By Roni Poet
In
John C. Maxwell’s Developing the Leader
Within You, there are five levels of leadership. According to these
qualities, on the top level would be Dr. Dre at Level 5: Personhood/Respect. At this level of leadership Dr. Dre is
respected in that people follow him for who he is as an iconic music producer,
CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Co-founder of Beats Electronics, and for
what he represents in Hip Hop and music in general. It is said that few ever
make it to this level. Dr. Dre is the definition of a leader in that over the
years he has demonstrated that he has most importantly integrity, the vision to
foresee what will succeed in the music industry, and the ability to develop the
best in people.
Dr. Dre is a
leader because he possesses integrity. Dr. Dre has established a reputation of
integrity, which means for one’s words and action’s to match up. AllHipHop.com’s
Chuck Creekmur says of his integrity, “People trust that he is going to deliver
results in line with his iconic reputation. Dre's pedigree and perfectionist
reputation” (Steve, n.d). Dre has credibility, which goes back to his integrity. He
has a system of values he uses to determine the quality of his creative, music
and business endeavors. For example, Carlyle Group invested 500 million into
Beats Electronics, the company Dr. Dre co-founded along with the audio
technology and new music subscription service he has helped to develop.
Sandra
Horbach speaks of her confidence in the company, "We are confident that
Beats will continue to drive innovation and growth in the premium audio
accessory market, particularly as the proliferation of smartphones and tablets
stimulate increased consumption of digital media" (Pham, 2013) Carlyle
Group’s investment is evident of Dr. Dre’s high influence value, his known high
standards, and solid reputation. Dr. Dre lives his high quality before he leads
others to do as him. When the label he helped found, Death Row Records no
longer supported his creative decision making, risked his high standards, and
reputation Dr. Dre proactively left to found his own label Aftermath
Entertainment (C.J.F.,1996). Dr. Dre’s integrity qualifies him as a
leader.
No leader would be complete without vision, and Dr. Dre exemplifies a man who has vision. Dr. Dre created and
popularized a new style of music known as ‘G-Funk’ According to Dr. Dre, it “was
created and mixed specifically for listening in car stereo systems.” He was
aware of the car-dependent lifestyles and the car cultures of hot rods, custom
cars, and lowriders. Dr. Dre as the music producer was able demonstrate his
vision by creating a new listening experience in the car that has had a far
reaching affect on Hip Hop music setting the background culture for Snoop Dog,
Tupac Shakur and others, and music in general. (Williams, 2009). Dr. Dre shows
vision in his business entrepreneurship. Not only did he co-found Death Row
Records and produce the likes of Snoop Dog and Tupac Shakur, but he went on to
found his own company Aftermath Entertainment which has built the careers of
Eminem and 50 Cent among others. Dr. Dre had a mission to produce masterpieces,
and got other artists, producers, and fans to get behind his vision. Dr. Dre
says that he isn't interested in producing albums for established artists but
instead wants to find who's next, as he did with Eminem and 50 Cent. Dr. Dre
says of his vision, "All I want to do is sit in the studio with that
person for a year and try to create another masterpiece" (Steve, n.d).
More recently, he demonstrated great vision by co-founding Beats Electronics
because of his mission to bring quality sound to listeners. In 2012 Beats Electronics owned 51% of an estimated 1 billion
dollar premium headphone market. Dre’s vision is evidenced in “Beats' signature
thundering bass, sometimes criticized as overwhelming, is well suited to modern
music driven by the bottom end and offers a direct challenge to competitors
such as Bose and Sennheiser” (Guzmán,
2014). The headphone technology has Dr. Dre ranked
third on the Forbes list for Hip Hop’s Wealthiest Artist with $350 million
(Forbes, n.d).
Not
only does Dr. Dre possess integrity as a leader but also the ability to develop
the best in people. Being able to develop people is a leader’s greatest
resource. First of all he is an example that others can follow because he
demonstrates integrity and vision as evidenced above. People can learn from his
business decisions and skills used in the creation of Death Row Records,
Aftermath Records, Beats Electronics, and all of his music production.
Recently, Dr. Dre makes a big move to develop people: He donated 70 million
U.S. dollars together with Jimmy Iovine, co-founder of Interscope Records, to
the University of Southern California in order “to establish the Jimmy Iovine
and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation.
The program will be a collaboration among its schools of business, engineering,
fine arts, and music to help students become entrepreneurs” (Bermudez, 2013). With the program that Dr. Dre has helped to fund will increase technology
resources to be used with the arts. Dr. Dre says that he wants people to be
entrepreneurs. (Bermudez, 2013). By
donating resources to a college, Dr. Dre is doing just that because the
students are learning skills to perfect their creative abilities and preparing
for entrepreneurship. Also through
Aftermath Entertainment, Dr. Dre has developed Eminem and 50 Cent to be
prosperous entrepreneurs and successful music artists. In summary, Dr. Dre is the man to develop people.
In
conclusion, Dr. Dre exemplifies leadership because of his integrity
demonstrating high standards and trust, vision of what’s going to be the best
in music, and ability to develop people that go on to become millionaires and
successful entrepreneurs. Dr. Dre came from poverty and crime-stricken Compton
to rise to be the third wealthiest Hip Hop artist with his leadership
abilities. His integrity is trusted to the point of being entrusted with fans
around the world and millions in investments. He has had the vision to create
“G-Funk”, and music Dr. Dre is a person to want to work with and a source of
wisdom to learn from in regards to music and being a leader.
References
C.J.F. (1996). The Dr. is out. Time, 148(24), 102.
Dr. Dre (hip-hop). (1999). Rolling Stone, (812), 53.
Guzmán, I., & Rayman, N. (2014). Generation Beats. Time, 183(3), 42.
The Forbes Five: Hip-Hop's Wealthiest Artists 2013 - Forbes. (n.d.). Retrieved
from
Pham, A. (2013). Beats Gets Cash Boost From Carlyle Group. Billboard, 125(39),
10.
Steve, J. (n.d). Dr. Dre's 'Detox' has industry buzzing. USA Today.
Williams, J. A. (2009). 'You never been on a ride like this befo': Los Angeles,
automotive
UA-60485481-1
By Roni Poet
No leader would be complete without vision, and Dr. Dre exemplifies a man who has vision. Dr. Dre created and
popularized a new style of music known as ‘G-Funk’ According to Dr. Dre, it “was
created and mixed specifically for listening in car stereo systems.” He was
aware of the car-dependent lifestyles and the car cultures of hot rods, custom
cars, and lowriders. Dr. Dre as the music producer was able demonstrate his
vision by creating a new listening experience in the car that has had a far
reaching affect on Hip Hop music setting the background culture for Snoop Dog,
Tupac Shakur and others, and music in general. (Williams, 2009). Dr. Dre shows
vision in his business entrepreneurship. Not only did he co-found Death Row
Records and produce the likes of Snoop Dog and Tupac Shakur, but he went on to
found his own company Aftermath Entertainment which has built the careers of
Eminem and 50 Cent among others. Dr. Dre had a mission to produce masterpieces,
and got other artists, producers, and fans to get behind his vision. Dr. Dre
says that he isn't interested in producing albums for established artists but
instead wants to find who's next, as he did with Eminem and 50 Cent. Dr. Dre
says of his vision, "All I want to do is sit in the studio with that
person for a year and try to create another masterpiece" (Steve, n.d).
More recently, he demonstrated great vision by co-founding Beats Electronics
because of his mission to bring quality sound to listeners. In 2012 Beats Electronics owned 51% of an estimated 1 billion
dollar premium headphone market. Dre’s vision is evidenced in “Beats' signature
thundering bass, sometimes criticized as overwhelming, is well suited to modern
music driven by the bottom end and offers a direct challenge to competitors
such as Bose and Sennheiser” (Guzmán,
2014). The headphone technology has Dr. Dre ranked
third on the Forbes list for Hip Hop’s Wealthiest Artist with $350 million
(Forbes, n.d).
C.J.F. (1996). The Dr. is out. Time, 148(24), 102.
Dr. Dre (hip-hop). (1999). Rolling Stone, (812), 53.
Guzmán, I., & Rayman, N. (2014). Generation Beats. Time, 183(3), 42.
The Forbes Five: Hip-Hop's Wealthiest Artists 2013 - Forbes. (n.d.). Retrieved from
Pham, A. (2013). Beats Gets Cash Boost From Carlyle Group. Billboard, 125(39), 10.
Steve, J. (n.d). Dr. Dre's 'Detox' has industry buzzing. USA Today.
Williams, J. A. (2009). 'You never been on a ride like this befo': Los Angeles, automotive
UA-60485481-1
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