Apple's acquisition of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine's Beats Electronics has seemingly opened the door for major corporations to get in bed with Hip Hop...for better or worse.
The limits of just how far Hip Hop culture and music could infiltrate corporate America were seemingly expanded on May 28 when Apple sent out a press release confirming their acquisition of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s Beats Music and Beats Electronics companies for a purchase price of approximately $2.6 billion and approximately $400 million that will vest over time. In one month, tech and computing giant Apple nearly made Dr. Dre a billionaire, while Jay Z and Beyonce’s “On The Run Tour” was officially announced as being sponsored by JP Morgan Chase, and AmEx’s next “Upstaged” concert showcased the brand “not leaving home without” Pharrell Williams and Spike Lee. In a gangster rapper (Dre), ex-drug dealer (Jay) and the man once who helped push cocaine Rap into the mainstream (before seeing “Blurred Lines” and getting “Happy”) cashing in, is this only the beginning of fools rushing in to Hip Hop culture, or, are the fools our Rap heroes who are now older and—anathema to what Rap once stood for—truly down with “the man.” Furthermore, if this is only the beginning of “fools rushing in,” what steps do Rap’s next millionaires and billionaires potentially need to do in order to CASH
in from “fools” tripping over themselves to be down?
in from “fools” tripping over themselves to be down?
Fear about Rap entering the once SHUTTERED doors of billion dollar boardrooms reared its ugly head when word leaked of Apple executives getting cold feet about the brand’s groundbreaking purchase of Beats Electronics. Upon realization that the purchase nearing finality, a video surfaced of Dr. Dre proclaiming, “The first billionaire in Hip Hop, right here from the mothafuckin’ West Coast—believe it.” The cities Compton, Watts and South Central LOS ANGELES were name dropped. Videographer, singer and actor Tyrese Gibson teased director F. Gary Gray for being “drunk off Heineken” and rumors began spreading that with the viral clip, Gibson may have crip-walked on the grave of a $3.2 billion deal. But very few, if any, reliable sources verified Gibson’s clip giving Apple cold feet. Most of what was reported was just gossip and Internet scuttlebut.
doors of billion dollar boardrooms reared its ugly head when word leaked of Apple executives getting cold feet about the brand’s groundbreaking purchase of Beats Electronics. Upon realization that the purchase nearing finality, a video surfaced of Dr. Dre proclaiming, “The first billionaire in Hip Hop, right here from the mothafuckin’ West Coast—believe it.” The cities Compton, Watts and South Central LOS ANGELES were name dropped. Videographer, singer and actor Tyrese Gibson teased director F. Gary Gray for being “drunk off Heineken” and rumors began spreading that with the viral clip, Gibson may have crip-walked on the grave of a $3.2 billion deal. But very few, if any, reliable sources verified Gibson’s clip giving Apple cold feet. Most of what was reported was just gossip and Internet scuttlebut.
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