D.O.C. talks Dr. Dre, Erykah Badu and more

In the late ’80s, D.O.C. was one of hip-hop’s most promising up and comers – not only because of his strong allegiance with Dr. Dre. Besides ghostwriting large portions of the biggest West Coast classics, the Texas native also put out his celebrated No One Can Do It Better LP. Soon after the release the rapper was involved in a near-fatal car accident which changed his voice permanently. His work relationship with the likes of Dre, Snoop Dogg and the late Eazy-E persisted. The Dallas Observer has now caught up with him and talked about his moving past, Detox and his own new project. Read some excerpts below.

On Dr. Dre:

More recently, something else fortuitous happened to the ghostwriter — he received a call from Dr. Dre, who invited him to come back to California. Snoop was brought back into the fold as well, and the trio resumed work on Detox at Dre’s Burbank studios in late July.

D.O.C. says he feels reinvigorated creatively, and that he brought Dre ideas to help “get that core audience back, with those types of songs, and that California vibe from the Chronic album.” Don’t scoff: D.O.C. insists that the album really is coming soon.

On Music:

He’s in the process of training a handful of potential rap stars, including a genteel white 19-year-old Texas rapper named Mike Bond. These unknowns will perform lyrics he has written, and their verses will be paired on tracks with urban superstars in D.O.C.’s rolodex — a group that includes Snoop, Andre 3000 and Badu. D.O.C. says he’s in talks with production companies for the program, which he plans to title I Got My Voice Back.

On Erykah Badu:

After falling out with Dre, he moved back to Dallas and began living part-time with the stunning and iconic R&B singer Erykah Badu and their 7-year-old daughter, Puma. Also in the house are Puma’s well-pedigreed half-siblings: 13-year-old brother Seven, whose father is OutKast’s Andre 3000, and 2-year-old sister Mars, whose pops is venerated New Orleans rapper Jay Electronica.

With all of these musical legends coming in and out, it’s quite a scene. Badu’s Dallas home is a “beautiful house right off of a really nice body of water,” D.O.C. says of the singer’s home overlooking White Rock Lake, while adding that he remains very much enchanted with her. In fact, he hopes to film a reality show before long about the goings-on in her house, ending with a wedding between him and Badu.

Source: Rap Radar