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Dr. Dre To Star In And Produce ‘Vital Signs,’ Apple’s First Original Series

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 17:43 PST, Feb 19, 2016

Dr. Dre will be the main character of Apple’s first original series, according to the New York Times. The upcoming six-episode original series, entitled Vital Signs, will be executive-produced by Dr. Dre himself.

An Apple spokesperson declined to confirm the project, but pointed out that the last quarter of 2015 was the best in terms of Apple TV sales. A representative for Dr. Dre did not comment on the project either.

Apple Music has recently been busy signing content agreements, including a deal to stream footage from Taylor Swift’s world tour. According to to the New York Times‘ anonymous sources, the series will be semi-autobiographical with each episode featuring Dr. Dre’s character experiencing a different emotion.

It was reported earlier this week that Apple is filming an episode with an “extended orgy scene” featuring Dr. Dre in a mansion in the Hollywood Hills. Paul Hunter was reportedly signed on to the project as the director of the show.

Apple has long been set to enter the original series market, which has been so far dominated by Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. The only thing it has streamed on its Apple Music service was music video content. Apple has always struggled with creating original content, while Netflix and Amazon have won a number of awards for their original series in the past few years.

Dr. Dre, who was born in Compton, Los Angeles, is one of the most famous hip-hop producers of all time. In 2015, Dr. Dre executive produced the movie Straight Outta Compton, which tells a story about him and his friends rise in the hip hop world. And that year he also released his first album in nearly 16 years, entitled Compton.

Dr. Dre has long been in partnership with Apple, as he sold his audio company, Beats Electronics, to Apple for $3 billion back in 2014.

Dr. Dre said that J Dilla, a record producer and rapper who passed away in 2006, has been one of his main musical inspirations, as reported by HipHopDX.

HipHopDX gathered famous hip-hop producers on the 10-year anniversary of his death to discuss the legend of hip-hop and rap. Dr. Dre told HipHopDX that he has always admired J Dilla.

“One of the most incredible things that I liked about Dilla is, Dilla was in his hospital room on his deathbed and he had his machines in his room, in his hospital room and he was still making beats before he passed away.”

Compton, the hometown of Dr. Dre, hasn’t had a movie theater in decades, which is why the city intends to change that soon, according to LA Curbed. In 2015, Compton residents were forced to go, well, straight out of Compton, to theaters in neighboring cities to see Straight Outta Compton.

The city has plans to build a movie theater at a total estimated cost of $35 million, part of which will be covered by Dr. Dre, who is giving all of the profits from his last album for the development of the arts center in Compton.

Dr. Dre’s arts center project will feature 75,000-square feet of space and will have “a variety of utilization options for the community, including but not limited to a Performing Arts Stage, Dance Studio, Recording Studio, Youth Fitness, and Homework Center,” all covered by Dr. Dre’s foundation, according to HipHopDX.

The city raises high hopes that the arts center will have a good influence on Compton’s youth. The new movie theater, which will feature 14 screens and 50,000 square feet of space, will be located near the arts center. According to the city’s plans, it will be a two-story multipurpose hall that will host “the bingo, community events, and casino operations.”

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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