Dr. Dre says he plans to step away from music in a way he has never experienced during his adult career. The legendary producer revealed that he intends to leave his usual creative routine behind and disappear from the grid for an extended break, as reported by  Billboard.

The announcement came during a conversation with Ice Cube and Mike Epps on their new podcast, Listen and Laugh. Dre has been closely associated with West Coast rap throughout a career that began with the World Class Wrecking Crew in 1984.

Since that beginning, Dre has essentially spent every day in the studio, either physically or mentally. Even when he has not been actively recording, he said music and the search for ideas have remained constant parts of his thinking.

“For the first time in my entire adult career, I’m going to take a break from that,” he said on the Nov. 6 episode while discussing his work process. “I’m going to go away, and I’m going to get off the grid for a year or two and come back.”

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The proposed absence would therefore last considerably longer than a short vacation from the studio. Dre presented it as a genuine separation from the creative process that has occupied his attention throughout his adult life.

“You never leave it,” he continued. “Even when you’re outside of the studio, you’re looking at storefronts or bumper stickers or some s–t like that, that could give you an idea for the next time that you go in the studio.”

That constant search for inspiration means ordinary sights can become possible material for a future session. According to Dre, leaving the studio has never meant that he has stopped working through musical possibilities in his mind.

“So, you’re never away from it. You’re always tethered to this thing and for the first time in my life, I won’t be.”

Dre ended that explanation by considering whether a different pursuit might create a feeling comparable to his earliest experience with music. “What if there’s something else waiting for me that could give me the same exact feeling when I discovered music?”

Elsewhere in the podcast interview, Dre reaffirmed his enthusiasm for artificial intelligence and its possible creative applications. His comments covered both music and film, including the use of a performer’s image and voice.

“I’m extremely excited about AI,” he said. “I love it.”

“I love the potential of it. I love the idea of where it could possibly go, you know, with music, with film.”

Dre then offered a scenario in which someone could be paid to appear in a movie without being physically present for the production. “Like, what happens if someone says, ‘I’m going to pay you to be in my movie.’ Right.”

“You don’t even have to be there, but you get to approve what they do. It’s your image and your voice.”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s just a whole new level of creativity.”

His remarks on Listen and Laugh followed comments he made to The New York Times in August. In that earlier conversation, Dre called the technology a “new tool for creativity” and compared resistance to AI with opposition to earlier music technology.

“I had a discussion with a few people a few days ago,” he said. “They were against AI and I’m like, ‘OK, you sound like the person that would have been against the drum machine when it came out.’”

“Or synthesizers, right? It’s a new tool for creativity.”

“Some people are afraid of learning new things.” Across both conversations, Dre remained openly interested in what AI could make possible, even as he prepared to disconnect from the daily musical routine that has defined his adult career for a year or two.

youtube.com/watch?si=R9vaM7vNbONWJNcj&v=XKC7ICpLT8c&feature=youtu.be

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