everything post Chronic was an attempt to capture that success

and he never did

the endorsements he's getting now, the cars, the headphones, etc...they go to him because he was Dre from the Chronic

sheeiitt, cats like Em and 50 got co-signs from Dre
not because he's the Dre that's been working on Detox for decades, but because he's the Dre that made the Chronic.
he's the Dre that made Snoop.

Would you agree that on a quality level, his post Chronic releases have been meh?
I'm saying the reason those meh projects were even successful is because he's the Dre that made the Chronic.

Here's an analogy;

Brett Favre
He's won one ring
One
And yet NFL teams keep signing this cat, hoping to capture that success.
If he doesn't win a chip with the Pac, he goes down as a reckless QB who would lose you a game just as easily as he could win it for you.
The chip validates his status as one of the GOATS

What would his legacy be if his first solo release was 2001
He'd be Goldie Loc from the Eastsidaz.

Why are cats still waiting for Detox?
Because he's the Dre that made the Chronic.