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Dr. Dre to donate royalties from 'Compton' to the city of Compton for a performing arts center
Rapper Dr. Dre performs onstage during day 3 of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 15, 2012 in Indio, California.
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Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Coachella
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Music producer/rapper/executive Dr. Dre (real name Andre Young) has announced that he is donating royalties from his new album "Compton" to help pay for a new performing arts center for young people in Compton.
"We're looking at everything from music video production, to laying out music, to obviously performing, and it's really really exciting to have a partner like Dr. Dre who did come out of the city of Compton to partner with us on something like that," said city spokeswoman Jasmyne Cannick.
Dre said the idea came from Compton Mayor Aja Brown. The city says plans for the future center are still in development.
"The city is ecstatic; the city is really, really happy and pleased that Dr. Dre has decided to help spear the next generation of young performers, young entrepreneurs coming out of the city of Compton," Cannick said.
Cannick said that cities often use money on sports, but said that this is different in that it's being used for the arts instead. Cannick also expressed excitement about Compton's higher profile due to the "Straight Outta Compton" biopic taking a look at the early days of N.W.A.
"There's this renewed interest around the country, and really around the world, in the city of Compton, and it couldn't come at a better time," Cannick said.
"Compton" is available on the Apple Music streaming service, but you can also purchase it, so there will likely be royalties from multiple fronts helping to fund Dre's donation.
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