Jeri Jacquin
Coming to Bluray from HBO and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the four-part series tells the
story of music and a pairing of minds that come straight from THE DEFIANT ONES.
Dr. Dre begins by telling the story of his early ears in Compton and being raised
by his mother and what was going on around him. In his teen years he danced as
part of The Freak Patrol but Mom wanted him to do something more with his
life. When he saw a local DJ scratchin’
he knew that it was something he wanted to be a part of.
Playing in Eazy-E’s backyard, he found a nitch making tapes
for others. In 1984 Dr. Dre became part of the DJ group called the Wrecking Crew working at the club Eve
After Dark. Mixing 60’s song with a new beat, people were taken by what they
were hearing.
The time came however when Dr. Dre knew it was time for
something different and he partnered with Eazy-E to create Ruthless Records.
Westcoast Hip-Hop was almost non-existent and the chance came for Eazy-E and
Dre to create Boyz in the Hood. A
group formed with Ice Cube, McRen, DJ Yella that would become N.W.A.
As their album is in production, Eazy-E asks that he stop what
they are doing to take on the girl group JJ Fad and Supersonic. After run-ins with the police, Ice Cube wrote and they
recorded F**k the Police and Dre knew
it was dangerous. The violence comes home when Dre has a death in the family.
Ruthless Records is making music and doing videos but the
group deals with more disasters when a member has a devastating car accident. Shug
Knight comes into the picture when Ice Cube lets Dre know that there is
something wrong with the business and then walks away. The group becomes even
more divided when Eazy-E and Dre can’t agree on how to go forward.
N.W.A.’s next album is practically banned everywhere from
MTV to radio airwaves. Dre is floundering thinking of what he will do next when
he hooks up with Suge Knight. The hookup between Dre and Snoop Dogg is another
monumental team up of genius and the album The
Chronic is made. In New York
the two men took it upon themselves to get their work out.
James Iovine was born in Brooklyn
to a hard working Italian-American family. His love of music turned to being
part of a band. College at 19 his parents didn’t want him to go to war so he
attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice. It was music that drove him and
job after job would take him to Roy Cicala who took Jimmy under his wing. One
Easter Sunday he was called into work and covering for an engineer he would work
with John Lennon – it was 1973.
In 1975, Jimmy would work with the legendary Bruce
Springsteen and he moved on to the group Foghat. That would send him back to
the studios and there he met Patti Smith who wanted him to produce her music.
Jimmy now finds himself in Los Angeles working with Tom Petty and after
hearing Break Down and Refugee, he was floored. Eight more
songs later an album came together and Backstreet
was a hit. Next he was working with Stevie Nicks and her first solo album was
created. Stop Dragging My Heart Around
brought Petty and Nicks together for a smash single hit!
Jimmy and Stevie parted ways and he moved on to Bob Seiger
and Dire Straits and the executives kept him away from other artists. He meets Vicki
McCarty and she introduces him to Bono of U2, different yet there is something
that clicks between them. Another meshing of creativity takes place.
He is also dealing with deaths in his own family, he starts
to become part of the music business rather than create as he had done in the
past. He does work with U2 on their Rattle
and Hum album (which is one of my favorites) but makes a decision that he
is done.
Wanting to spend more time at home so Jimmy meets up with
investors to create Interscope Records. Signing the singing of Rico Suave, they
also got Primus, Four Non-Blondes, Mark Wahlberg and a little group known as No
Doubt. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails wasn’t happy with his record deal and
Jimmy saw something outstanding in the group.
Now that you know the players – it was inevitable that Dr.
Dre and Jimmy Iovine would come together. Lawsuits disappeared and radio play
is bought just as Jimmy promised with Dre and Snoop on the cover of Rolling
Stones. Death Row Records and the gang are with Interscope Records and success
is theirs.
With success comes trip ups and lead feet as moments with
the law pop up. That sometimes happens when success isn’t explained. It becomes
a job to keep up with Marilyn Manson, Tupak Shakur as well as Snoop when it
comes to dealing with the law and the outcry of society at large.
If that wasn’t enough, a storm was brewing between Death Row
Records and Bad Boy Records that became the East vs. West Coast rumble. Once
Tupac is released from his prison, he hit the studio and the group started to crack.
So much so that Jimmy and other executives are starting to feel in danger.
In Las Vegas
it would come to a head as a fight happens and shots ring out. Tupak Shakur is
killed on the streets with no one in custody and Shug also finds himself in
trouble with the law. Now others begin to understand why Dr. Dre walked away
and decided to start over on his own terms.
Starting Aftermath Records and a family, Dre is now in
charge. Enter Marshall Mather also known as Eminem and once again there is
magic in the studio. Followed by Fifty Cent, The Chronic 2001 and the Black
Eyed Peas kept pushing Interscope talent skyward.
Their next crisis came in the form of the internet and the
downloading of music and trading it for free. Instead of panicking, Jimmy found
a way to make it work toward their musical advantage. In the midst of this,
these two men and their perfection also have to deal with how that affects the
families they have created. It doesn’t stop Dre and Jimmy from creating the
next big idea that came to be known as Beats headphones, speakers and accessing
their music.
Now, these two men find a way to give back to the
communities that they sprang from. The place in their lives now have come from
the challenges and lessons that have given them the title of THE DEFIANT ONES.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment has just added an
amazing film to their library and making it available for us all to experience
and re-experience in our own home theatres. There are films of every genre
available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to
offer please visit www.uphe.com.
HBO Home Entertainment has an extensive array of
critically-acclaimed and groundbreaking programs found on Bluray, DVD and
Digital HD. They have provided viewers with some of the most amazing programs
with huge fan bases that include the shows True
Blood, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, True Detectives, The Wire, Entourage and Game of Thrones. Launched in 1984, HBO
is world wide in viewed entertainment in more than 70 territories around the
world! For more of what they have to offer please visit www.hbo.com.
This is truly an amazing look at two men who have made an
impact in music industry. Understanding their history and what drove them to follow
the music and listen for the unique and creative talent is what THE DEFIANT
ONES is all about.
This is a four and a half hour history lesson of Dr. Dre and
Jimmy Iovine told by those who lived it with them including Snoop Dogg, Bruce
Springsteen, Gwen Stefani, Bono, David Geffen, Eminem, Nas, Stevie Nicks,
Kendrick Lamar, Ice Cube, Jon Landau, Patti Smith, Lady Gaga, Doug Morris,
Trent Reznor, Diddy, Alonzo Williams, Will.I.Am and Tom Petty.
Four decades of two men who refused to be defined or labeled
into a category, THE DEFIANT ONES doesn’t hold back in any way. Every bit of
the good, bad, ugly and crazy is told from both Dre and Jimmy including things
in their life that can’t be changed but can be acknowledged.
Do not hesitate to experience this amazing four part series
as HBO brings THE DEFIANT ONES to Bluray and DVD and available on Digital now.
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