Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine have teamed up to make a donation to Southern California’s city of Compton to provide COVID-19 relief. The amount of the donation has not been disclosed.
The donation will provide over 145,000 meals, free COVID-19 testing and additional medical supplies, such as hand sanitizer, gloves and masks. Compton has a reported 140 cases of coronavirus and can be attributed to a lack of access to fundamental resources.
“The donation will ensure testing costs are not a barrier from being tested,” city spokeswoman Adriana Fernandez-Clark stated in an email.
“Access to testing is much lower in underserved communities like ours when compared with wealthier communities, which is a longstanding, systemic disparity highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” she continued. “This donation will ensure that more Compton residents will have access to testing which will help offset the disproportionate impact communities like ours are seeing and which ultimately can save lives.”
Dr. Dre was born and raised in Compton, living most of his childhood at the New Wilmington Arms housing project. He put the city on the map when he joined the N.W.A. to produce their first album Straight Outta Compton. He would go on to create Aftermath Records and Beats by Dr. Dre, nearly making him a billionaire.
Dr. Dre is a huge philanthropist and has donated millions of dollars to USC, the performing arts center for Compton High School, and the city of Compton, alone.
