| Cult of Mac

Dr. Dre donates new album profits to Compton art center

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Dre's finally apologizing for his misogyny.
Dre's finally apologizing for his misogyny.
Photo: Beats

Dr. Dre hasn’t given us a new album in over 15 years, but he just gave us another great reason to scoop up his upcoming album, Compton, when it drops tomorrow, after the doc has promised to donate his proceeds from the album to build a performing-arts center for kids in his hometown.

During an appearance on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 Radio show, Dre called in to talk about the project, and confirmed that he has been working with Compton mayor Aja Brown to develop a community arts center as a way to give back to his city.

Listen to the interview below:

Dr. Dre’s first album in 16 years will be an Apple Music exclusive

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Apple's most eagerly-anticipated exclusive yet?
Apple's most eagerly-anticipated exclusive yet?
Photo: Apple/Dr. Dre

Apple Music may have come under fire from big-name Apple commentators but you can’t say that the service hasn’t delivered when it comes to artist exclusives.

Over the weekend, Dr. Dre announced on his Beats 1 show The Pharmacy what, for long-time hip-hop fans, may be the most exciting exclusive of all: His first album since 1999’s The Chronic 2001 is debuting on Apple Music and iTunes this Friday.

Drake, Elton John, and Pharrell will have their own Beats 1 shows

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Beats 1 will be the first channel to announce MTV's 2015 VMA nominees.
Beats 1 delivers 24/7 internet radio.
Photo: Apple

Apple is planning to launch its new streaming music service in less than a week and the company plans to pack a lot of star power to get iOS users to tune in.

As part of the new Apple Music service, Beats 1 Radio will use a host of celebrities to plan and host their own music shows that will touch on everything from golden oldies brought to you by Elton John, to hip new Millennial songs with teen Jaden Smith spinning the discs.

What’s inside Apple’s mystery tent?

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Apple's tiny white tent nestles between buildings at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photo: Jim Merithew/ Cult of Mac
Apple's tiny white tent nestles between buildings at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — Another Apple event, another mysterious building sprouting up seemingly overnight. They pop up to shield Apple’s prep work from prying eyes, but they also fuel the imaginations of anybody who’s interested in Cupertino’s next move.

The latest such structure — this time with solid white walls and a tented, tarp-like roof — isn’t nearly as elaborate as the gigantic building erected before last fall’s Apple Watch event, but the mysteries concealed could be gigantic.

The big reveal comes at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts next Monday, when we will almost assuredly learn more about the Apple Watch (among other things). Until then, all we can do is wait and wonder: What could be hidden inside Apple’s mystery tent?

Dr. Dre and Ice Cube introduce Straight Outta Compton biopic

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Ice Cube and Dr. Dre rolling around Compton. Photo: Universal Pictures
Ice Cube and Dr. Dre roll around Compton. Photo: Universal Pictures

Dr. Dre became one of the most iconic figures in tech last year when Apple acquired his company, Beats Electronics. But before the doctor was making billions off overpriced headphones, he started a revolution in the music world with his pals Ice Cube, M.C. Ren and Eazy-E. Now there’s a movie coming out to tell his story.

Biopic Straight Outta Compton follows the meteoric rise and fall of N.W.A. in the mid-1980s. The film was produced by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre and is set to premiere August 14. To celebrate the upcoming film, Dre and Cube got together to ride around Compton and reminisce about the music they created before introducing their movie’s first NSFW trailer.

Watch the full red-band trailer below:

Jay Z takes aim at Dr. Dre with his own high-def music streamer

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Apple has big ambitions for its new music streaming service.
Jay Z is readying his Beats Music rival Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Dr. Dre became the first billionaire of hip-hop thanks to Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of Beats Music and its accompanying over-priced headphone brand. Jay Z is pretty much the only big name rapper that hasn’t imitated Dre by slapped his name on headphones. Instead, he’s decided to do the next best thing and buy a high-def music startup.

Jay Z purchased the Scandinavian music streaming company Aspiro today, adding to his array of businesses that include clothing, sports bars, and a sports agency. The takeover cost Jay Z $56 million in an effort to take on the likes of Spotify, Beats Music, and the fiery music titan Neil Young.

Monster hits Beats with lawsuit for allegedly stealing headphone technology

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Be cool. Stay in school.
Monster is looking for its cut of the Beats acquisition. Photo: Beats
Photo: Beats

Monster Inc, the company that help co-design the original Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, is suing Beats Electronics along with cofounders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine for allegedly stealing its headphone technology.

The company, known for its overpriced audio cables, filed a lawsuit this week in San Mateo California, claiming Beats and its founders screwed the it out of millions of dollars before the company was sold to Apple last year for $3 billion. According to court documents obtained by USA Today, Monster says Beats concealed its role in the designing and engineering the headphone line, as well as its part in the manufacturing, distributions and selling of the headphones.

Dr. Dre is the year’s richest musician by far, thanks to Apple

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Still D.R.E. Photo: MTV
Still D.R.E. Photo: MTV

How to become the highest paid musician of the year: profit from a multi-billion dollar buyout of your company.

That’s the lesson to be learned from Forbes Magazine’s tally of the top paid musicians of 2014. Dr. Dre, or just “Dre” as he’s affectionately referred to by Tim Cook, amassed a whopping $620 million before taxes this year, giving him “the biggest single-year payday of any musician in history.”