Dr. Dre’s Demanding Studio Sessions: Gwen Stefani’s Emotional Struggle
Dr. Dre is one of the most celebrated hip-hop producers in history, plus, a member of supergroups World Class Wreckin’ Cru and N.W.A. He’s also known for breaking some of the biggest rap acts ever, like Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and 50 Cent.
Dre’s infamous for his perfectionism in the studio—stories abound of him making artists re-record verses for days, sometimes obsessing over a single word for hours. Gwen Stefani knows the struggle firsthand: during one intense session, Dre’s demanding process reportedly brought her to tears.
It happened when Stefani collaborated with Eve on the rapper’s 2001 song “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” a cut that Eve asked Stefani to be on. The way Stefani saw it, she’d be in and out of the recording booth in no time since she was mainly handling hook responsibilities, far less than what her band No Doubt required of her.
The session was far from easy, though, and what was supposed to be a quick, fun studio visit was anything but, which Stefani spoke about with DJ Khaled on his podcast, “The First One.”
Stefani Was Initially Thrilled To Be On A Rap Song
The Fullerton, California native said she couldn’t believe that Eve wanted her to be on “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” but her enthusiasm quickly turned into fright, saying, “I just got the call and, of course, I was like,’Really? Me? Like, yes, of course.’ I went in the studio with Dre terrified. He was so hard on me, and he’ll tell you.”
“This is a man … he’s a perfectionist. I mean it’s crazy,” Stefani added. “He made me sing that same thing. I went in there thinking I had practiced, like, ‘oooh, I’m gonna do my style, I know exactly how I’m going to do it, it’s so easy, it’s right up my alley.'”
But that alley had more potholes than Stefani anticipated, because Dre kept telling her that she was singing in front of the beat instead of behind it, which left her feeling like a novice and not a seasoned singer.
On top of that, Stefani had no idea what she was doing wrong, and she felt horrible when the session concluded. “It was crazy. I remember going afterward and crying because I was like, ‘Oh my god, that was the worst. I’m so embarrassed,'” she recalled.
The Second Time Stefani Worked With Dre
The “Just a Girl” singer was eventually able to push past the embarrassment and go back into the studio with Dre while recording songs for her solo debut, Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
It’s possible that Stefani wanted to prove something to herself by working with the in-demand producer again. Either that, or she wanted to duplicate the success of “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” which spent 33 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and peaked at number 2. It also won the Grammy Award for best rap/sung collaboration.
So, “Rich Girl,” ended up being the second song that Stefani and Eve did with Dre, and the No Doubt singer said the experience was far different from the previous session, while suggesting that things went smoothly. Stefani then described Dre as being totally different from his gangsta rap persona, calling him shy and an all-around nice guy.
Other Artists Who Talked About Having A Hard Time Recording With Dre
Now, the former Voice judge isn’t the only person who’s had a challenging time in a Dr. Dre studio session. 2 Chainz said in a 2023 interview that Dre worked him harder than any other producer before, and he wanted Chainz to sound like Eminem.
“I was trying to explain to Dr. Dre that a southern Black kid with an overbite is gonna sound different than a suburban white kid from Detroit,” Chainz told the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast. “We’re gonna enunciate stuff different. He be like, ‘Nah, say it like this.'”
Veteran rapper Too Short also had a difficult time working with Dre when recording songs for the never-released Detox album, once saying that Dre had him record for eight hours to do one verse, then another eight hours to touch it up. But Short wasn’t done there, because Dre called him back for another four-hour session to repeat just one word.
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