7. Dr. Dre feat. Eminem - Forgot About Dre (2000)

Dr. Dre was the original gangster. In the late eighties, along with his NWA mates, he burst the bubble of the rich, satiated, self-satisfied Reaganist America with a chain of rap records from hell. Throughout the eighties, America preferred to ignore the problem of the black ghettos and pretend they do not exist, and the kids who grew there without hope created a world with its own rules, rules of crime, violence and machoism. On the other hand, this world also reflected Reaganist America, because it too believed that the highest value is to make as much money as possible, by any means necessary. The gangsta-rappers created records that reflected this world, a world filled with danger, desperation and ugliness, and threw them in the face of society. On the other hand, they were also the heroic gangster from the movies, who fights society with its own weapons and beats it, because their records sold millions. After the demise of NWA, Dre embarked on a solo career, and in 1992 he devises the perfect crime, with the album The Chronic, which focused on the hedonist side of the gangsta lifestyle, with the dope, the hookers, the money and the hot guns. The major coup was the production, that managed to combine hip-hop with the sensual funk of the seventies, to form a new style termed G-funk (G for gangster), a style that dominated the mid-nineties. Dre became a hugely successful record producer, made loads of dough, and gained the ability to leave the ghetto and provide a comfortable life for his family.

But here there was a snag, and Dre was forced to deal with the consequences of his past actions. He thought that with his success he fulfilled the dream, but discovered that many don't see it that way. The romantic aura that he and his homies created around the gangsta lifestyle influenced many kids to prefer it, rather than try to leave the ghetto. When Dre preached to them that this was not the point, they accused him of selling-out to the white world. It took Dre time to formulate his answer, and in this record he finally gives it, reminding everyone that what he already forgot they are yet to learn, and presenting his success as the goal they should aspire to. That alone might not have been enough, even with the cracking production, but Dre also had a joker up his sleeve, and he throws this joker on the table midway into the record, to strike the winning blow. Eminem, Dre's white rapper protege, brings it on with another dazzling rap, reminding everyone what Dre is all about. With Eminam at his side, Dre was now ready to take hip-hop to new heights, and to the final occupation of the pop world. No one can ever claim again that there is no point in trying to make it in society, and it is better to remain in the ghetto and try to make it as a gangster - Dr. Dre proved that even if you were born in the ghetto, the sky is the limit.