Detox (Unreleased Dr Dre Album)

Detox is slated to be the third and final studio album by American hip-hop artist Dr. Dre through Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album has been in development for more than a decade and some have speculated that the album will never be released.

Background
Work for the upcoming album dates back to early 2002, where its first version was called "the most advanced rap album ever," by producer Scott Storch. Even at the beginning of Detox's production, it was announced that it would be Dr. Dre's final studio album, which has been confirmed at different points throughout the album's production process. Because Dr. Dre had stated he was tired of rapping about marijuana use and stereotypical gangster lifestyle, he planned to make Detox a hip-hop musical telling the story of a professional hitman and his family, with an intended summer 2003 release date but was never released. In 2004, Dre took focus off the album to work on producing for Eminem, Game, and others. Upon completion, he resumed work on Detox with a plan to release the album in late 2005. The revival and promised completion of Detox was reflected in lyrics of Eminem's song "Encore/Curtains Down" and Game's song "Higher".

The planned 2005 release date passed and Dre was still working on the album, being in the second version of the album with 18 tracks complete at the time. The album, already famous at the time for being delayed so much, was announced for a September 2007 release date, though it was delayed again once the deadline passed. After the 2007 release date passed, Dre announced that Detox would still be released while he was at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards presenting the Video of the Year award. In a 2007 interview with 50 Cent, he stated Detox was continually delayed because of Dre wanting a perfect album, saying, "He's such a perfectionist. But sometimes that can be a bad thing. You create new pressure when you wait that long. When you put a new album against the last two classics, people will scrutinize it if they become impatient."

After rumors by All Hip-Hop of Detox being complete in May 2008, both Detox and Eminem's new studio album were revealed to be released for the fourth quarter of 2008. Snoop Dogg later confirmed Detox's completion and said that Dre was still deciding which tracks would be included.During the same month, Dr. Dre revealed that he aimed to release the album in November or December 2008, saying, "I'm just now, over the last couple of months, starting to feel that it's going to be right and it's something I can be proud of, and everybody is going to love it".

In December 2008, Dre told MTV that the album would be released after Eminem's Relapse and 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct, released in May 2009 and November 2009, respectively. In 2009, 50 Cent and Eminem asserted in an interview on BET's 106 & Park that Dr. Dre had about ten songs finished for Detox. In 2009, 50 Cent and Eminem asserted in an interview on BET's 106 & Park that Dr. Dre had about ten songs finished for Detox. In May 2009, Dre premiered the first official snippet of Detox in a Dr. Pepper commercial.

Reports of Release
In September 2010, at a press conference for "Beats By Dre" headphones, Dre hinted at a Christmas release. He also expressed the inspiration and encouragement he received to finish the album, saying, "Being on the stage with Eminem and Jay-Z was one of the most incredible feelings I've felt in a long time. It inspired me, it made me want to hurry up and get back in the studio and put more effort and more work into my own project," and "The response from the people out there was just incredible,". "It let me know that I still got love out there and I'm not wasting my time in the studio with what I'm doing, with the music or with all the Beats product that we're putting out."

In January 2011, 50 Cent was interviewed by MTV regarding why the album was so highly anticipated. "I think everyone is [looking forward to Detox]. When you got a producer that has that kind of production track record, you even have to credit both Eminem's success and my success to Dr. Dre as a producer. My first single off of Get Rich or Die Tryin' — people constantly tell me it was a classic — was produced by Dr. Dre, 'In Da Club.' Without that momentum from that song, I'm not sure they would have taken to 'P.I.M.P.' the same way or '21 Questions' or any of the other hit records I released following that."

On May 21, 2011, Swizz Beatz confirmed that he and Dr. Dre were collaborating on both Detox, and Swizz Beatz's project, Haute Living. In an interview with Billboard, DJ Khalil said that Dr. Dre was in the final stretch of Detox work. "Dre's album is definitely the most important thing right now, because he is definitely in the final stretch. He has the record going, but I'm sure he thinks there are pieces missing still. Until he finds those pieces, maybe he's not comfortable putting it out yet." Several musicians closely affiliated with Dr. Dre, including Snoop Dogg, fellow rappers 50 Cent and Game and producer DJ Quik, have speculated in interviews that the album will never be released, due to Dr. Dre's business and entrepreneurial ventures having interfered with recording work, as well as causing him to lose motivation to record new material. In September 2014, Aftermath producer Dawaun Parker revealed that the name Detox had been dropped and the album now has a new title, Donezo.

In August 2011, at the BMI Urban Awards, Snoop Dogg, pledged he would put all his effort to help Dre finish recording Detox, saying, "Ya'll ain't gotta wait too much longer, the Dogg is in the building. "We gonna get this shit right." The following month, Kendrick Lamar confirmed that Detox was in the mixing process.

Tracks
Despite not being released, Detox had two officially released singles, Kush and I Need a Doctor. However, Dre later confirmed that the two singles wouldn't be featured on the album. Many recorded Detox tracks, some unfinished, leaked in 2009 and 2010, including "Under Pressure", "The Doctor", "This Is Detox", "Could Have Been You", "OG's Theme", Say Dr. Dre", "Syllables", "Coming Back", and two versions of "Topless".