14 DAY TRIAL // After an amazing performance at the Grammys Awards 2011 two weeks ago, Dr. Dre is again showing irrefutable signs that his “Detox” album is on its way. The video for the single “I Need a Doctor” has just been released – see it at the end of the article.
Dre has been working on the album for nearly a decade now because he wants it to be his greatest album to date. Understandably so, since it will also be his last.
It’s no wonder then that the video for “I Need a Doctor” is about death, suffering, loyalty and rebirth, which translates on the camera as a comeback to the game, bigger, better and more determined than ever.
As Entertainment Weekly also notes, the video begins with Dre on a cliff overlooking the sea. The scene recalls many shots included in last year’s visually astounding film “Inception” but that as far as the connection goes.
Countless flashbacks are superimposed, going back from Dre’s youth and up to his days as Eminem’s protégé, while many other artists he’s helped launch and produced over the years are also shown.
On the drive back home, Dre is in a terrible accident, his car flips in the air a couple of times and then comes crashing down. He’s next seen on life support.
“Eminem raps about how he’d never have made it without the Good Doctor’s help and guidance. At one point, Dre even seems to appear in a bacta tank, the recuperative fluid-chamber Luke Skywalker takes a dive in in The Empire Strikes Back,” EW notes.
All this time, Skylar Grey, who made her big stage debut during the aforementioned Grammy performance, is presented as some sort of an angel, an ethereal being definitely not of our world.
“Visually, ‘I Need a Doctor’ is something of Dre’s ‘Paparazzi,’ full of rage against those who sell out the ones they supposedly love. As with most rap mythology, he’s clearly overstating his case – working hard producing and signing new talent doesn’t mean you’re down and out,” EW says.
“And the video clearly devolves into shameless flaunting of his hard body near the end,” the publication points out. A great body to go with an amazing comeback.
Below is the video for “I Need a Doctor” by Dr. Dre, featuring Eminem and Skylar Grey. Enjoy.