As the year and the century draw swiftly to a close, it is amazing at time the amount of strong hip-hop material that is dropping out. Never one to be left behind, Dr. Dre has chosen this time to release his long awaited followup to The Chronic. The Chronic is widely accepted as a hip-hop classic, with good reason. Deep production and a stable of talented artists introduced the world to Death Row.

Now, Death Row is struggling, Dre is basking in the Aftermath and bringing us 2001. This is a strong album in pretty much every category. Production is of course strong. Dre's sound has matured to the point where it is recognizable but not repetetive. Most production duties are handled by Dre and Mel-Man, but Lord Finesse provides melodies for "The Message."

Lyrically, Dre realizes that he can't carry a whole album and recruits several ill emcees to bless his project. Snoop Dogg returns to work with his mentor, Eminem blesses several tracks and Devin The Dude, Xzibit, Kurupt, Six Two, Ms. Roq, Defari, Knoc-Turn'al, Time Bomb, King Tee, MC Ren, Koka, and Rell all turn up to touch the mic. Also prominent is Hittman, who just may be Dre's new protege. Mary J. Blige and Nate Dogg provide vocal stylings where necessary.

Musically, Dre isn't playing around either. He recruits Scott Storch (former Roots keyboardist) to provide keyboards on many tracks, Phish to provide background vocals on "What's the Difference," and has bass, keyboards and guitars played rather than sampled and sequenced on most of the tracks.

One drawback to this album is the excess of misogynistic lyrics. The bitch and ho count on this album is extremely high, and may turn some listeners off.

Tracks to check for: "The Watcher," "Still D.R.E.," "Xxplosive," "What's the Difference," "Forgot About Dre," "Murder Ink," "Some L.A. Niggaz," "Ackrite," "Bang Bang," and "The Message,"

The final verdict: A very strong album, with far more positives than negatives. It has many different songs for different moods, is tight as hell musically, and all the lyricists represent. Definitely worth adding to your collection.