Somehow, billing an artist to play their most famous release, exclusively, got super vogue all of the sudden. Nas did Illmatic. Erykah Badu did Baduizm. A Tribe Called Quest did Midnight Marauders. So, yeah, some good stuff got covered, but what else is there? In appreciation of the ever-strong Rock The Bells festival series, and also of the more sponsorship-heavy recent Red Bull Music Academy, here’s ten shows that we would want to see.

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It looks like “Kush,” the supposed leaked track from Detox, is now an official part of the release. HipHopDX quotes a Dr. Dre interview with Power 106:

It got leaked, and it was a version of it that I wasn’t really happy about. But we’re gonna go ahead and push it and put it out, since everybody seems to like it. It’s about weed smoking, and I didn’t want people to think that’s what my album was about. This is actually the only type of song with that type of content on it.

It’s been hard to tell what Detox actually is about, since the other leaked single, “Under Pressure,” won’t be on the album anymore, according to Dre. And because Detox has been in the works since 2002, there are lots of conflicting quotes about who will appear on the album, either as a guest or a producer. “Kush” definitely features Snoop Dogg and Akon. Have a listen at hiphopconnection.com. UPDATE: Or at drdre.com/kush (yup, it’s official).

Now that Chinese Democracy has finally been released, what’s the new Chinese Democracy? Is it Detox? The Wrens’s next release? The Avalanches’s sophomore album?

If you can be patient enough to sit through the numerous N.M.C. tags — and if you’ve been waiting all this time to hear music from Dre’s near-mythically delayed Detox, patience you have — then soldier on for this stream of “Under Pressure,” Dre’s new album track with a guest drop by Jay-Z. The Dr. is talking about “breathing life in this shit,” though there’s probably a little more muscle on him than herein. Could be a sketch since there’s no real hook, but our friends at Nah Right and P4K seem to think what we hear is what we’re getting. So, here it is for the getting:

UPDATE: Turns out it’s a sketch after all! Dre says: “I want to set the record straight for everybody who’s been waiting to hear my music.  The song that’s on the internet is an incomplete song  that I’m still working on.  When it’s ready, you’ll be hearing it from  me.” (via MTV)

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You can hear beats from the long-delayed Detox in the cola’s new “Trust Me, I’m A Doctor” ad campaign. In his spot, Dre claims “scientific tests prove when you drink Dr. Pepper slow, the 23 flavors taste even better.” Watch and learn.

Its album cover is a portrait of Marshall Mathers made out of pills, with title and street date (5/19) displayed on the prescription label. The first clever thing Eminem’s done in years? Take a look at NahRight. May cause dizziness, sexual nightmares, and sleep crime.

In this first Relapse clip, Slim Shady picks up where he left off, lampooning all the pop culture touchstones of 2005. Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson … no one’s safe! There’s even a Rain Man parody! They must be saving the pet rock jokes for the director’s cut. Watch it at Videogum.

New Line is developing Straight Outta Compton, a movie about controversial rap group N.W.A. EW reports that the film’s producers (among them Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E’s widow Tomica Wright) are “actively searching for a director along the lines of Curtis Hanson (8 Mile).” Which is exciting news, but whatever happened to Welcome Back, Biatch?! (Thanks Gideon for the tip!)

You guys all have watched the TRL finale on your DVR so many times by now so I don’t need to tell you that when Marshall Mathers made his appearance at the MTV studios, he said you could expect his Relapse LP in early ’09. TRL & Marshall Mathers? I just published this post from 2004. Which, actually, is the year of the reclusive rap guy’s last album. In the time since, reports have trickled out suggesting this next record will feature production from Focus, DJ Premier, and Swizz Beat, although all signs point to Dr. Dre cooking the bulk of the Relapse beats. Some weeks ago we heard what might be the first leak from the record, the Dre-helmed “I’m Having A Relapse.” It’s another Dre cut here, this “Number One,” which Eminem-as-ring-announcer introduces as a blast from Slim Shady. Guess who’s back (again) with rhymes about cracked bottles, sloppy models, condoms and Tahoes.

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Kanye and his 808′s & Heartbreak auto-tune have been taking up a lot of space on the site recently, but that doesn’t mean Eminem isn’t still alive. In fact, the once-retired rapper reportedly has a new album, a followup to 2004′s Encore, on the way. It’s called Relapse, and supposedly the majority was produced by steroid fan Dr. Dre. The first song we’ve heard is the title-echoing “I’m Having A Relapse.” In it, Slim Shady paints a picture of a Xanax-poppin’ serial killer. (Not to evoke Kanye again — because there are more than two rappers in the world — but in a twist of blood lust, West did say the “Love Lockdown” video was inspired by American Psycho.) Listen:

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Poor NME. Just months after the rag coined a new genre for their present poster boys, said band is set to switch up its game. Klaxons are looking to branch out into the sweet rhythm & blues, and so naturally they’re turning to … Snoop and Dre? Via MTV UK:

“We would very much like to make an R&B record. If we could afford it.”

Bassist Jamie Reynolds added “The most interesting thing for us would be to work with Dr.Dre or Snoop Dogg. We haven?t done a record deal in America but we got to a point a couple of weeks ago where we were talking about one – and I don?t know whether or not it’s gonna happen.

“But if we did do that deal we would probably jeopardise our future working with Dr.Dre.”

Silly Klaxons. If you wanna make R&B records, not working with Dre is a good thing! And pray tell, what in the name of ecstasy are we supposed to do with all of the Day-Glo we just bought for the North American tour?