Music industry organization ASCAP is giving Dr. Dre its inaugural Hip-Hop Icon Award.
The rapper and producer will be shown some California love during the Rhythm & Soul Music Awards Celebration of 50 Years of Hip-Hop on June 22 in his hometown of Los Angeles.
“Dr. Dre’s groundbreaking early work laid a foundation for hip-hop as we know it today. As a champion for some of today’s biggest artists and a successful entrepreneur, he changed the culture around hip-hop,” ASCAP chairman and president Paul Williams said in a statement.
The hit-maker “continues to be a pivotal figure in the music industry and we are thrilled to recognize him with the inaugural ASCAP Hip-Hop Icon Award as we mark 50 years of hip-hop,” Williams added.
The award is intended for those who have made an “indelible impact” on hip-hop.
The eight-time Grammy Award winner has produced hits as a solo performer, for his former group N.W.A., and for artists including Eminem, Jay-Z, Snoop Dog, Kendrick Lamar and many others. He started Aftermath Entertainment, an Interscope Records imprint, that puts out Eminem, Lamar and Anderson .Paak’s albums. He also founded electronics company Beats, primarily known for its headphones, which was sold to Apple for $3 billion.
As a member of N.W.A., he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. His landmark solo debut, “The Chronic,” is part of the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.
He won an Emmy for the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show in 2022, which he performed along with Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent.
The announcement of his Hip-Hop Icon Award comes about a month after Oakland, California, revealed it was renaming a street after Dr. Dre’s contemporary and occasional collaborator Tupac Shakur.
