Dre has come a long way since NWA's 1988 album, Straight Outta Compton, a seminal crossover gangsta-rap hit that made headlines with its most notorious track, F*** tha Police.
In some ways he's come full circle, but this latest album is in other ways a million miles from NWA's classic.Compton is inspired by the Straight Outta Compton film. There's a smattering of nostalgia and reflection, with familiar themes displayed at times with a cool, clear anger.
The pop sensibilities Dre displayed on his 1999 album, 2001, which featured Snoop Dogg and Eminem - are here again, as are those stars, plus an impressive turn from Kendrick Lamar, who was barely a year-old when Straight Outta Compton was released.
Closing track Talking to My Diary is a stand-out, bolstered by swirling strings and bold, jazzy brass, with Dre reminiscing and paying tribute to tragic bandmate Eazy E in a verse dedicated to the NWA days, couched in a song about Dre's journey to the top.
