"Topless" features guest spots by Nas and T.I., the latter of which reportedly spent time in the studio with the good Dr. during Grammy weekend. The beat is one of the best things Dre’s done in years- boom-bap drums and dirty piano tinkering replace the synth melodrama that saturates most post-2001 Dre productions.
T.I. opens the flow with a buttery, airtight rhyme that, despite arguments to the contrary, was clearly meant to be spat by Dre:
It’s the D.R. / Tired of savin’ artists out the ER / Bring ‘em back to life, beats like CPR / Made the West side worldwide, no PR / Gangsta-rap god, I’m the end all, be all / California love from the Bloods to the C-Dogs …and so on.
Doesn’t sound much like a guy under 30 from the East side who’s scared shitless about spending 30 years in jail, does it? What’s that? Need more proof? Let’s get indisputable:
Tees and black jeans, no bling just bang / Officially deranged, clinically insane / Look, Eazy, aint a damn thing change / I promise still lived like we did back when we straight out of Compton…. A decorated resume, a legendary legacy / All the awards that you’ll never be / What the fuck is y’all telling me? Forever on top / Face it, you’ll never be better than the Doc, ask Pac
Now, who between the two would invoke the name of Pac as a personal reference? It’s no secret that Dr. Dre hires the best guns in the game to script verses for him (that wasn’t coincidence that he flowed just like Eminem on Forgot About Dre), but it’s a bit hard to picture the track appearing on Detox now- at least with Dre’s vocals instead of T.I.’s.
Anyway, Nas follows up with a brutal verse that clearly wasn’t made for anyone but him, continuing his habit of outshining anyone he’s paired with on a track.
Your skin’s a travelling bag of your existence / Yours is shabby and scabbed while mine’s glistening / Vivid on my skin how many continents I visit then / You can journey with me to different places by listening / Shittin’ on ‘em / Yo brother got it covered / We can slug it, knuckle it / However you want it, I love it / A hustler’s wit / The grit, the grime / My genetic code makeup: murderer by design / On Mayan calandar time / When night meets day I’m in the light gray / Bigotti like a high speed chase / Adrenaline like jogging or jumping rope in place / Muhammed Ali hobbies, no pilates/ Trying to keep the ocean by me / Hit a rich man’s wife, see what these hos can buy me / looking forward but it’s nice to see the road behind me/ hotels are 7 star, vignettes glowin’ /keep ya lids yet dog, the private jet goin’ topless
Finished or not, "Topless" is an exciting glimpse into what Detox may have to offer.
