2001 is released

Why it matters

2001 came out November 16, 1999, on Aftermath. It is Dr. Dre's second solo album, seven years after The Chronic. The title was originally going to be Chronic 2001, but a Death Row release of the same name (Suge Knight putting out a bootleg compilation to undercut Dre) forced the name change. Dre produced everything. Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit, Mary J. Blige, Hittman, and Nate Dogg are all heavily featured. What 2001 does is reset the West Coast sound for the next decade. The G-funk of The Chronic was synth-and-bass and slow-tempo. 2001 keeps the bass and the synths but adds harder drums, more aggressive piano lines, cleaner mix levels. "Still D.R.E." with Snoop. "Forgot About Dre" with Eminem. "The Next Episode" with Snoop and Kurupt. "What's the Difference" with Eminem and Xzibit. The album sold seven million copies in the US. Every West Coast rap record between 1999 and 2008 that wanted to sound like a real record sounded, in some part, like this one. You can still hear the production language on records made in 2026. The bass on "Still D.R.E." alone has had a 26-year career.