N.O.R.E. told Dr. Dre that he changed his life when he featured him on The Firm’s 1997 project, The Album.
During a live recording of Drink Champs at ComplexCon 2024 featuring Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, show host N.O.R.E. took time out to thank Dre for giving him a feature on The Firm’s only studio album. According to N.O.R.E., his feature on The Album kickstarted his successful solo career, and it wouldn’t have happened without Dre.
“The Firm made me a whole solo artist,” said N.O.R.E. “But I’m just letting you know that you and Jimmy [Iovine], I was the only person that was on that album that wasn’t [The] Firm. I wasn’t officially Firm. I was just a Queens shooter, and they put me down and we, but you cosign that, and Jimmy, I never told you I got your phone number too, Jimmy, and I never told you that when y’all let my record rock on The Firm album, that set up my whole solo career. That setup Drink Champs. I think I owe you money and shit.”
He continued, “I want to tell you thank you because that shit changed my life. That one record. That one record, I had dropped the album called The War Report, and I dropped it and everyone said it was a classic. I didn’t feel it. I was still selling crack, it was hard.”
N.O.R.E. went on to explain that while he was feeling down, Nas told him to fly out to Los Angeles to record a song for the album. The move led to the Queens-bred rapper getting an official feature on the album’s penultimate track, “I’m Leaving.”
“But for you cosigning it along with Nas, of course, after that record, I ventured out and did wonderful things as a solo artist,” N.O.R.E. added. “But if it wasn’t for that record, I wouldn’t even went on that path. So I gotta thank you, my man.”
N.O.R.E. continued while pouring up another shot for his guests. “You changed my life in so many ways…besides all that, you are the best producer of all time. And when you are embracing the studio, embrace this industry, life is better.”
The Firm was formed in 1996 by Nas, Dre, Steve Stoute and the Trackmasters. The group members included Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Cormega, but the latter was kicked out and replaced by Nature. The collective was short-lived as they only released one album and disbanded in 1999.
ComplexCon 2024 took place in Las Vegas this past weekend. This year’s artistic director, Travis Scott, performed on Sunday night to close out the annual festival. Head here to check out a recap of what went down on Day 1 of ComplexCon 2024 and here to see what Day 2 had in store.
And stay tuned for updates about next year’s ComplexCon, which will return to Las Vegas and Hong Kong in 2025. Daniel Arsham is the Global Creative Director for next year’s iteration of the festival.
View news Source: https://www.complex.com/music/a/markelibert/nore-dr-dre-changed-his-life-firm-album
