“The Chronic,” Dr. Dre’s iconic debut album, will be available to stream everywhere just in time for the 420 holiday, according to Entertainment One.
For years, “The Chronic” resided only on Beats Music, and then shifted to an Apple Music exclusive when Apple acquired Beats Music in 2014. Starting April 20, the album can be streamed on Spotify and Tidal, amongst other digital platforms.
Named after the slang term for high-grade marijuana, “The Chronic” was released in December 1992 as the first album on Death Row Records and was executive produced by the notorious Suge Knight. The album quickly gained popularity for its G-funk style that came to define West Coast rap, and heavily featured Snoop Dogg as well as Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Nate Dogg, Warren G and Lady of Rage. In 1993, the album was certified platinum and single “Let Me Ride” won Dre a Grammy for best rap solo performance.
Dre, of course, has gone on to become one of the greatest producers and music entrepreneurs of the last 25 years, working with Eminem, 50 Cent, Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Gwen Stefani and his own infrequent albums, and cofounded Beats by Dre headphones with Jimmy Iovine, which they sold to Apple for $3 billion.
“Working with the Death Row catalogue is like working with the legendary recordings of Elvis, Chuck Berry and the Beatles,” Chris Taylor, global president of music and live at Entertainment One said in a statement. “These historic artifacts should be heard by all music lovers and we are so happy Dr. Dre has opened this door so everyone can experience the brilliance of this seminal work.”
In March, it was announced that “The Chronic” will be one of 25 recordings inducted into the National Recording Registry this year, selected by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden to represent the cultural, historic and aesthetic sound heritage of the U.S.