Dr. Dre’s iconic debut album The Chronic finally returned to DSP on Wednesday (Feb. 1st), just less than a year after being pulled from all services.
It was March last year when fans noticed that several albums from the Death Row Records catalog went missing from digital streaming platforms across the world. Snoop later confirmed the development during an interview with Drink Champs, saying that as the new owner of Death Row Records, he wanted to explore other more lucrative opportunities for the catalog. Snoop acquired the Death Row brand from MNRK Music Group in February last year.
“First thing I did was snatch all the music off those platforms traditionally known to people, because those platforms don’t pay,” he said. “And those platforms get millions of millions of streams, and nobody gets paid other than the record labels. So what I wanted to do is snatch my music off, create a platform similar to Amazon, Netflix, Hulu. It’ll be a Death Row app, and the music, in the meantime, will live in the metaverse.”
But fans will be happy to know that The Chronic is now back up on all DSPs in its entirety, in celebration of Black History Month. It also comes with a limited drop merch including hoodie and t-shirts, as well as cassettes and CDs. You can stream it above and buy merch on the official website.
“I am thrilled to bring The Chronic home to its original distribution partner, Interscope Records,” said Dre in a press release, adding that working with the label “to re-release the album and make it available to fans all over the world is a full circle moment for me.”
Snoop Dogg’s 1993 solo debut Doggystyle and Tha Dogg Pound’s 1995 project Dogg Food were also no longer available on streaming platforms as part of the pull down last year but these two albums have not been restored yet.