What kind of statement do you make after making The Chronic and leaving Death Row? Dr. Dre made the quintessential G-Funk record and radically changed the complexion of hip-hop in 1992. How do you follow up such a monumental West Coast classic? Chances are you aren’t thinking a New York legend would be integral to the equation.
But in 1999, Dre crafted the beat for “Still D.R.E.”, which would serve as his massive comeback record alongside Snoop Dogg. Because the stakes were so high, he commissioned Jay-Z to ghostwrite the lyrics. Initially, he wrote what he knew, which was “diamonds and Bentleys,” according to Dre.
20 minutes later, Hov reworked the entire record and wrote for both Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. He recalled the exact headspace they were in heading into Dre’s 2001 album and decided to remind them who he was.
“I grew up obviously a fan of him and Snoop. You know, this is Dr. Dre coming off [of] leaving Death Row. I knew where he was trying to go ‘cause I’ve been there a couple times with Kingdom Come and those things. So, he’s trying to [say], ‘I’m leaving this place, and I want to mature,’” Jay-Z told The New York Times in 2026.
Dr. Dre Commissioned Jay-Z to Write His Classic Comeback Record ‘Still D.R.E.’ in 1999
“So, for me, it was just natural to get into his psyche. Like, ‘What would he be thinking right there?’ What would I be thinking? I would be thinking, ‘I have to remind people that I’m Dr. Dre,’” Hov continued.
Snoop Dogg marveled at Jay-Z’s work decades later after admitting he wrote verses for both of them. “He wrote Dre’s shit and my s**t, and it was flawless,” he told The Breakfast Club. “It was ‘Still D.R.E.’ and it was Jay-Z, and he wrote the whole f**king song. Jay-Z is a great writer to begin with for himself, so imagine him striking it for someone he truly loves and appreciates. He loves Dr. Dre, and that’s what his pen showed you: that I can’t write for you if I don’t love you.”
Admittedly, Dre didn’t even want the song to be a single. His focus was on “The Next Episode” instead. But his friend and business partner Jimmy Iovine convinced him to change trajectory at the last minute, and they crafted “Still D.R.E.” in one of the last studio sessions for the album.
Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc
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