A letter preserving the decade-long myth that Dr. Dre started Burning Man is set to be sold as a 1/1 NFT.

In 2o11, a Tumblr blog called “Dr. Dre Started Burning Man” surfaced online. The blog claimed that Dre stumbled across Burning Man in its infancy whilst scouting music video locations with director Hype Williams for his Tupac collaboration, ‘California Love.’

To support these claims, the blog shared a now-infamous letter allegedly penned by Dr. Dre to his then-girlfriend Nicole Threatt, detailing his experience with an early iteration with the festival. In his hand-written letter, Dr. Dre writes that he was considering finding a way to monetize Burning Man.

“I’m in Nevada with Hype [Williams] lookin [sic] at spots for this new video we are shooting for that single I told you Pac is going to be on once he is out, called ‘California Love’,” Dr. Dre wrote in the 1995 letter. “We met a bunch of crazy, naked motherfuckers in the desert today, they were putting up some type of giant wood man.”

The letter continued, “I guess they have a big party out here for a bunch of days. I asked them how much they pay, they said ‘nothing’, I was like ‘no money?’ Someone should get behind this sh*t and make some loot of [sic] these fools cause they said there will at least be 5,000 people.”

“I think I will have my office look into it, just to see if there is easy money to be had here.”

Unfortunately, the legitimacy of Dr. Dre’s connection with Burning Man has since been debunked by a source close to his camp. Who told The Daily Beast that “Dr. Dre had no idea what Burning Man was” until 2014.

Love Hip Hop?

Get the latest Hip Hop news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more

Irrespective of the myth being debunked — conspiracy theories are almost always more interesting than truths. The “whistleblower” and creator of Dr. Dre Started Birmingham is selling the letter as a 1/1 NFT. It’s currently listed at 100.00 ETH aka $254,850. Head here for more information.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine