, Parliament and Funkadelic that Dre so masterfully built his sound around.
Davis said Dre Day not only pays homage to an icon, but also, for one night, unifies listeners from various walks of life.
âÄúSo many different people come out. The skaters, hip-hop kids, the college kids,âÄù Davis said. âÄúThere really arenâÄôt that many musical artists that can really reach across so many lines who are still relevant and important.âÄù
Even faraway cities like Vancouver, Philadelphia and Austin have followed suit, organizing their own versions of Dre Day.
Despite DreâÄôs last release, âÄú2001,âÄù being over a decade old, his musical imprint is ubiquitous. Surely, DreâÄôs an icon, but his stock-in-trade has always been producing âÄî polishing records for everyone from 50 Cent to Mary J. Blige.
And while his forthcoming album âÄúDetoxâÄù has become the âÄúChinese DemocracyâÄù of hip-hop, listeners still seem to be getting plenty of mileage out of his 20-year-old catalog, affirming that no one ever truly forgot about Dre.
