Compton

Hip-hop artist Dr. Dre’s controversial and storied past was bound to become an issue for Apple at some point after it bought the company he co-founded for $3 billion last year. Now Apple is hoping it can let the rapper’s history live in the past, which is especially tricky as it promotes the biofilm “Compton” depicting the rapper’s entrance into fame.

The biographical film, which was produced with close cooperation from Dr. Dre, has been criticized for omitting decades old allegations that the artist physically abused women. Today both Dr. Dre and Apple released statements addressing the controversy, Dre saying that he deeply apologizes for his actions 25 years ago and adding that “it has forever impacted all of our lives” while Apple said that “we have every reason to believe that he has changed.”
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple is continuing its promotion of Apple Music this weekend. After putting out a trio of television advertisements promoting Apple Music and its artist-integrated Connect platform, the company has announced a pair of statistics for the launch weekend of its employee Dr. Dre’s new Compton Album. In a statement, Apple says that Compton was streamed 25 million times over the course of its opening week as an Apple Music exclusive. The album was also downloaded half a million times via the iTunes Store.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Update: The stream is now live, an hour early.

Earlier this week, Dr. Dre announced that his first new album in 15 years while hosting his show on Apple Music’s Beats 1 station. While the album has been available for preorder since then, it will be available to stream for free on Apple Music later tonight at 6PM PT. The album, entitled Compton: A Soundtrack, is entirely exclusive to Apple and is being described by Dre as his “grand finale.”

Expand
Expanding
Close