Dr. Dre Says Social Media Shattered the Mystery Surrounding Artistes’ Lifestyle

Dr. Dre says the old mystery surrounding artistes in the past, which elevated most of them to the pantheon of gods, has been shattered by social media.

The legendary producer spoke about this in a new interview with British GQ with Jimmy Iovine, saying:

“I probably would’ve hated social media when I was coming up. There’s a certain mystique that gets destroyed. I like the mystique. I like waiting. I don’t need anybody to know where I am every minute or what I’m doing. Or what I’m about to do… There’s a certain mystique that came along with music that was entertaining to wait to see what was about to happen.”

Iovine, however, spoke about the role digital fame plays in a musician’s success these days. “If Michael Jackson had Instagram, would he have ended up healthier?” Iovine said. “Who knows.”

“I think what’s happened is, ‘great’ was never behind fame as much as it is now. Fame is what the currency is. Likes or whatever the stuff is,” Jimmy continued. “So fame, and if you happen to be great…musicians up until recently, that’s why people put music out every day. That’s marketing.”

Watch Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s interview below.