Renowned producer and CEO of Aftermath Records Dr. Dre recently released his new fall line of Monster products at the Best Buy Theater on Broadway in New York City. He was joined by the chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Jimmy Iovine; Monster Cable CEO Noel Lee, who’s affectionately called head monster; digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong; and DJ Enuff for the private event. Iovine goes on record and shares that Dre’s decision to expand his brand to music technology was genius. He quips that someone suggested Dre consider doing sneakers and Dre’s response was “F— sneakers, let’s do speakers.”
In July 2008, Dre released his high-performance headphones, Beats by Dre from Monster. Fast forward two years later and the product line is reaching new heights. Dre has drafted NBA star LeBron James to endorse exclusive earbuds “PowerBeats,” which will cost $170, and teen pop sensation Justin Bieber for “JustBeats,” with a heftier price tag of $200.
Other unveilings were the beatbox iPod docking station and a pair of lightweight aluminum headphones.
To keep the energy going, Atlanta artists Soulja Boy and Keri Hilson took the stage.
The energetic young rap star performed “Speakers Going Hammer,” a new track off his upcoming The DeAndre Way album, which is produced by Drake’s producer Boi-1da. During his performance, Soulja Boy pulled out a stack of Benjamins and made it rain by throwing crisp $100 bills into the crowd; the ladies loved him for it. If the “crank dat” rapper keeps this up, he can put a dent in the recession.
Next on stage, a sexy Keri Hilson performed her chart topper “Turning Me On” as well as a new single, “Pretty Girl Rock,” which will be on her forthcoming album, No Boys Allowed. –yvette caslin
