Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally asDr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder andCEO ofAftermath Entertainment andBeats Electronics, and co-founder ofDeath Row Records. Dre began his career as a member of theWorld Class Wreckin' Cru in 1984, and later found fame with thegangsta rap groupN.W.A. The group popularized explicit lyrics inhip-hop to detail the violence of street life. During the early 1990s, Dre was credited as a key figure in the crafting and popularization ofWest CoastG-funk, a subgenre of hip-hop characterized by asynthesizer foundation and slow, heavy production.
Accusations of Dr. Dre's violence against women have been widely publicized. In 1991 he pledno contest to his assault of television hostDee Barnes, for which he was given two years'probation; a related civil suit was settled out of court. In 2015, ex-partnerMichel'le accused him ofdomestic violence. Another of his ex-partners made further accusations, and was granted arestraining order against him. Former labelmateTairrie B claimed that Dre assaulted her at a party in 1990. Following the release of his third album,Compton (2015), he issued a public apology.[2]
Early life
Andre Romell Young[3][4][5] was born inCompton, California, on February 18, 1965,[6] the son of Theodore and Verna Young. His middle name is derived from the Romells, his father's amateurR&B group. His parents married in 1964, separated in 1968, and divorced in 1972. His mother later remarried to Curtis Crayon and had three children: sons Jerome and Tyree (both deceased) and daughter Shameka.[7]
In 1976, Dre began attending Vanguard Junior High School in Compton, but due togang violence, he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School.[8] The family moved often and lived in apartments and houses in Compton,Carson,Long Beach, and theWatts andSouth Central neighborhoods of Los Angeles.[9] Dre has said that he was mostly raised by his grandmother in the New Wilmington Arms housing project in Compton.[10] His mother later married Warren Griffin,[11] which added three step-sisters and one step-brother to the family; the latter would eventually begin rapping under the nameWarren G.[12] Dre is also the cousin of producerSir Jinx.Dre attendedCentennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred toFremont High School inSouth Central Los Angeles due to poor grades. He attempted to enroll in an apprenticeship program atNorthrop Aviation Company, but was ineligible due to poor grades. Thereafter, he focused on his social life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years.[13]
Dre's frequent absences from school jeopardized his position as a diver on his school's swim team. After high school, he attended Chester Adult School in Compton following his mother's demands for him to get a job or continue his education. After brief attendance at a radio broadcasting school, he relocated to the residence of his father and residence of his grandparents before returning to his mother's house.[14]
Musical career
1984–1986: World Class Wreckin' Cru
Inspired by theGrandmaster Flash song "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", Dr. Dre often attended a club called Eve's After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. He subsequently became a DJ in the club, initially under the name "Dr. J", based on the nickname ofJulius Erving, his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become memberDJ Yella ofN.W.A.[15] Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the "Master of Mixology".[16]
Eve After Dark had a back room with a small four-track studio where Dre and Yella recorded several demos. In their first recording session, they recorded a song entitled "Surgery" in 1984.[17][18][19] Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1994 on a compilation titledConcrete Roots. CriticStephen Thomas Erlewine ofAllMusic described the compiled music, released "several years before Dre developed a distinctive style", as "surprisingly generic and unengaging" and "for dedicated fans only".[20]
Dre later joined the musical groupWorld Class Wreckin' Cru, which released its debut album under the Kru-Cut label in 1985.[21] The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early-mid 1980sWest Coast hip-hop. "Surgery", which was officially released after being recorded prior to the group's official formation, would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntable. The record would become the group's first hit, selling 50,000 copies within the Compton area.[22] Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio stationKDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour showThe Traffic Jam.[23]
1986–1991: N.W.A and Ruthless Records
Poster for one of N.W.A's first concerts at a Compton skating rink, 1988
In 1986, Dr. Dre met rapper O'Shea Jackson—known asIce Cube—who collaborated with him to record songs forRuthless Records, a hip-hop record label run by local rapperEazy-E.N.W.A and fellow West Coast rapperIce-T are widely credited as seminal artists of the gangsta rap genre, a profanity-heavy subgenre of hip-hop, replete with gritty depictions of urban crime and gang lifestyle. Not feeling constricted to racially charged political issues pioneered by rap artists such asPublic Enemy orBoogie Down Productions, N.W.A favored themes and uncompromising lyrics, offering stark descriptions of violent, inner-city streets. Propelled by the hit "Fuck tha Police", the group's first full albumStraight Outta Compton (1989) became a major success, despite an almost complete absence of radio airplay or major concert tours. TheFederal Bureau of Investigation sent Ruthless Records a warning letter in response to the song's content.[24]
After a dispute with Eazy-E, Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity in 1991 under the advice of friend, and N.W.A lyricist, the D.O.C. and his bodyguard at the time,Suge Knight. Knight, a notorious strongman and intimidator, was able to have Eazy-E release Young from his contract and, using Dr. Dre as his flagship artist, foundedDeath Row Records. In 1992, Young released his first single, thetitle track to the filmDeep Cover, a collaboration with rapperSnoop Dogg, whom he met through Warren G.[24] Dr. Dre's debut solo album wasThe Chronic, released under Death Row Records with Suge Knight as executive producer. Young ushered in a new style of rap, both in terms of musical style and lyrical content, including introducing a number of artists to the industry including Snoop Dogg,Kurupt,Daz Dillinger,RBX,the Lady of Rage,Nate Dogg andJewell.[27]
"California Love" earned Dr. Dre his first number one spot on theBillboard Hot 100 and twoGrammy nominations.
Besides working on his own material, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut albumDoggystyle, which became the first debut album for an artist to enter theBillboard 200 album charts at number one.[31] In 1994 Dr. Dre produced some songs on the soundtracks to the filmsAbove the Rim andMurder Was the Case. He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song "Natural Born Killaz" in 1995.[24] For the filmFriday, Dre recorded "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", which reached number ten on theBillboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts.[32]
In 1995, Death Row Records signed rapper2Pac, and began to position him as their major star: he collaborated with Dr. Dre on the commercially successful single "California Love", which became both artists' first song to top theBillboard Hot 100.[24][33] However, in March 1996 Young left the label amidst a contract dispute and growing concerns that label boss Suge Knight was corrupt, financially dishonest and out of control. Later that year, he formed his own label, Aftermath Entertainment, under the distribution label for Death Row Records,Interscope Records.[24] Subsequently, Death Row Records suffered poor sales by 1997, especially following the death of 2Pac and theracketeering charges brought against Knight.[34]
Dr. Dre also appeared on the single "No Diggity" byR&B groupBlackstreet in 1996: it too was a sales success, topping the Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks, and later won the award for Best R&B Vocal by a Duo or Group at the1997 Grammy Awards.[35] After hearing it for the first time, several of Dr. Dre's former Death Row colleagues, including 2Pac, recorded and attempted to release a song titled "Toss It Up", containing numerous insults aimed at Dr. Dre and using a deliberately similar instrumental to "No Diggity", but were forced to replace the production after Blackstreet sent the label acease and desist letter stopping them from distributing the song.[36]
1996–2000: Move to Aftermath Entertainment and2001
Logo used by2001-era Dr. Dre
TheDr. Dre Presents the Aftermath album, released on November 26, 1996, featured songs by Dr. Dre himself, as well as by newly signedAftermath Entertainment artists, and a solo track "Been There, Done That", intended as a symbolic farewell togangsta rap.[37] Despite being certified platinum by the RIAA,[28] the album was not very popular among music fans.[24] In October 1996, Dre performed "Been There, Done That" onSaturday Night Live.[38] In 1997, Dr. Dre produced several tracks onthe Firm'sThe Album; it was met with largely negative reviews from critics. Rumors began to abound that Aftermath was facing financial difficulties.[39] Aftermath Entertainment also faced atrademark infringement lawsuit by the underground thrash metal band Aftermath.[40]
First Round Knock Out, a compilation of various tracks produced and performed by Dr. Dre, was also released in 1996, with material ranging from World Class Wreckin' Cru to N.W.A to Death Row recordings.[41] Dr. Dre chose to take no part in the ongoingEast Coast–West Coast hip-hop rivalry of the time, instead producing for, and appearing on, several New York artists' releases, such asNas' "Nas Is Coming",LL Cool J's "Zoom" andJay-Z's "Watch Me".
The turning point for Aftermath came in 1998, when Dre's close friend,Jimmy Iovine, the co-founder of Interscope Records (parent label for Aftermath), suggested that Dr. Dre signEminem, a white rapper fromDetroit. Dre produced three songs and provided vocals for two on Eminem's successful and controversial debut albumThe Slim Shady LP, released in 1999.[42] The Dr. Dre-produced lead single from that album, "My Name Is", brought Eminem to public attention for the first time, and the success ofThe Slim Shady LP – it reached number two on theBillboard 200 and received general acclaim from critics – revived the label's commercial ambitions and viability.[42][43][44]
Ticket for Dr. Dre'sUp in Smoke Tour in Albany, New York, July 2000
Dr. Dre's second solo album,2001, released on November 16, 1999, was considered an ostentatious return to his gangsta rap roots.[45] It was initially titledThe Chronic 2000 to imply being a sequel to his debut solo effortThe Chronic but was re-titled2001 after Death Row Records released an unrelated compilation album with the titleSuge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000 in May 1999. Other tentative titles includedThe Chronic 2001 andDr. Dre.[46]
Following the success of2001, Dr. Dre focused on producing songs and albums for other artists. He co-produced six tracks on Eminem's landmarkMarshall Mathers LP, including the Grammy-winning lead single, "The Real Slim Shady". The album itself earned a Grammy and proved to be the fastest-selling rap album of all time, moving 1.76 million units in its first week alone.[50] He produced the single "Family Affair" by R&B singerMary J. Blige for her albumNo More Drama in 2001.[51] He also produced "Let Me Blow Ya Mind", a duet by rapperEve andNo Doubt lead singerGwen Stefani[52] and signed R&B singerTruth Hurts to Aftermath in 2001.[53]
Dr. Dre produced and rapped on singer and Interscope labelmateBilal's 2001 single "Fast Lane", which barely missed theTop 40 of the R&B charts.[54] He later assisted in the production of Bilal's second album,Love for Sale,[55] which Interscope controversially shelved because of its creative direction.[56] Dr. Dre was the executive producer of Eminem's 2002 release,The Eminem Show. He produced three songs on the album, one of which was released as asingle, and he appeared in the video for "Without Me". He also produced the D.O.C.'s 2003 albumDeuce, where he made a guest appearance on the tracks "Psychic Pymp Hotline", "Gorilla Pympin'" and "Judgment Day".
In 2002, Dr. Dre signed rapper50 Cent to Aftermath in a joint venture between Interscope and Eminem's Shady Records. Dr. Dre served as executive producer for 50 Cent's commercially successful February 2003 debut studio albumGet Rich or Die Tryin'. Dr. Dre produced or co-produced four tracks on the album, including the hit single "In da Club".[57] Eminem's fourth album since joining Aftermath,Encore, again saw Dre taking on the role of executive producer, and this time he was more actively involved in the music, producing or co-producing a total of eight tracks, including three singles.
Dr. Dre also produced "How We Do", a 2005 hit single from rapperthe Game from his albumThe Documentary,[58] as well as tracks on 50 Cent's successful second albumThe Massacre. For an issue ofRolling Stone magazine in April 2005, Dr. Dre was ranked 54th out of 100 artists forRolling Stone magazine's list "The Immortals: The Greatest Artists of All Time".Kanye West wrote the summary for Dr. Dre, where he stated Dr. Dre's song "Xxplosive" as where he "got (his) whole sound from".[59]
Planned but unreleased albums during Dr. Dre's tenure at Aftermath have included a full-length reunion with Snoop Dogg titledBreakup to Makeup, an album with fellow former N.W.A member Ice Cube which was to be titledHeltah Skeltah,[25] an N.W.A reunion album,[25] and a joint album with fellow producerTimbaland titledChairmen of the Board.[68]
In 2007, Dr. Dre's third studio album, formerly known asDetox, was slated to be his final studio album.[69] Work for the upcoming album dates back to 2001,[70] where its first version was called "the most advanced rap album ever", by producerScott Storch.[71] Later that same year, he decided to stop working on the album to focus on producing for other artists, but then changed his mind; the album had initially been set for a fall 2005 release.[72] Producers confirmed to work on the album includeDJ Khalil,Nottz, Bernard "Focus" Edwards Jr.,[73]Hi-Tek,[74]J.R. Rotem,[75]RZA,[76] andJay-Z.[77]Snoop Dogg claimed thatDetox was finished, according to a June 2008 report byRolling Stone magazine.[78]
After another delay based on producing other artists' work,Detox was then scheduled for a 2010 release, coming after 50 Cent'sBefore I Self Destruct and Eminem'sRelapse, an album for which Dr. Dre handled the bulk of production duties.[79][80] In aDr Pepper commercial that debuted on May 28, 2009, he premiered the first official snippet ofDetox.[81][82] 50 Cent and Eminem asserted in a 2009 interview onBET's106 & Park that Dr. Dre had around a dozen songs finished forDetox.[83]
On December 15, 2008, Dre appeared in the remix of the song "Set It Off" by Canadian rapperKardinal Offishall (also withPusha T); the remix debuted onDJ Skee's radio show.[84] At the beginning of 2009, Dre produced, and made a guest vocal performance on, the single "Crack a Bottle" byEminem and the single sold a record 418,000 downloads in its first week[85] and reached the top of theBillboard Hot 100 chart on the week of February 12, 2009.[86] Along with this single, in 2009 Dr. Dre produced or co-produced 19 of 20 tracks on Eminem's albumRelapse. These included other hit singles "We Made You", "Old Time's Sake", and "3 a.m." (The only track Dre did not produce was the Eminem-produced single "Beautiful".).
On April 20, 2010, "Under Pressure", featuringJay-Z and co-produced withScott Storch, was confirmed by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre during an interview atFenway Park as the album's first single.[87][88] The song leaked prior to its intended release in an unmixed, unmastered form without a chorus on June 16, 2010;[89] however, critical reaction to the song was lukewarm, and Dr. Dre later announced in an interview that the song, along with any other previously leaked tracks fromDetox's recording process, would not appear on the final version of the album.[90]
In an August 2010 interview, Dr. Dre stated that aninstrumental album,The Planets, was in its first stages of production; each song being named after aplanet in theSolar System.[96] On September 3, Dr. Dre showed support to longtime protégéEminem, and appeared on his andJay-Z'sHome & Home Tour, performing hit songs such as "Still D.R.E.", "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", and "Crack a Bottle", alongside Eminem and another protégé, 50 Cent. Sporting an "R.I.P. Proof" shirt, Dre was honored by Eminem telling Detroit'sComerica Park to do the same. They did so, by chanting "DEEE-TOX", to which he replied, "I'm coming!"[97]
On November 14, 2011, Dre announced that he would be taking a break from music after he finished producing for artistsSlim the Mobster andKendrick Lamar. In this break, he stated that he would "work on bringing his Beats By Dre to a standard as high as Apple" and would also spend time with his family.[98] On January 9, 2012, Dre headlined the final nights of theCoachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2012.[99]
In June 2014,Marsha Ambrosius stated that she had been working on Detox, but added that the album would be known under another title .[100] In September 2014, Aftermath in-house producerDawaun Parker confirmed the title change and stated that over 300 beats had been created for the album over the years, but few of them have had vocals recorded over them.[101]
The length of time thatDetox had been recorded for, as well as the limited amount of material that had been officially released or leaked from the recording sessions, had given it considerable notoriety within the music industry.[102] Numerous release dates (including the ones mentioned above) had been given for the album over the years since it was first announced, although none of them transpired to be genuine.[103][104] Several musicians closely affiliated with Dr. Dre, including Snoop Dogg, fellow rappers50 Cent,the Game and producerDJ Quik, had speculated in interviews that the album will never be released, due to Dr. Dre's business and entrepreneurial ventures having interfered with recording work, as well as causing him to lose motivation to record new material.[103][104][105][106]
On August 1, 2015, Dre announced that he would release what would be his final album, titledCompton. It is inspired by theN.W.A biopic,Straight Outta Compton, and is a compilation-style album, featuring a number of frequent collaborators, including Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Xzibit and the Game, among others. It was initially released onApple Music on August 7, with a retail version releasing on August 21.[107][108] In an interview withRolling Stone, he revealed that he had about 20 to 40 tracks forDetox but he did not release it because it did not meet his standards. Dre also revealed that he suffers fromsocial anxiety and due to this, remains secluded and out of attention.[109]
On February 12, 2016, it was revealed that Apple would create its first original scripted television series for its then-upcomingApple TV+ streaming service.[110] TitledVital Signs, it was set to reflect Dre's life.[110] He was also an executive producer on the show[111] before the show's cancellation sometime in September 2018, due to its graphic depictions of drugs, gun violence and sex.[112] In October 2016,Sean Combs brought out Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and others on his Bad Boy reunion tour.[113]
In 2018, he produced four songs onOxnard byAnderson .Paak. He was the executive producer on the album, as so its follow-up, 2019'sVentura.
2020–2023: return to production and Super Bowl halftime show
Dr. Dre was the executive producer of Eminem's 2020 release,Music to Be Murdered By. He produced four songs on the album. He also produced two songs on the deluxe edition of the album,Side B, and appeared on the song, "Gunz Blazing". On September 30, 2021, it was revealed that Dre would perform at theSuper Bowl LVI halftime show alongsideEminem,Snoop Dogg,Mary J. Blige, andKendrick Lamar. In December 2021, an update for the video game,Grand Theft Auto Online, predominantly featured Dre and added some of his previously unreleased tracks which was released as an EP,The Contract, on February 3, 2022.[114][115] Around this time, Dre announced he was collaborating withMarsha Ambrosius onCasablanco, and with Mary J. Blige on an upcoming album.[116][117] Later that year, Snoop Dogg announced that he and Dr. Dre are in the process of recording their new album,Missionary. Snoop said the album will be released via Death Row and Aftermath.[118][119]
In September 2022, it was reported that Dr. Dre will compose the original score for the upcoming animated series,Death for Hire: The Origin of Tehk City. The show is created byIce-T andArabian Prince; based on the graphic novel of the same title, it features the voice talent of Ice-T, his wife Coco Austin, Snoop Dogg,Busta Rhymes, andTreach among others.[128]
In February 2023, Dre and Marsha Ambrosius held a listening party for theCasablanco album in Los Angeles.[129] The album was released on June 28, 2024, through Aftermath Entertainment and received critical acclaim.[130][131]
2024–present: Collaborations with Snoop Dogg,Missionary
In February 2024, Snoop launched a range of pre-mixed cocktails with Dr. Dre named after their hit single,Gin and Juice. Flavours include apricot, citrus, melon and passionfruit.[132][133] A shortprohibition themed trailer was created to support the release.[134] A gin called "Still G.I.N.", a reference to the trackStill D.R.E., was also released later in 2024.[135] TheVenetian glass bottle was designed byIni Archibong.[136][137][132]
He also produced two songs on Eminem's 12th studio albumThe Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) released on July 12, 2024, namelyLucifer and Road Rage.[138] The album received generally mixed reviews from music critics.
Later in 2024, Snoop Dogg announced a new album coming out calledMissionary, entirely produced by Dr. Dre, serving as a spiritual sequel to Snoop Dogg's first albumDoggystyle, which was also produced by Dr. Dre.[139][119] The album's first single "Gorgeous" was released on November 1, 2024, followed by the album's release on December 13, 2024, via Death Row/Aftermath and Interscope, while the latter label serving as its new signee.[140] The album features guest appearances fromEminem, Dr. Dre,50 Cent,Method Man, andSting, and received generally favorable reviews with praise directed towards Snoop's lyrics and Dr. Dre's production.[141]
Other ventures
Film appearances
Dr. Dre made his first on screen appearance as a weapons dealer in the 1996 bank robbery movieSet It Off.[142] In 2001, Dr. Dre also appeared in the moviesThe Wash andTraining Day.[70] A song of his, "Bad Intentions" (featuringKnoc-Turn'Al and produced by Mahogany), was featured onThe Wash soundtrack.[143] Dr. Dre also appeared on two other songs "On the Blvd." and "The Wash" along with his co-star Snoop Dogg.
In February 2007, it was announced that Dr. Dre would produce dark comedies and horror films forNew Line Cinema-owned company Crucial Films, along with longtime video directorPhillip Atwell. Dr. Dre announced "This is a natural switch for me, since I've directed a lot of music videos, and I eventually want to get into directing."[144] Along with fellow member Ice Cube, Dr. Dre producedStraight Outta Compton (2015), a biographical film about N.W.A.[145]
Entrepreneurship
Beats Electronics
Beats by Dr. Dre logo
In 2006, Dre co-founded Beats Electronics with his partner, Jimmy Iovine.[146] Its first brand of headphones were launched in July 2008. The line consisted of Beats Studio, acircumaural headphone; Beats Tour, an in-ear headphone; Beats Solo & Solo HD, asupra-aural headphone; Beats Spin; Heartbeats byLady Gaga, also an in-ear headphone; andDiddy Beats.[147] In late 2009,Hewlett-Packard participated in a deal to bundle Beats By Dr. Dre with some HP laptops and headsets.[148] HP and Dr. Dre announced the deal on October 9, 2009, at a press event. An exclusive laptop, known as the HP ENVY 15 Beats limited edition, was released for sale October 22. In January 2014,Beats Music was introduced and launched as a streaming service.[149] Then, in May, technology giantApple purchased the Beats brand for $3.4 billion.[150] The deal made Dr. Dre the "richest man in hip-hop".[151] Dr. Dre became an Apple employee in an executive role,[152][153] and worked with Apple for years.[154] As of 2022, it was found that Apple had subtracted $200 million from the deal after entertainerTyrese Gibson revealed the news of the acquisition on social media a month before it was completed without the company's permission.[155]
Philanthropy
During May 2013, Dr. Dre andJimmy Iovine donated a $70-million endowment to theUniversity of Southern California to create the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. The goal of the academy has been stated as "to shape the future by nurturing the talents, passions, leadership and risk-taking of uniquely qualified students who are motivated to explore and create new art forms, technologies, and business models." The first class of the academy began in September 2014.[156]
In June 2017, it was announced that Dr. Dre had committed $10 million to the construction of a performing arts center for the newCompton High School. The center will encompass creative resources and a 1,200-seat theater, and is expected to break ground in 2020. The project is a partnership between Dr. Dre and the Compton Unified School District.[157]
Commercial endorsements
In 2002 and 2003, Dr. Dre appeared in TV commercials forCoors Light beer.[158]
Beginning in 2009, Dr. Dre appeared in TV commercials that also featured hisBeats Electronics product line. A 2009 commercial for theDr Pepper soft drink had Dr. Dre DJing with Beats headphones and playing a brief snippet off the never-releasedDetox album.[81][82] In 2010, Dr. Dre had a cameo in a commercial forHP laptops that featured a plug for Beats Audio.[158] Then in 2011, theChrysler 300S "Imported from Detroit" ad campaign had a commercial narrated by Dr. Dre and including a plug for Beats Audio.[159]
Dr. Dre started Burning Man rumors
An urban legend surfaced in 2011 when aTumblr blog titled Dr. Dre Started Burning Man[160][161] began promulgating the notion that the producer, rapper and entrepreneur had discoveredBurning Man in 1995 during a music video shoot and offered to cover the cost of the event's permit from the Nevada Bureau of Land Management under an agreement with the festival's organizers that he could institute an entrance fee system, which had not existed before his participation.[162][163] This claim was supported by an alleged letter from Dre to Nicole Threatt Young that indicated that Dre had shared his experience witnessing the Burning Man festival with her.[164][165]
Business Insider mentions the portion of the letter where Dr. Dre purportedly states "someone should get behind this ... and make some money off these fools" and compares Dr. Dre's potential entrepreneurial engagement with Burning Man as a parallel toSteve Jobs's efforts to centralize and profit from the otherwise unorganized online music industry.[166] According toSalon, Dr. Dre's ethos seems to be aligned with seven of the ten principles of the Burning Man community: "radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy."[162]
Musical influences and style
The space, about the size of a college dorm room, is splattered with papers, ideas scribbled down in black ink. Nuthin' but G thangs waiting to happen. Those that don't happen end up in a round, purpleL.A. Lakers trash can. A kitchen, red and stainless steel like a '50s diner, adjoins the control room
— Corey Moss ofMTV News, in a 2002 profile of Dr. Dre with a visit to his studio[167]
Production style
Dre in 2011
Dre is noted for his evolving production style, while always keeping in touch with his early musical sound and re-shaping elements from previous work. At the beginning of his career as a producer for theWorld Class Wreckin Cru with DJ Alonzo Williams in the mid-1980s, his music was in theelectro-hop style pioneered bythe Unknown DJ, and that of early hip-hop groups like theBeastie Boys andWhodini.
FromStraight Outta Compton on, Dre uses live musicians to replay old melodies rather than sampling them. WithRuthless Records, collaborators included guitarist Mike "Crazy Neck" Sims, multi-instrumentalist Colin Wolfe,DJ Yella and sound engineer Donovan "The Dirt Biker" Sound. Dre is receptive of new ideas from other producers, one example being his fruitful collaboration withAbove the Law's producerCold 187um while at Ruthless. Cold 187 um was at the time experimenting with 1970sP-Funk samples (Parliament,Funkadelic,Bootsy Collins,George Clinton etc.), that Dre also used. Dre has since been accused of "stealing" the concept ofG-funk from Cold 187 um.[168]
Upon leaving Ruthless and formingDeath Row Records in 1991, Dre called on veteran West Coast DJChris "the Glove" Taylor and sound engineer Greg "Gregski" Royal, along with Colin Wolfe, to help him on future projects. His 1992 albumThe Chronic is thought to be one of the most well-produced hip-hop albums of all time.[169][170][171] Musical themes included hard-hitting synthesizer solos played by Wolfe, bass-heavy compositions, background female vocals and Dre fully embracing 1970s funk samples. Dre used aminimoog synth to replay the melody fromLeon Haywood's 1972 song "I Wanna Do Somethin' Freaky to You" for the Chronic's first single "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" which became a global hit. For his new protégéSnoop Doggy Dogg's albumDoggystyle, Dre collaborated with then 19-year-old producerDaz Dillinger, who received co-production credits on songs "Serial Killa" and "For all My Niggaz & Bitches",The Dramatics bass playerTony "T. Money" Green, guitarist Ricky Rouse, keyboardists Emanuel "Porkchop" Dean and Sean "Barney Rubble" Thomas and engineer Tommy Daugherty, as well asWarren G andSam Sneed, who are credited with bringing several samples to the studio.[172]
At that time, we were listening to Snoop's album. We knew what was going on in the West through Dr. Dre. Big just knew the culture, he knew what was going on with hip-hop. It was more than just New York, it was all over.[175]
In 1994, starting with theMurder was the Case soundtrack, Dre attempted to push the boundaries of G-funk further into a darker sound. In songs such as "Murder was the Case" and "Natural Born Killaz", the synthesizer pitch is higher and the drum tempo is slowed down to 91 BPM[176] (87 BPM in the remix) to create a dark and gritty atmosphere.Percussion instruments, particularlysleigh bells, are also present. Dre's frequent collaborators from this period includedPittsburgh, Pennsylvania natives Stuart "Stu-B-Doo" Bullard, a multi-instrumentalist from the Ozanam Strings Orchestra,[177]Sam Sneed, Stephen "Bud'da" Anderson,[178] and percussionist Carl "Butch" Small. This style of production has been influential far beyond the West Coast. The beat for theHouston-based groupGeto Boys 1996 song "Still" follows the same drum pattern as "Natural Born Killaz" and Eazy E's "Wut Would U Do" (a diss to Dre) is similar to the original "Murder was the Case" instrumental. This style of production is usually accompanied byhorror andoccult-themed lyrics and imagery, being crucial to the creation ofhorrorcore.
By 1996, Dre was again looking to innovate his sound. He recruited keyboardistCamara Kambon to play the keys on "Been There, Done That", and through Bud'da and Sam Sneed he was introduced to fellow Pittsburgh nativeMelvin "Mel-Man" Bradford. At this time, he also switched from using the E-mu SP-1200 to the Akai MPC3000 drum kit and sampler, which he still uses today. Beginning with his 1996 compilationDr. Dre Presents the Aftermath, Dre's production has taken a less sample-based approach, with loud, layeredsnare drums dominating the mix, while synthesizers are still omnipresent. In his critically acclaimed second album,2001, live instrumentation takes the place of sampling, a famous example being "The Next Episode", in which keyboardistCamara Kambon re-played live the main melody fromDavid McCallum's 1967 jazz-funk work "The Edge". For every song on2001, Dre had akeyboardist,guitarist andbassist create the basic parts of the beat, while he himself programmed thedrums, did thesequencing andoverdubbing and added sound effects, and later mixed the songs. During this period, Dre's signature "west coast whistle" riffs are still present albeit in a lower pitch, as in "Light Speed", "Housewife", "Some L.A. Niggaz" and Eminem's "Guilty Conscience" hook. The sound of "2001" had tremendous influence on hip-hop production, redefining the West Coast's sound and expanding the G-funk of the early 1990s. To produce the album, Dre and Mel-Man relied on the talents ofScott Storch andCamara Kambon on the keys,Mike Elizondo and Colin Wolfe on bass guitar, Sean Cruse on lead guitar and sound engineers Richard "Segal" Huredia and Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri.[179]
From the mid-2000s, Dr. Dre has taken on a more soulful production style, using more of a classical piano instead of a keyboard, and havingclaps replace snares, as evidenced in songs such as Snoop Dogg's "Imagine" and "Boss' Life",Busta Rhymes' "Get You Some" and "Been Through the Storm",Stat Quo's "Get Low" and "The Way It Be", Jay-Z's "Lost One", Nas' "Hustlers", and several beats on Eminem's Relapse album. Soul and R&B pianistMark Batson, having previously worked withThe Dave Matthews Band,Seal andMaroon 5 has been credited as the architect of this sound. Besides Batson, Aftermath producer and understudy of Dre's,Dawaun Parker, who has namedQ-Tip andJ Dilla as his primary influences, is thought to be responsible for giving Dre's newest beats an East Coast feel.[180]
Despite an occasional hint of trap about the beats and an intriguingly warped use of autotune in hisCompton song, "Darkside/Gone", his production seems to stand slightly apart from current trends in hip-hop like Eminem's song "Little Engine" with an ominous horrorcore beat — reminiscent of some of his works on Eminem's album Relapse – or the West Coast joint Lock It Up.[181][182]
Production equipment
Dr. Dre has said that his primary instrument in the studio is theAkai MPC3000, a drum machine and sampler, and that he often uses as many as four or five to produce a single recording. He cites 1970sfunk musicians such asGeorge Clinton,Isaac Hayes andCurtis Mayfield as his primary musical influences. Unlike most rap producers, he tries to avoid samples as much as possible, preferring to have studio musicians re-play pieces of music he wants to use, because it allows him more flexibility to change the pieces in rhythm and tempo.[183] In 2001 he toldTime magazine, "I may hear something I like on an old record that may inspire me, but I'd rather use musicians to re-create the sound or elaborate on it. I can control it better."[184]
Other equipment he uses includes theE-mu SP-1200 drum machine and other keyboards from such manufacturers as Korg, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Moog, and Roland.[185] Dr. Dre also stresses the importance ofequalizing drums properly, tellingScratch in 2004 that he "used the same drum sounds on a couple of different songs on one album before but you'd never be able to tell the difference because of the EQ".[183] Dr. Dre also uses the digital audio workstationPro Tools and uses the software to combine hardware drum machines and vintage analog keyboards and synthesizers.[183][186]
After founding Aftermath Entertainment in 1996, Dr. Dre took on producerMel-Man as a co-producer, and his music took on a more synthesizer-based sound, using fewer vocal samples (as he had used on "Lil' Ghetto Boy" and "Let Me Ride" onThe Chronic, for example). Mel-Man has not shared co-production credits with Dr. Dre since approximately 2002, but fellow Aftermath producer Focus has credited Mel-Man as a key architect of the signature Aftermath sound.[187]
In 1999, Dr. Dre started working withMike Elizondo, a bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist who has also produced, written and played on records for female singers such asPoe,Fiona Apple andAlanis Morissette,[188] In the past few years Elizondo has since worked for many of Dr. Dre's productions.[189][190] Dr. Dre also toldScratch magazine in a 2004 interview that he has been studying piano and music theory formally, and that a major goal is to accumulate enough musical theory to score movies. In the same interview he stated that he has collaborated with famed 1960s songwriterBurt Bacharach by sending him hip-hop beats to play over, and hopes to have an in-person collaboration with him in the future.[183]
Work ethic
Dr. Dre has stated that he is a perfectionist and is known to pressure the artists with whom he records to give flawless performances.[183] In 2006, Snoop Dogg told the website Dubcnn.com that Dr. Dre had made new artistBishop Lamont re-record a single bar of vocals 107 times.[191] Dr. Dre has also stated that Eminem is a fellow perfectionist, and attributes his success on Aftermath to his similar work ethic.[183] He gives a lot of input into the delivery of the vocals and will stop anMC during a take if it is not to his liking.[192] However, he gives MCs that he works with room to write lyrics without too much instruction unless it is a specifically conceptual record, as noted byBishop Lamont in the bookHow to Rap.[193]
A consequence of his perfectionism is that some artists who initially sign deals with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label never release albums. In 2001, Aftermath released the soundtrack to the movieThe Wash, featuring a number of Aftermath acts such as Shaunta, Daks, Joe Beast and Toi. To date, none have released full-length albums on Aftermath and have apparently ended their relationships with the label and Dr. Dre. Other noteworthy acts to leave Aftermath without releasing albums includeKing Tee,2001 vocalist Hittman,Joell Ortiz,Raekwon andRakim.[194]
Collaborators and co-producers
Dr. Dre performing with Snoop Dogg, 2012
Over the years, word of other collaborators who have contributed to Dr. Dre's work has surfaced. During his tenure at Death Row Records, it was alleged that Dr. Dre's stepbrother Warren G andTha Dogg Pound memberDaz made many uncredited contributions to songs on his solo albumThe Chronic and Snoop Doggy Dogg's albumDoggystyle (Daz received production credits on Snoop's similar-sounding, albeit less successful albumTha Doggfather after Young left Death Row Records).[195]
It is known thatScott Storch, who has since gone on to become a successful producer in his own right, contributed to Dr. Dre's second album2001; Storch is credited as a songwriter on several songs and played keyboards on several tracks. In 2006 he toldRolling Stone:
"At the time, I saw Dr. Dre desperately needed something," Storch says. "He needed a fuel injection, and Dr. Dre utilized me as the nitrous oxide. He threw me into the mix, and I sort of tapped on a new flavor with my whole piano sound and the strings and orchestration. So I'd be on the keyboards, and Mike [Elizondo] was on the bass guitar, and Dr. Dre was on the drum machine".[196]
Current collaboratorMike Elizondo, when speaking about his work with Young, describes their recording process as a collaborative effort involving several musicians. In 2004 he claimed toSongwriter Universe magazine that he had written the foundations of the hit Eminem song "The Real Slim Shady", stating, "I initially played a bass line on the song, and Dr. Dre, Tommy Coster Jr. and I built the track from there.Eminem then heard the track, and he wrote the rap to it."[190] This account is essentially confirmed by Eminem in his bookAngry Blonde, stating that the tune for the song was composed by a studio bassist and keyboardist while Dr. Dre was out of the studio but Young later programmed the song's beat after returning.[197]
A group of disgruntled former associates of Dr. Dre complained that they had not received their full due for work on the label in the September 2003 issue ofThe Source. A producer named Neff-U claimed to have produced the songs "Say What You Say" and "My Dad's Gone Crazy" onThe Eminem Show, the songs "If I Can't" and "Back Down" on 50 Cent'sGet Rich or Die Tryin', and the beat featured on Dr. Dre's commercial forCoors beer.[194]
Although Young studies piano and music theory, he serves as more of aconductor than a musician himself, as Josh Tyrangiel ofTime magazine has noted:
Every Dre track begins the same way, with Dre behind a drum machine in a room full of trusted musicians. (They carry beepers. When he wants to work, they work.) He'll program a beat, then ask the musicians to play along; when Dre hears something he likes, he isolates the player and tells him how to refine the sound. "My greatest talent," Dre says, "is knowing exactly what I want to hear."[184]
Although Snoop Dogg retains working relationships with Warren G and Daz, who are alleged to be uncredited contributors on the hit albumsThe Chronic andDoggystyle, he states that Dr. Dre is capable of making beats without the help of collaborators, and that he is responsible for the success of his numerous albums.[198] Dr. Dre's prominent studio collaborators, includingScott Storch, Elizondo,Mark Batson andDawaun Parker, have shared co-writing, instrumental, and more recently co-production credits on the songs where he is credited as the producer.
Anderson .Paak also praised Dr. Dre in a 2016 interview withMusic Times, telling the publication that it was a dream come true to work with Dre.[199]
Ghostwriters
It is acknowledged that most of Dr. Dre's raps are written for him by others, though he retains ultimate control over his lyrics and the themes of his songs.[200] As Aftermath producer Mahogany toldScratch: "It's like a class room in [the booth]. He'll have three writers in there. They'll bring in something, he'll recite it, then he'll say, 'Change this line, change this word,' like he's grading papers."[201]As seen in the credits for tracks Young has appeared on, there are often multiple people who contribute to his songs (although often in hip-hop many people are officially credited as a writer for a song, even the producer).
In the bookHow to Rap,RBX explains that writingThe Chronic was a "team effort"[202] and details how heghostwrote "Let Me Ride" for Dre.[202] In regard to ghostwriting lyrics he says, "Dre doesn't profess to be no super-duper rap dude – Dre is a super-duper producer".[202] As a member of N.W.A, the D.O.C. wrote lyrics for him while he stuck with producing.[25]Jay-Z ghostwrote lyrics for the single "Still D.R.E." from Dr. Dre's album2001.[46]
Personal life
On December 15, 1981, when Dre was 16 years old and his then-girlfriend Cassandra Joy Greene was 15 years old, the two had a son named Curtis, who was brought up by Greene and first met Dre 20 years later.[203] Curtis performed as a rapper under the name Hood Surgeon.[204]
In 1983,[failed verification] Dre and Lisa Johnson had a daughter named La Tanya Danielle Young.[205][206] Dre and Johnson have three daughters together.[207]
In 1988, Dre and Jenita Porter had a son named Andre Young Jr. In 1990, Porter sued Dre, seeking $5,000 of child support per month.[208] On August 23, 2008, Andre died at the age of 20 from an overdose ofheroin andmorphine[209] at his mother'sWoodland Hills home.[208]
From 1987 to 1996, Dre dated singerMichel'le, who frequently contributed vocals to Ruthless Records and Death Row Records albums.[210][failed verification] In 1991, they had a son named Marcel.[211][212]
In April 1992, after a verbal dispute with his engineer, Dre was consequently shot four times in his leg.[213][failed verification]
On May 25, 1996, Dre married Nicole (née Plotzker) Threatt, who was previously married to basketball playerSedale Threatt.[214][206] They have two children together: a son named Truice (born 1997) and a daughter named Truly (born 2001).[215]
In 2001, Dre earned a total of about US$52 million from selling part of his share of Aftermath Entertainment toInterscope Records and his production of such hit songs that year as "Family Affair" byMary J. Blige.Rolling Stone magazine thus named him the second highest-paid artist of the year.[51] Dr. Dre was ranked 44th in 2004 from earnings of $11.4 million, primarily from production royalties from such projects as albums fromG-Unit andD12 and the single "Rich Girl" by singerGwen Stefani and rapperEve.[216]Forbes estimated his net worth at US$270 million in 2012.[217] The same publication later reported that he acquired US$110 million via his various endeavors in 2012, making him the highest–paid artist of the year.[218] Income from the 2014 sale ofBeats to Apple, contributing to whatForbes termed "the biggest single-year payday of any musician in history", made Dr. Dre the world's richest musical performer of 2015.[219] He remains one of thewealthiest musical artists.
In 2014, Dre purchased a $40 million home in theBrentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles from its previous owners,NFL playerTom Brady and supermodelGisele Bündchen.[220]
It was reported that Dre suffered abrain aneurysm on January 5, 2021,[221] and that he was admitted toCedars-Sinai Medical Center's ICU in Los Angeles, California.[222] Hours after his admission to the hospital, Dre's home was targeted for an attempted burglary.[223] He eventually received support fromLeBron James,Martin Lawrence,LL Cool J,Missy Elliott,Snoop Dogg,Eminem,Ice Cube,50 Cent,Ellen DeGeneres,Ciara, her husbandRussell Wilson,T.I.,Quincy Jones and others.[224][225] In February, he was released with a following message on Instagram: "Thanks to my family, friends and fans for their interest and well wishes. I'm doing great and getting excellent care from my medical team. I will be out of the hospital and back home soon. Shout out to all the great medical professionals at Cedars. One Love!!"[226][227] In March 2024, Dre revealed that during his hospitalization following the brain aneurysm, he also suffered threestrokes.[228][229]
In December 2021, Dre finalized his divorce from Nicole Threatt for a reported sum of $100 million of his estate.[230]
Dre has been accused of multiple incidents of violence against women.[236][237][238][239]
On January 27, 1991, at a music industry party at the Po Na Na Souk club in Hollywood, Dr. Dre assaulted television hostDee Barnes of theFox television programPump it Up!, following an episode of the show. Barnes had interviewed NWA, which was followed by an interview with Ice Cube in which Cube mocked NWA.[240] Barnes filed a $22.7 million lawsuit in response to the incident.[241] Subsequently, Dr. Dre was fined $2,500, given two years' probation, ordered to undergo 240 hours ofcommunity service, and given a spot on an anti-violencepublic service announcement on television.[242][243][244] The civil suit was settled out of court.[245] Barnes stated that he "began slamming her face and the right side of her body repeatedly against a wall near the stairway". Dr. Dre later commented: "People talk all this shit, but you know, somebody fucks with me, I'm gonna fuck with them. I just did it, you know. Ain't nothing you can do now by talking about it. Besides, it ain't no big thing – I just threw her through a door."[236]
Interviewed by Ben Westhoff for the bookOriginal Gangstas: the Untold Story of Dr Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap, Lisa Johnson stated that Dre beat her many times, including while she was pregnant.[205] She was granted arestraining order against him.[252]
Former labelmateTairrie B claimed that Dre assaulted her at a post-Grammy party in 1990, in response to her track "Ruthless Bitch".[253]
During press for the 2015 filmStraight Outta Compton, questions about the portrayal and behavior of Dre and other prominent figures in the rap community about violence against women – and the question about its absence in the film – were raised.[254] The discussion about the film led to Dre addressing his past behavior in the press. In August 2015, in an interview withRolling Stone,[255] Dre lamented his abusive past, saying, "I made some fucking horrible mistakes in my life. I was young, fucking stupid. I would say all the allegations aren't true—some of them are. Those are some of the things that I would like to take back. It was really fucked up. But I paid for those mistakes, and there's no way in hell that I will ever make another mistake like that again."[109][256]
In a statement toThe New York Times on August 21, 2015, exactly two weeks after his album,Compton, was released, Dre again addressed his abusive past, stating, "25 years ago I was a young man drinking too much and in over my head with no real structure in my life. However, none of this is an excuse for what I did. I've been married for 19 years and every day I'm working to be a better man for my family, seeking guidance along the way. I'm doing everything I can so I never resemble that man again. ... I apologize to the women I've hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives."[254]
In the 2017 filmThe Defiant Ones, Dr. Dre explained about the Dee Barnes incident again, "This was a very low point in my life. I've done a lot of stupid shit in my life. A lot of things I wish I could go and take back. I've experienced abuse. I've watched my mother get abused. So there's absolutely no excuse for it. No woman should ever be treated that way. Any man that puts his hands on a female is a fucking idiot. He's out of his fucking mind, and I was out of my fucking mind at the time. I fucked up, I paid for it, I'm sorry for it, and I apologize for it. I have this dark cloud that follows me, and it's going to be attached to me forever. It's a major blemish on who I am as a man."[257]
Second divorce
Dre's wife, Nicole Plotzker-Young, filed for divorce in June 2020, citing irreconcilable differences.[258][259][260] In November 2020, she filed legal claims that Dre engaged in verbal violence and infidelity during their marriage.[261][262] She also stated that he tore up their prenuptial agreement that he wanted her to sign out of anger.[263][failed verification] Dre's representative responded, calling her claims of infidelity and violence in their marriage "false".[264]
Before being released from the Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, he was ordered to pay Plotzker-Young $2 million in temporary spousal support.[265] Between the spring and summer of the year, Dre was ordered by the Los Angeles County judge to pay his ex-wife over $300,000 a month in spousal support.[266] The $2 million extension request was also dismissed, due to insufficient claims.[267]
In July 2021, Dr. Dre was ordered by the Los Angeles Superior Court Judge to pay an additional $293,306 a month to his estranged wife in spousal support starting August 1 until she decides to remarry or "further order of the Court".[268] Then, in August, the judge denied his wife's request for aprotective order, due to her being afraid of Dre after a snippet leaked onInstagram of him rapping about the divorce proceedings and his possible brain aneurysm earlier that February; in this snippet, he called his wife a "greedy bitch".[269][270]
In mid-October, Dr. Dre was served more divorce papers, during his grandmother's funeral.[271][272] That same month, Dre was officially deemed "single" by the judge.[273] The financial owings in this case included expenses of Dre's Malibu, Palisades and Hollywood Hills homes, but not his stock in past ownership of Beats Electronics, prior to its sale to Apple in 2014.[274][275] In December 2021, the divorce proceedings entered their final stages.[276] On December 28, the divorce was settled with Dre keeping most of his assets and income due to the prenuptial agreement, although he would have to pay a 9-figure settlement within one year.[277]
In October 2024, Dr. Dre was hit with a $10 million lawsuit by a psychiatrist who had served as Dre's marriage counselor during his marriage and divorce. The counselor alleged that Dre sent a "barrage" of threatening, harassing, and intimidatory messages, including homophobic rhetoric, to his counselor.[278]
Copyright lawsuits
During the course of2001's popularity, Dr. Dre was involved in several lawsuits.Lucasfilm Ltd., the film company behind theStar Wars film franchise, sued him over the use of theTHX-trademarked "Deep Note".[279] The Fatback Band also sued Dr. Dre over alleged infringement regarding its song "Backstrokin'" in his song "Let's Get High" from the2001 album; Dr. Dre was ordered to pay $1.5 million to the band in 2003.[280] French jazz musicianJacques Loussier sued Aftermath for $10 million in March 2002, claiming that the Dr. Dre-produced Eminem track "Kill You" plagiarized his composition "Pulsion".[281][282] The online music file-sharing companyNapster also settled a lawsuit with him andmetal bandMetallica in mid-2001, agreeing to block access to certain files that artists do not want to have shared on the network.[283]
Another copyright-related lawsuit hit Dr. Dre in the fall of 2002, whenSaregama, a film and music company based inCalcutta, India, sued Aftermath Entertainment over an uncredited sample of theLata Mangeshkar song "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" on the Aftermath-produced song "Addictive" by singerTruth Hurts. In February 2003, a judge ruled that Aftermath would have to halt sales of Truth Hurts' albumTruthfully Speaking if the company would not credit Mangeshkar.[284]
Other
On June 28, 1992, hours before midnight, a barbecue grill and an overfill of charcoal caused Dre'sCalabasas mansion to set on fire.[285] Two firefighters were treated in the hospital for minor injuries.[286] The fire caused over $125,000 in home damages.
Dre pleaded guilty in October 1992 in a case of battery of a police officer and was convicted on two additional battery counts stemming from a brawl in the lobby of theNew Orleans hotel in May 1991.[287]
In 1993, he was convicted of battery after an altercation with a man who stood outside the front porch of his Woodland Hills home in front of the musician's girlfriend. He claimed that Dre broke his jaw as a result.[288]
On January 10, 1994, Dre was arrested after leading police on a 90 mph pursuit throughBeverly Hills in his 1987 Ferrari. It was revealed that Dr. Dre had a blood alcohol of 0.16, twice the state of California's legal limit. The conviction violated the conditions of parole following Dre's battery conviction in 1993; he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to eight months in prison in September 1994.[289] He was ordered to pay a $1,053 fine and attend an alcohol education program.[290][291]
In November 2004, at theVibe magazine awards show in Los Angeles, Dr. Dre was attacked by a fan named Jimmy James Johnson, who was supposedly asking for an autograph. In the resulting scuffle, then-G-Unit rapperYoung Buck stabbed the man.[292] Johnson claimed that Suge Knight, president of Death Row Records, paid him $5,000 to assault Dre in order to humiliate him before he received his Lifetime Achievement Award.[293] Knight immediately went onCBS'sThe Late Late Show to deny involvement and insisted that he supported Dr. Dre and wanted Johnson charged.[294] In September 2005, Johnson was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to stay away from Dr. Dre until 2008.[295]
On October 30, 2015, Ruthless co-founderJerry Heller filed suit against Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E's widow, Tomica Woods-Wright, director F. Gary Gray andUniversal Pictures fordefamation of character and copyright infringement over the biopic,Straight Outta Compton. The lawsuit states that depictions of Heller in the film, portrayed byPaul Giamatti, were wrongfully taken from an autobiography he wrote about his involvement with Ruthless and N.W.A.[296][297] The case was taken to court in June 2016 where a judge criticized the filing, saying that the film was "approved to portray these facts in "colorful and hyperbolic" terms".[298] On September 2, 2016, Jerry Heller died of a car accident, preceded by a heart attack.[299] However, his lawsuit kept on through his legal team and members of his estate.[300] In October 2018, the lawsuit was dropped, costing Heller's estate $35 million for punitive and $75 million for compensatory damages.[301]
On April 4, 2016,TMZ and theNew York Daily News reported that Suge Knight had accused Dre and theLos Angeles Sheriff's Department of a kill-for-hire plot in the 2014 shooting of Knight in club 1 OAK.[302][303] Three months later, in July, Dre was reportedly detained by police after confronting a next-door neighbor in Malibu about a test drive.[304] It was also alleged that he brandished a handgun on the neighbor, but no evidence would be linked and Dre was soon released.[305]
On May 8, 2018, Dre lost a name trademark filing to aPennsylvaniagynecologist named Draion Burch, who previously filed a trademark petition in 2015 to use his nickname, Dr. Drai, which has the similar pronunciation[failed verification].[306] Then, on June 26, Dre and Jimmy Iovine were ordered to pay $25 million to former partner and creative designer Steven Lamar, who sued the two co-founders for $100 million in unpaid royalties for designing the early Beats headphone models.[307] The lawsuit was filed in 2015 after news broke out of Apple's acquisition of the headphone brand a year prior.[308][309]
In August 2021, Dr. Dre's oldest daughter LaTanya Young spoke out about being homeless and unable to support her four children. She is currently working forUberEats andDoorDash, and she also works at warehouse jobs. She is living in debt in her SUV while her children are living with friends. Dr. Dre has allegedly stopped supporting LaTanya financially since January 2020 because she has "spoken about him in the press".[310]
^"Founders Award Dr. Dre". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Archived fromthe original on October 16, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 7, 2012.
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