See Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine in Star-Packed ‘Defiant Ones’ Trailer
“Holy shit, this is Jimmy Iovine. Holy shit, Dr. Dre just walked in,” Eminem says in a new trailer for HBO’s The Defiant Ones, recalling his first meeting with the music moguls. “I’m pissing myself now, thinking about it.” The four-part documentary series, which debuts on July 9th, explores Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine‘s rise, unlikely partnership and their tremendous impact on pop culture. Subsequent episodes will premiere on July 10th, 11th and 12th.
In the new clip, Dr. Dre is equally impressed with hearing Eminem’s work for the first time. “I’m blown the fuck away,” he recalls. While the compelling clip traverses the pair’s early struggles and accomplishments, it also addresses the impact those they worked with have had on shaping their own career trajectories. The clip appropriately opens in a studio and features candid interviews with Iovine, Dr. Dre and a bevy of renowned artists they’ve worked with, including Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Snoop Dogg, Stevie Nicks and more.
Iovine notes that Springsteen taught him about work ethic. “I had to work harder than the next guy just to do as well as the next guy and to do better than the next guy,” he explains. “I had to kill.”
“I think Rattle and Hum was Jimmy’s last stand,” Bono says. “I think we broke him.” Iovine concedes he felt he was done with studio work following producing the album, and the experience fueled his desire to start a record company. He launched Interscope Records in 1990.
The trailer also chronicles Iovine and Dr. Dre’s long-standing partnership, from the early days when what became Dr. Dre’s debut studio album The Chronic was being rejected by other labels (meanwhile Iovine thought, “Wow, this guy will define Interscope”), to how Beats Electronics was born.
Director Allen Hughes filmed Dr. Dre and Iovine over the course of three years. The documentary series also features interviews with Nas, Ice Cube, Gwen Stefani, Trent Reznor and more artists along with behind-the-scenes recording, writing sessions and additional footage that has not been previously seen.