"Under Pressure," the presumptive first single from Dr. Dre's great white whale Detox leaked online yesterday, albeit in a very unfinished, un-mastered form without a chorus. As the first sample of one of the longest awaited album in rap history, the song faced high expectationsthat it's a collaboration with Jay-Z only raised them further. Judging from the response online, "Under Pressure" didn't meet them.
Some comments on AllHipHop.com, where you can stream the song, called out Dre for his route verses (which are especially disappointing given Dre's access to some of the world's best ghostwriters) but most of them focused their ire on the song's clubby beat (perhaps this particularly harsh tweet best summarizes their criticisms).
With a chorus and the some final mastering, though, the leak sounds like the makings of a genuine, Blueprint 3-sized hit to me. The Kraftwerk-sampling beat has a nice drive to it, worming its way into your head after a couple listens.
A YouTube clip of the song is embedded below, though I suspect it won't be hosted for too much longer. The song is also streaming at NahRight.com.
