When the excitement over Detox started up again last year, Dr. Dre even teased his next, next album -- an instrumental project called The Planets, with songs inspired by the "personalities of each planet." We're still waiting for Detox, so the chances of ever hearing Dre go all Gustav Holst are slim, but a nutty, no-rapping release about space actually sounds more interesting than a decade-in-the-making sequel to The Chronic 2001. Plus, there's plenty of enthusiasm for boundary-pushing instrumental hip-hop right now.
The subgenre quietly and creatively returned this year, and last month saw the arrival of two game-changing releases: Electronic Dream by Dipset producer Araabmuzik; and Rainforest from Lil B beatmaker Clams Casino. Making a similar instrumental move could be a savvy career shift for Dre -- someone who once had his finger on the pulse of burgeoning trends, yet now seems to be chasing them.
But that's not going to happen. "Detox coming soon!" will remain the mantra. For AraabMuzik and Clams Casino, though, who've come up in the digital era where free downloads and iTunes albums reign, a production credit (let alone cash) for their work is hard to come by. Stepping out of the box and doing their own mini-versions of The Planets is almost a necessity. Instrumental albums are the culmination of a rising profile and a reasonable answer to the increased artistic excitement generated by their experimental beats.
