Lawyers for Dr. Dre sent a cease-and-desist letter to congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene threatening her with legal action after she used the rapper’s 1999 smash hit 'Still D.R.E.' without permission in a social media post, Billboard reports. “One might expect that, as a member of Congress, you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country" - lawyers wrote.
"This was hip-hop playing the long game, taking its presence and acceptance as an achievement, conceding that the gatekeepers want a level of assimilation with their authenticity" - Pitchfork looks into the Super Bowl, the first-ever hip-hop halftime show. Rolling Stone calls it "a triumph", whereas BBC asks "did too many hooks spoil the broth?". Watch it here.
Dr. Dre has reached a settlement that will see him pay $100 million to his ex-wife Nicole Young, which includes more than half of Dre’s liquid assets, as well as a Rolls Royce, Range Rover, Spyder motorcycle, Escalade limousine, and all of her jewelry. Divorce papers filed with L.A. Superior Court on Nov. 18th show him to be worth $458.2 million, with $182.7 million cash, $6.3 million in stocks, and $269.2 million in property and assets, Consequence reports.
Warner Bros. has acquired 'What’s Going On', a new biopic on Marvin Gaye from Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, which will be directed by Allen Hughes ('Menace II Society', 'The Book of Eli'). The script was written by poet and playwright Marcus Gardley. The film has the full support of Gaye’s estate and Motown Records, and will feature music from the singer’s catalog. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. has committed a budget north of $80 million for the film, which would mark the biggest budget ever for an African American musical biopic.
Rapper and producer Dr. Dre, one of hip-hop's most successful, influential, and richest stars, is being treated in hospital after suffering a brain aneurysm, Billboard reports. Meanwhile, four men were reportedly arrested for trying to burglarize Dre's home after the news broke that he was in the ICU, TMZ reports.
Kanye West has shared a song 'Wash Us in the Blood', mixed by Dr. Dre and features Travis Scott, with video directed by Arthur Jafa. It goes back to West's raw sound, but it keeps the Christian narrative and gospel undertones. The video features plenty of protest footage, and some from West’s Saint Pablo Tour and Sunday Service rehearsals. The new track is set to feature on an album presently titled 'God’s Country'. Vulture has an interesting perspective on the song - "On one level, the song is a return to form and a smoother pairing of West’s newfound faith and existing politics. It’s also motivational boilerplate. But that’s to be expected. The sneaker man does not want you so free that you stop wanting sneakers”.
Death Row Records is now on Bandcamp, which means Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic' is on Bandcamp, as is Snoop Dogg's 'Doggystyle', 2Pac's 'All Eyes On Me', Tha Dogg Pound's 'Dogg Food', and more - check it out all here. The release is just in time for this month's Bandcamp First Fridays fundraiser, Exclaim reports. Death Row was bought by eOne music in 2013, and then acquired by toy company Hasbro when Hasbro bought eOne for $3.8 billion last year.
“I probably would’ve hated social media when I was coming up. There’s a certain mystique that gets destroyed. I like the mystique. I like waiting. I don’t need anybody to know where I am every minute or what I’m doing. Or what I’m about to do… There’s a certain mystique that came along with music that was entertaining to wait to see what was about to happen” - Dr. Dre told in GQ interview, NME reports. Another thing - “the generation that comes in today is more impatient than ever, mostly due to the fact that their access to information has never been so uninhibited. Thus their expectations of their daily lives have changed. But it’s not just about going to work sooner; it’s about wanting to have an impact once they are there. They have more power in the palm of their hand than any generation in history – and it’s power to influence, to understand and to do good".
Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Blink-182, and Cypress Hill are among the high-profile names who star in the new trailer for the upcoming Netflix documentary 'LA Originals' about tattoo artist Mister Cartoon and photographer Oriol. Directed by Estevan Oriol and set for release on April 10, 'LA Originals' is billed as “an exploration of the culture and landmarks of the chicano and street art movement".
Dr. Dre’s 'The Chronic', 'Cheap Trick at Budokan', Tina Turner’s 'Private Dancer', Dusty Springfield’s 'Dusty in Memphis', the Whitney Houston song 'I Will Always Love You', and Village People’s 'Y.M.C.A.' are among the new batch of records to be archived in the U.S. Library of Congress, the LA Times reports. Other records deemed “worthy of preservation because of their cultural, historical and aesthetic importance” include 'Fiddler on the Roof' Original Broadway cast from 1964, WGBH broadcast of the Boston Symphony on the day of the John F. Kennedy assassination etc.
The woman from the Dirty Dancing song teams up with a mobster and a kid from a pizza parlor to - by a combination of timing, luck, forethought, and stolen lyrics - start a revolution - Complex says about Sylvia Robinson, their choice of the best hip-hop producer od 1979. The best in 2019 - Madlib, for creating soulful, era-spanning beats. In-between the two - Kanye West, Dr. Dre, The Neptunes...
Dr. Dre hasn’t released an album since 2015, haven't been on tour since the turn of the millennium, and his last production credit on a No. 1 hit was in 2009 (Eminem’s 'Crack a Bottle'), but still he managed to climb to the top of Forbes list of highest-earning musician of this decade. He earned […]
Jay-Z's wealth is worth 1 billion dollars, and that's a conservative estimate, Forbes reports. They added his entire media empire, from Roc Nation to Rocawear to Tidal and D’Ussé cognac and got the 10-figure sum. Diddy and Dr. Dre rank as the second and third wealthiest rappers, with a net worth of $820 and $770 […]
Dr Dre posted a photo of his daughter, Truly Young, posing with her USC acceptance letter with captions “My daughter got accepted into USC all on her own. No jail time!!!”. "Jail time" was a reference to the recent college admissions scandal in which a number of wealthy parents paid thousands of dollars so their […]
Hip-hop icon and headphone impresario Dr. Dre has lost a trademark dispute with Pennsylvania gynecologist Dr. Draion M. Burch over Burch’s attempt to trademark the name Dr. Drai. The case has been ongoing since 2015, when Dre (real name Andre Young) claimed the similarity between the names Dr. Dre and Dr. Drai could cause “confusion.” […]
