Dr. Dre

Andre Romelle Young (born: February 18, 1965 (1965-02-18) [age 60]), better known professionally as Dr. Dre or just Dre, is an American record executive, producer, rapper, and songwriter, who performs the genres of rap, gangsta rap, hip hop, west coats hip hop, funk, and g-funk.

History

Since he began his career in 1985, he's released a total of three studio albums, including The Chronic, (1995), 2001, (1999), and Compton, (2015), eight compilation albums, which included Concrete Roots, (1994), First Round Knock Out, (1996), Back 'n the Day, (1996), Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath, (1996), Chronicle: Best of the Works, (2002), From Compton to Long Beach, (2005), and Chronicles: Death Row Classics, (2006), and one soundtrack album, which is The Wash, (2001).

Dre popularized G-Funk music, and was also involved in the popularization of gangsta rap, with his production for the rap group N.W.A., and Death Row Records which he founded with Suge Knight, after leaving Ruthless Records. Death Row was also responsible for signing rappers such as 2Pac and Snoop Dogg. He left Death Row Records and founded Aftermath Records, which signed rappers Eminem, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, and many others.

Since the 90s, Dr. Dre has been known for multiple situations involving domestic violence, most notably Dee Barnes, and Michel'le, the latter who was the subject of a biopic that depicted her violent relationship with Dre, as well as Suge Knight. In 2015, he apologized to all of his victims, however Michel'le did not accept it. He also allegedly threatened producers of the biopic with legal action if they depicted scenes of Dre assaulting her. They depicted it anyways, but Dre did not file any lawsuits.

On January 5, 2021, it was reported that Dre suffered a brain aneurysm, and was hospitalized. Hours after the hospitalization, his home was targeted for burglary.

Controversy

Abusing and Assaulting multiple Women

Dre has been accused of multiple incidents of violence against women. On January 27, 1991, at a music industry party at the Po Na Na Souk club in Hollywood, Dr. Dre assaulted television host Dee Barnes of the Fox television program Pump 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.^[1] Barnes filed a $22.7 million lawsuit in response to the incident.^[2] Subsequently, Dr. Dre was fined $2,500, given two years' probation, ordered to undergo 240 hours of community service, and given a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement on television.^[3][4][5] The civil suit was settled out of court.^[6] 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."^[7]

In March 2015, Michel'le, the mother of one of Dre's children, accused him of subjecting her to domestic violence during their time together as a couple, but did not initiate legal action.^[8][9] Their abusive relationship is portrayed in her 2016 biopic Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le.^[10][11] Dre threatened a lawsuit against Lifetime, Sony Pictures and filmmakers of Surviving Compton in a cease and desist letter, but never ultimately took action.^[12][13] Interviewed by Ben Westhoff for the book Original 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 physically assaulted her multiple times, including while she was pregnant.^[14] She was granted a restraining order against him.^[15] Former labelmate Tairrie B said that Dre assaulted her at a post-Grammy party in 1990, in response to her track "Ruthless Bitch".^[16]

During press for the 2015 film Straight 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.^[17] The discussion about the film led to Dre addressing his past behavior in the press. In August 2015, in an interview with Rolling Stone,^[18] Dre talked about his abusive past, saying, "I made some f*cking horrible mistakes in my life. I was young, f*cking 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 f*ucked up. But I paid for those mistakes, and there's no way in hell that I will ever make another mistake like that again."^{[19][20][21][22]}

References