Put this into context real quick. Andre Young (Dr Dre) released his last album (Chronic) 2001 on 16 November 1999 - which itself came 7 years after the 1st "episode" (see what I did there?) of The Chronic. This should tell you a few things about the man known to you as Dr Dre. For starters, he gets a sick pleasure out of making his fans wait for him to put out new work, and he's every bit the perfectionist that the likes of Eminem, Ice Cube (who both make star turns in his latest gem), and the rest say he is.

Compton is worth the near 16-year wait - in every sense. Dubbed "the grand finale" by Young himself, the 16-track LP (1 for each year we waited for Detox, I suppose) is expertly crafted and produced.

Dre's production is on steroids on this album, making it a suitable way to sign out of the game. Listen to the album, and you can tell that Young;

1) Spent a lot of time studying the game, and the sound that today's generation adores, and made sure he delivered it without compromising the signature Dre sound that made him the legend he is.

2) It sounded like he genuinely had fun making it. You can clearly hear this in the aggressive, energetic way he delivers "his" raps (let's not get into the ghost-writer thing again), which in turn makes Young immensely enjoyable to listen to. He spoke about how inspired he was by the upcoming film Straight Outta Compton to record this album, and as an old-school hip hop fan, I'm eternally grateful for how it turned out.

Through some of his production choices, the album continues to dabble in the cinematic imagery he oversaw on albums like Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, and (to a far lesser extent) The Marshall Mathers LP 2, and it features his old stomping buddies, such as X-Zibit, Snoop Dogg, as well as the aforementioned Cube. Compton's highlights - for me, personally, are his remarkably evolved beat making and production. Animals - the masterpiece he cooked up with DJ Premier, is a collaboration I never thought I'd live to hear, and the star performances of South Africa-born Candice Pillay, who features on Genocide and Medicine Man.

We first heard about Detox in 2004, and spent every year after that patiently waiting for it, until he himself said it isn't ever coming out. This album more than makes up for it. Apology accepted, Andre.

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