Dr. Dre's Newest Ghostwriter

It’s sort of funny how things work out. Back in 2007, Dr. Dre signed Joell Ortiz to Aftermath Records. By 2008 Joell was dropped from the label and left to fend for himself. We all know how it ended; Joell gained critical acclaim with the release of his debut, The Brick, and went on to receive even more love from the Hip Hop community for his contributions to Slaughterhouse and their subsequent self-titled album. Since then, Joell has been co-signed by just about everyone in the industry and has become a commodity, at least on an underground basis.

Well it looks like Andre wants Joell back…at least as a ghostwriter for his mythical Detox album. On MTV2’s Sucker Free Countdown, Joell confirmed that he wrote for Detox, stating, “He gave me 10 beats, I sent him 20 songs…he selected 2 joints.” With “Kush” being announced as the first single from Detox, it appears we may hear the album before the year 3000. On his experience with Aftermath, Joell said that he is grateful for everything and that Dr. Dre is a great businessman. As far as Dre releasing him, Joell said that he asked for it because he felt that he was buzzing but the label wasn’t doing much for him at the time so “[Dre] didn’t have to do that; shouts out to Dr. Dre for letting me spread my wings out and fly.”

Dr Dre isn’t the only one with a long awaited album. Joell Ortiz’s Free Agent was scheduled to drop today, but has since been pushed back to January according to E1. A new track from Free Agent featuring the LOX leaked today. While the beat isn’t spectacular, nobody appearing on “Put Some Money on It” slouches in the lyrics department. “Finish What You Start” with fellow Slaughterhouse member/former Dre ghostwriter, Royce, is a really solid track, too.