2001 (Dr. Dre album) The album primarily featured co-production between Dr. Dre and Mel-Man and was generally well received by critics. AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that Dr. Dre had expanded on the G-funk beats on his previous album, "The Chronic", and stated, "He's pushed himself hard, finding new variations in the formula by adding ominous strings, soulful vocals, and reggae, resulting in fairly interesting recontextualizations" and went on to say, "Sonically, this is first-rate, straight-up gangsta." "Entertainment Weekly"s Tom Sinclair depicted the album as "Chilly keyboard motifs gliding across gut-punching bass lines, strings and synths swooping in and out of the mix,
Dr. Dre album for an artist to enter the "Billboard" 200 album charts at number one. In 1994 Dr. Dre produced some songs on the soundtracks to the films "Above the Rim" and "Murder Was the Case". He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song "Natural Born Killaz" in 1995. For the film "Friday", Dre recorded "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", which reached number ten on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts. In 1995, Death Row Records signed rapper 2Pac, and began to position him as their major star: