Long-awaited Dr. Dre album to launch on Aug. 7 as Apple Music & iTunes exclusive

By Roger Fingas

The next album by rapper and Beats co-founder Dr. Dre, Compton: A Soundtrack, will launch on Aug. 7 as an exclusive for Apple Music and iTunes.

Dre announced the launch on this weekend's episode of his Beats 1 radio show, The Pharmacy, according to Pitchfork. The album can be pre-ordered on iTunes for $14.

Guests on the album include artists like Kendrick Lamar, Xzibit, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Jill Scott, and Eminem. The record is inspired by the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, which premieres on August 14 and had help from Dre.

The rapper has been working on a new album for well over a decade. During The Pharmacy, he revealed that despite releasing singles for it, the album's previous incarnation -- Detox -- was completely scrapped.

"I didn't like it. It wasn't good. The record, it just wasn't good... I worked my ass off on it, and I don't think I did a good enough job," he said.

Apple bought Beats for $3 billion in 2014, bringing Dre and many others into its corporate fold. Since the launch of Apple Music on June 30, Dre has become an important promotional tool, not only because of the The Pharmacy but because the service is the exclusive home of his most famous album, The Chronic.