Dr. Dre just gave flowers to a pioneer, and he did it on the biggest stage he could find. The legendary producer told Ice Cube and Mike Epps that Larry Smith is the greatest hip hop producer ever, and the moment has hip hop talking about a name too many fans have never heard.
Dre was the very first guest on the very first episode of Listen and Laugh, the new weekly podcast from Mike Epps and Ice Cube, which premiered on Friday, November 6. At about the 9 minute 50 second mark, Cube asked him a simple question, who is his favorite producer of all time.
Dre said it is impossible to pick one specifically. But he said that, outside of Quincy Jones, the one that really inspired him was Larry Smith. Larry Smith does not get his flowers, Dre remarked. Larry Smith, to me, is the greatest hip hop producer ever. He did Whodini, he did Run DMC, all of the music that inspired us when we was coming up. Fat Boys, LL Cool J, Kurtis Blow. He did all of those records that inspired us when we were young. But he just never got his flowers. Larry Smith is the best hip hop producer ever, point blank.
The pick surprised even Cube, who admitted he expected Dre to say Quincy Jones. When the architect of G Funk, N.W.A, Death Row and Aftermath speaks on production royalty, most people expect him to name Quincy Jones, Rick Rubin, DJ Premier or even himself. Instead Dre handed the crown to a golden era architect whose work built the sound that raised his generation.
Larry Smith was a pioneering musician, bass player and early hip hop record producer from St. Albans, Queens, in New York. He is widely credited as one of hip hop's first super producers. His catalog includes the records that shaped the 1980s, from Run DMC and Whodini to the Fat Boys, LL Cool J and Kurtis Blow. DJ Premier also named Smith a
s the best hip hop producer of all time in 2009. Smith, a Queens native, passed away in 2014 at 62.
s the best hip hop producer of all time in 2009. Smith, a Queens native, passed away in 2014 at 62.Dre did not stop at the history lesson. He also told Cube and Epps he is extremely excited about AI in music, calling it a whole new level of creativity, according to Complex. The first episode, titled Dr. Dre On How It A
ll Started, sets the tone for a weekly show that drops every Friday at 6 in the evening Eastern on the Listen and Laugh YouTube channel, with audio on Apple Podcasts and other platforms.
ll Started, sets the tone for a weekly show that drops every Friday at 6 in the evening Eastern on the Listen and Laugh YouTube channel, with audio on Apple Podcasts and other platforms.For hip hop fans, the moment is a reminder that the culture was built by people whose names never made the marquee. Dre could have named anyone alive or gone. He named Larry Smith, a man who made the records that made Dre want to make records. The flowers are
late, but Dre just delivered them in front of the whole world.Related: https://www.thetalklounge.com/fugees-hopeline-lauryn-hill-wyclef-jean-new-music
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