The Defiant Ones

Years before they brokered one of the biggest deals in music history--the 2015 sale of Beats Electronics to Apple for $3 billion--Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine navigated very different environments towards destinies that would, ultimately and improbably, bring them together. Dres story began in Compton, CA, where his fascination with dance music, DJ innovations and sound brought him into contact with Eazy-E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and MC Ren. Together, they would become the core of the 1980s gangsta-rap supergroup N.W.A. A native of Red Hook, Brooklyn, Jimmy gravitated to music following an indifferent academic career, and with a determination to avoid continuing in the family business as a longshoreman, he turned stints answering phones in recording studios to connecting with artists like John Lennon, Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen through a combination of hard work and old-fashioned luck, eventually building a reputation as a fearless, talented, indefatigable producer.

By 1989, Jimmy had parlayed his production expertise into a new career as co-founder of Interscope Records, committing the label to on-the-edge artists like Trent Reznors Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt...and Dr. Dre, whose solo LP The Chronic had been recorded by Death Row Records, a post-N.W.A. label he created with Suge Knight, the D.O.C. and Dick Griffey. Blown away by Dres singular talent, Jimmy cut a deal with Death Row for Interscope to become the labels distributor. The Chronic became a huge hit and spawned an ever bigger LP from Dres protege, Snoop Dogg. But hostility was mounting across America towards the misunderstood violent influence of rap music, and Interscope and Time Warner (which owned 25% of the company) found themselves in the crosshairs of an angry political mainstream. As Jimmy resisted overtures to sell Interscopes stake in Death Row, Dre, along with Snoop Dogg and recent signee Tupac Shakur, became embroiled in a violent feud with East Coast rap rivals, notably Sean "Puffy" Combs and his Bad Boy Records, which drove Dre to seek out another new beginning.