Heavy waits: albums that are long overdue

Dr. Dre, 'Detox'

Years in development: five

Years since last studio album: nine

Hip-hop’s good doctor has a long list of patients to look after (producing tracks for everyone from 50 Cent, Eminem and the Game to Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige and Gwen Stefani), which means fans of Dre’s solo work have had to practice a lot of patience of their own. Dre has said that “Detox” will be his final solo album, so expect it to be big—if it ever comes out. Current estimated release date looks to be early-to-mid-2009.