According to Dr. Dre, his long-awaited third studio album Detox is nearing completion - and could be here before the year is up.

"I'm just now — over the last couple of months — starting to feel that it's going to be right and it's something I can be proud of, and everybody is going to love it," says Dr. Dre to USA Today. "In a perfect world, I'm shooting for a November or December release."

According to Dre, who does not often speak on the project, his goal is not necessarily to raise the bar for Hip-Hop production values, like 2001 and The Chronic before it. "I've never set out to do that," says Dre. "I just make the music feel the way I want it to feel and I don't put it out until I'm totally happy with it. Then it does what it does."

Since he first hinted at the project in 2002, Dre's Detox has been a subject of speculation ever since. The project was slated to some out in 2004, yet faced constant delays. Mentions of the project appeared on albums by Eminem, The Game and Snoop Dogg, yet never amounted to anything. Further speculation was fueled by mixtapes like Pretox, hosted by Mick Boogie, as well as countless artists and producers revealing they had contributed to the album in some way.

"We have an entirely new thing going with the drums that's incredible, and we're still developing that." says Dre, who revealed all "the usual suspects" will make guest appearances, including Nas, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne.

And if you thought Detox was a long wait, Dre says the next one (if there is a next one) will be even longer. "I'm going to put this record out, promote it, tour and then become a hermit. I'm going to stay in the studio and produce."

As for future plans, Dre, who was instrumental in launching the careers of Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent, is interested in working on new artists rather than established ones.