Eminem Looks Back On His Time With Dr. Dre In The Video For “I Need A Doctor”

Becky Bain | February 24, 2011 3:15 pm

The video for Dr. Dre’s sweeping Alex Da Kid-produced track, “I Need A Doctor”, kicks off with a pretty impressive car crash, where Dre’s ride flips in the air multiple times before smashing down on the ground. And that’s just the prologue of this morbidly fascinating clip. As Dre struggles to stay alive, Em visits his longtime friend in a dimly-lit steampunk hospital while Skylar’s ghost sings the hook. It’s haunting in every meaning of the word. Vid below.

The seven and a half minute video is intercut with behind-the-scenes clips and home video footage of his family life, as well as his partnership with Eminem over the years. (We can’t help but OMG over the highlighter-colored head of lil Eminem back in the day.) In fact, it’s basically a Who’s Who of hip-hop over the last few decades — there’s Snoop! And Tupac! And they’re so young!

After Dre’s crash, Em visits him in a hospital that may as well also be the Batcave. Eventually, Dre is able to awake from his coma and rebuild his strength. (And then some — look at those muscles!)

Dr. Dre feat. Eminem & Skylar Grey — “I Need A Doctor”

The video concludes with Dre in the best shape he’s ever been in, peering down at the grave of his former N.W.A. member Eric Wright, otherwise known as rapper Eazy-E, who died in 1995 from complications from AIDS.

Eazy-E and Dre had been feuding for many years following the breakup of N.W.A. Apparently, the moral we can glean from this video is to not to live your life fighting with those close to you, since you may not ever get the chance to work things out.

Heavy stuff, folks. What do you think of “I Need A Doctor”? Tell us in the comments.