Entertainment

Dr. Dre Donates $10 Million For Performing Arts Complex At Compton High School

Published on: June 16, 2017 at 3:41 AM
By Stacey Cole

Kids at Compton High School now have more reasons to love Dr. Dre, and it has nothing to do with his iconic headphones Beats.

Dr. Dre wants Compton kids to have the “kind of tools and learning they deserve,” so he donated a staggering $10 million to build a performing arts complex at the Compton school. The “Straight Outta Compton” rapper made the generous announcement on Thursday.

Thanks to Dr. Dre’s donations, the facility will bustle with premium-class technology, as students will have access to digital media studios and a theater that seats 1,200 people, according to the Los Angeles Times citing the Compton Unified School District.

Announcing the generous $10 million donation, Dr. Dre, a Compton native whose real name is Andre Young, told the publication that he wants to “provide kids with the kind of tools and learning they deserve.”

Dr. Dre believes that his donations will offer a brand new environment for students to be “creative” to help with their education progress as well as to “positively define their future.”

Although construction workers won’t put their hands to work to erect the performing arts complex until 2020, Dr. Dre is focused on fundraising to load the facility with more money.

Compton officials praised Dr. Dre for his investment in the community, as this is not the first time the former N.W.A. member has helped out his hometown.

Last year, Dr. Dre sparked a furor on social media when he made a surprise appearance at a Compton elementary school and handed out iPads to students.

Dr. Dre knows that being a young student in Compton can be tough, as the rapper went to the local Centennial High School, the same school rap legend Kendrick Lamar attended.

Both Dr. Dre and Lamar are constantly coming back to Compton to help out their hometown, as the “HUMBLE.” hitmaker once donated $50,000 to his alma mater.

Dr. Dre’s big-hearted donations toward the performing arts center won the hearts at Compton Unified, with the one of the top governing board trustees of the school district, Satra Zurita, hailing the rapper’s “unwavering” support for Compton.

Zurita also went as far as to call the forthcoming facility “one of the greatest performing arts centers in the country.”

Last month, Forbes estimated Dr. Dre’s net worth at around $740 million, which means his fortune is now standing at around $730 million unless, of course, the rapper has engaged in other costly ventures, or – on the contrary – pocketed a few more millions from his music and business.

Dr. Dre attributes his financial success to his gigantic headphones brand, Beats by Dr. Dre, which made the rapper the highest-paid musician in 2014 thanks to his deal with Apple.

The Compton native sold the brand to Apple three years ago, becoming the highest-paid musician with his estimated $620 million in a single-year payday.

As of June 2017, Dr. Dre has earned nearly $35 million so far this year, according to Forbes . And given that he’s six months into 2017, it’s unlikely the rapper will beat his own record this year. Unless, of course, the former N.W.A. member sells his other businesses to Apple.

In 2015, the New York Times revealed the true cost of Beats by Dr. Dre and the report sent shockwaves across the world.

While the newspaper estimated the cost of making Beats at as low as $14, the fancy headset was sold for $199.99 for the least expensive pair and $699.99 for the most expensive pair at the time of the publication.

That’s quite a gain!

[Featured Image by Damian Dovarganes/AP Images]

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