Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine to Launch Public High School in South LA

*Dr. Dre and music industry mogul Jimmy Iovine have joined forces to launch a new public high school in South L.A. that will open in Fall 2022.  

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Dre said he wants to reach “the inner-city kid, the younger me.” He added: “Here’s a place that you can go where there’s something that you can learn that you’re really interested in.”

“This is for kids who want to go out and start their own company or go work at a place… like Marvel, or Apple or companies like that,” Iovine said.  

“This is nowhere near a music school,” he said of Regional High School No. 1, as it’s known for now, per the report.

READ MORE: Questlove Recalls How Dr. Dre Helped ‘Save’ The Roots’ Music Career [WATCH]

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine said they would do and spend whatever is necessary to make a new public high school project, which will be in South L.A., successful and sought after. https://t.co/cZbzmAdpIT

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 14, 2021

Dre said the type of individual who would benefit from the school “didn’t have an opportunity” and “had to scratch and figure out things on his own,” he explained. This person also had “the curiosity but didn’t have these type of opportunities, really smart kids — we want to touch and give them this open door and these opportunities to be able to show what they can do,” Dre said. 

Here’s more from the Los Angeles Times: 

The new school will be a “magnet,” meaning that students can apply from across the sprawling district. Transportation will be provided for those outside the local area. The school is among 10 magnets that educators approved last week. The school will join a relatively short list of education projects initiated by the wealthy from sports or entertainment. That list includes former Phoenix Suns star Kevin Johnson, who started charter schools in Sacramento. LeBron James catalyzed a new public school in Akron, Ohio.

Iovine and Dr. Dre felt compelled to give back the to South L.A. community. 

“This is something new and different that might excite the kids and make them want to go to school,” Dr. Dre said. “I had no idea this is where my life and career was gonna go, and everything that I’ve been doing throughout my career … was gonna lead to this, all those things a stepping stone to get here. Is this what it’s supposed to be? The, you know, the Big Bang? Hopefully it is.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Dre touched on the brain aneurysm he suffered in January.

“It’s a really weird thing,” he said. “I’ve never had high blood pressure. And I’ve always been a person that has always taken care of my health. But there’s something that happens for some reason with Black men and high blood pressure, and I never saw that coming. But I’m taking care of myself. And I think every Black man should just check that out and make sure things are OK with the blood pressure. And I’m going to move on and, hopefully, live a long and healthy life. I’m feeling fantastic.”

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