Dr. Dre said he’s releasing an album as the soundtrack to the very anticipated film he’s an executive producer of, “Straight Outta Compton.”

People rejoiced but forgot that they were just told the production they’ve been waiting on for more than a decade was scrapped because of a soundtrack. As underwhelming as that sounds, there is no doubt that Dr. Dre holds importance in the musical realm.

N.W.A. are the voices of an alternative counterculture. It is one that didn’t consist of college kids gathering around fields but instead consist of youths that dealt with police brutality and intimidation. The silent minority saw an outlet through groups like N.W.A., unfortunately, this album literally fails on every part to compliment any of that.

Each song in the soundtrack discusses a certain aspect of Dre’s personal life and impact from Compton. The idea is good and it’s actually nice to have an album that’s kind of personal, especially the song “It’s All on Me”.

Kendrick Lamar is featured on one of the more catchy tracks on the album, “Deep Water.” The beat is surprisingly contemporary, it’s as if Dre had been listening to Jahlil Beats tape and Kendrick’s latest album. What makes the song different from all the others is the ending. Anderson Paak gasping for air and a bizarre effect used on Marsha Ambrosius’ voice to make her sound as if she’s underwater makes this song stand out in the corniest way.

Dre finishes the album with “Talking to My Diary”. It’s tasteful, just him, no features, talking about the past 16 years and for about a minute or so the beat lingers on and fades away.

It would of been nice to see Dre really encapsulate the impact N.W.A. had with this album, because it would of fit nicely with the movie. On the bottom of the cover it reads “A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre,” and that’s exactly what it is. It’s just going to sound cool in certain scenes and it has to relate to a newer audience, so it made sense for Dre to ditch high pitched West Coast synths for a Lex Luger 808 kit. And we’ve heard the structure before. As much as I’ve been avoiding a Kendrick Lamar comparison, “good kid m.A.A.d. city” has set a precedent for how albums about living in a Los Angeles jungle should sound, and “Compton” didn’t meet it. Unfortunately, it didn’t even need to reach for that precedent in the first place.