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Dr. Dre Donating His Royalties From New Album To Compton
Dr. Dre (Photo by Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for BET)
Dr. Dre didn't just release his first album in 16 years today—he's doing some good with it, too. The rapper is planning on using all of his artist royalties he gets from his new release to donate it to the city of Compton to go towards building an arts and entertainment facility. We might just say his money's going "straight into Compton."The rapper said on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show that he reached out to Compton mayor Aja Brown over the last month or two to figure out what he could do to help out with the city. "I've been really trying to do something special for Compton and just couldn't quite figure out what it was," Dre said, according to Rolling Stone. "She actually had this idea and she was already in the process of working on it. I said, 'Boom, this is what we should do.'"
Brown lauded Dre for his decision to help out the community. In a statement, she said:
I'm honored that Mr. [Andre] Young has decided to make a significant investment in his community. He clearly has a heart for Compton, especially our youth. I believe this performing arts center will provide a pathway for creative expression, exposure and training to the myriad of industries that support arts, entertainment and technology—while providing a much-needed safe haven for our youth. Children in urban communities suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome in higher proportions than veterans and they need therapeutic outlets, which arts and drama has proven to provide. Compton is a special place and I believe this center will harness our ingenuity and transform our community from within for generations to come.
Dre's 16-track album Compton, which is subtitled as "A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre," is a companion piece to the upcoming N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton, which will be released in theaters next Friday. The highly-anticipated album will have major players in the rap game involved, including Eminem, Ice Cube, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, the Game and Xzibit.
The rapper and hip-hop mogul said filming Straight Outta Compton inspired him to to make this album. "During principal photography, I felt myself going to the studio and being so inspired by the movie that I started recording an album," Dre said on Beats 1.
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