Hip-hop producer extraordinaire Dr. Dre has one investment regret. He wishes he never sold is expansive vinyl record collection, selling off albums where he sampled some of his biggest hits like “Nuthin’ But a G Thang.”
The former NWA member interviewed with Lindsey Renee on her inaugural episode of the “Behind the Patrol” podcast recently and shared that he did not have a copy of Leon Haywood’s “I Want Do Something Freaky to You” from the 1975 album “Come and Get Yourself Some,” a song Dre sampled for his classic song “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang.”
Dr. Dre says he's pissed off for selling his personal record collection, which consisted of over 80,000 albums.
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“I had a collection of records. I had over 80,000 albums that I stored in a warehouse. At a certain point, I think it was the early 2000s, I sold all of my wax. And I’m kicking myself in the ass still about that,” he told the host, after saying he is “really not proud” of the sale.
At the core of his decision is a warehouse where he kept his records, which was customed-designed to his liking with all the fixings to make for a fantasy land for the producer, that he decided to sell because it was becoming a bill.
He considered, “It took me ten years to decide to sell, and I finally did and I’m really pissed off at myself about that. But this particular record … Leon Haywood had a studio; it was where the Crenshaw Mall is now. … I used to go over to his studio and record, and he would come through every now and then.”
Vinyl Is Hip Again–And Expensive
Vinyl records are a part of Americana, with their roots stretching back to the 19th century. Nostalgia aside, vinyl records are a huge legitimate equity-growing collection. The “wax” industry has experienced a multibillion-dollar resurgence in the last decade.
CNBC said the driver of this uptick can be attributed to chart-toppers like Taylor Swift making their music available via the medium and selling the physical copies at retail giants like Target and Walmart.
Experts also believe that the COVID pandemic had an impact on the industry. In fact, in 2022, over 41 million vinyl albums were sold in the United States. The Recording Industry Association of America noted that that marked the highest sales since 1988.
Also, according to Verified Market Research, the global vinyl record market, valued at $1.98 billion in 2022, is projected to hit $4.12 billion by 2030.
“Never in a million years did I think it would, as a market and as an industry, become what it’s become today,” said Mark Michaels, CEO and chairman of United Record Pressing, the largest vinyl recording pressing plant in North America.
For those who thought to keep their original copies of albums by artists like The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, could command almost $800,000 for just one record, according to Print Our Vinyl.
However, there is one copy of an album that has sold for more than any of those pop albums. In 2015, the Wu-Tang Clan’s “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” sold for $2 million.
While Dr. Dre might have sold off his vintage collection that had tens of thousands of music recordings from various genres, he is also doing deals in the thriving market space. In 2023, in concert with his career-long partner Interscope Records, he put out a limited edition (2,500 copies) of his classic album “The Chronic.”
