News Update

Dr. Dre gives $10 million for performing arts center at Compton High

Famed rapper Dr. Dre was on hand Saturday at the groundbreaking of a new campus for Compton High School — which will include a state-of-the-art performing arts center he funded, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, donated $10 million to the project. Young grew up in Compton but dropped out of high school, and has often cited regrets about his education. He and music producer Jimmy Iovine have also opened a public magnet school in Los Angeles and a college academy at the University of Southern California.

“I was an artistic kid in school with no outlet for it. I knew I had something special to offer to the world, but with nothing to support my gift, schools left me feeling unseen,” Young said Saturday, the Times reported. “I’ve always wondered how much further ahead I might have been had the resources I needed in school were available.”

The new performing arts center, part of a $200 million new campus for the historic South Los Angeles high school, will be called the Andre ‘Dr. Dre’ Young Performing Arts Center.


Latest updates: