>that's not an excuse-if he's such a mastermind and taskmaster,
>he should know what to do to keep it from going far enough
>south that the quality drops that far

Eh, this is the thing - Dre almost never seems comfortable with dropping anything that's indisputably under a 4/5. While you would say he doesn't take risks, others would say he's a perfectionist. It's all based on perception, I guess. Again, Dre seems like the type to drop only heaters and work behind what he trusts, instead of just dropping something that some would see as "solid" that he doesn't fuck with. He's a "my way or the highway" type of cat, it seems. Some would say it's restrictive, others would say it's quality control. But I can almost guarantee that quality dropping for you is completely different for quality dropping in his mind, you know?

>I would definitely call it a failure when you have as many
>artists go through his system and become writeoffs
>if you believe it's all on the artist, you're crazy

I'm not saying it's all on the artist, either. Some of those artists may just not have been a good fit with Dre; music is creative, so that happens. I don't think that's one person's fault; it's just not what was meant to be. ... And other artists just didn't really have the star quality that justified an entire album, but were good role players that could ably fill the spaces on albums. And that's not placing blame on the artist, either; but you don't get mad at a sixth man for not averaging 30 points a game.

>mainly the fact that Dre won't take risks, that's the elephant
>in the room in regards to his status and legend
>if it's not a sure thing, he won't roll with it and that's a
>BIG hindrance to him (especially when he can use his name and
>make it fly off the shelf)

Again, some people would see "not taking risks" as having discipline that sends other producers into dud territory.