Finally got around to watching this look into the relationship between Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. It's almost two movies running in parallel, joined for a moment for the Beats discussion.
I only knew Jimmy from the Interscope-stable hullabaloo of the mid-90s. I wasn't aware of his rockstar, superstar bona fides behind the production board. I thought he was a gangly Italian dude who glommed on to Dre's success. Turns out he's worked with: Springsteen, U2, Tom Petty and...and...and...the list is tremendous. Jimmy hits his earning ceiling as a producer and, with a little advice from his friend David Geffen, starts a record label.
Did you know that Interscope's first release (a hit, btw) was "Rico Suave" by Gerardo? He cranked out a bunch of poppy megahits...then Dre pitched "The Chronic" to him. History made.
As for Dre's side of the story, there is a ton of backstory and footage around the World Class Wrecking Cru/NWA days. You see the drama with Suge start up along with lots of story and footage around Tupac. He opens up about Dee Barnes, even.
The story starts to wrap up on the Beats sale ($3.2B) to Apple and their quiet lives as billionaires. Side note I learned during the Apple story is that Trent Reznor is now the Chief Creative Officer for Apple Music. Weird.
The four episodes are chock full of footage and interviews and worth the time for any music fan.
2 Replies
1227 Views