Black Sheep's Dres Announces Solo Album

In an effort to holdover his insatiable fans while finishing up the LP, Dres released the five song EP, From The Black Pool Of Genius: The Prelude to much fanfare in December. The EP served as a promising precursor of what fans can expect from the upcoming album, and since its release Dres has been hard at work in the lab perfecting his sound.

Unlike The Prelude, The From The Black Pool Of Genius LP finds Dres enlisting a handful of his hip-hop brethren to elevate the album to the next level. "I would say the major difference [between The Prelude and LP] is the entourage of songs on the LP come with many guests which brings a nice variety to the spices already being served" says Dres. Production duties are handled by Paten Locke, Tough Junkie, BeanOne, ShowBiz, the Beatnuts, and Urban Soul Group, producers of "Forever LuvLee," the only hold over track from the EP, all of who manage to season some new flavor onto the songs while keeping right in tune with Dres' signature sound. The album also boasts performances from lyrical heavyweights AZ, Rhymefest, and Jean Grae, who are all on hand to drop notable guest verses and showcase their verbal dexterity, as well as an appearance from P&V, who provide an R&B touch for the project. A rare Native Tongue's bonus track featuring Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, Dave of De La Soul and Mike G of the Jungle Brothers rounds out Dres' sonic serving of genius.

As one of the most respected and insightful voices in music today, Dres is using the album as means of communicating his beliefs about the meaning of hip-hop. "I once heard a poet say that 'hip hop backward is 'pih poh (people)'- the way I see it, many artists are a lot more hip-hop than they ever realized." As for the album title, Dres explains that, "Black Pool doesn't refer to black people. It refers to the color black's unique ability to absorb light. This deep, vast pool of soul, of artistic insight; although it's not always understood, the light it reflects back to the 'pih-poh' is necessary." Hip-hop heads are ready and anxiously awaiting to see the light. Dres' From The Black Pool of Genius full length will be available April 6th.