Dr. Dre's new single appears in Mafia Wars

Zynga Inc. today announced the company’s first in-game music partnership with Dr. Dre, allowing players around the world to watch the music video for his first single from the artist's highly anticipated new album Detox, within Mafia Wars. The video, “Kush” featuring Snoop Dogg and Akon, will stream for free within Mafia Wars beginning today. Dr. Dre's new album, Detox, hits stores in early 2011 and marks the pop cultural icon's first album in more than a decade.

“We’re always looking for innovative and interesting ways for fans to discover great music and with an artist of Dre’s cultural significance we really wanted something special that’s never been done before,” said Jimmy Iovine, Chairman, Interscope Geffen A&M Records. “We felt it was a perfect fit for Dre to be the first musical experience for the millions of Mafia Wars players to enjoy while gaming.”

Beginning today, Mafia Wars will feature a number of Dr. Dre-inspired game experiences including music content and limited edition virtual goods within a “Hustlin’ wit Dre” portion of the game. A stream of the “Kush” music video will be available to players within the game. Players will be able to collect Dr. Dre-inspired, limited edition virtual goods such as headphones, a vintage car, and weapons. Within the game players will also be able to watch an exclusive Dr. Dre video message available only within Mafia Wars and become eligible to win signed Beats by Dr. Dre headphones and a signed copy of the CD when it becomes available next year. Players can also purchase the new single via an iTunes link available within the game.

“Dre is a cultural icon that has inspired generations of music lovers,” said Mark Pincus, CEO and founder of Zynga. “We're huge music fans at Zynga and we know the players within Mafia Wars will love the chance to discover incredible music content while playing with their friends.”

Dr. Dre began his career creating groundbreaking music as a member and producer of renowned hip hop group N.W.A. His two solo albums which followed, The Chronic (1992) and Dr. Dre 2001 (1999) are two of the most influential and essential hip hop albums of all time. Among the artists whose music Dr. Dre has produced are Eminem, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 2Pac and 50 Cent. He has won five Grammy awards including Producer of the Year in 2001. In 2008 Dr. Dre co-founded with Jimmy Iovine, Beats by Dr. Dre, the enormously successful high-performance headphone and sound transmission company.

The Dr. Dre in-game music integration follows a recent Mafia Wars campaign, where Zynga partnered with Snoop Dogg to blow up a 4-ton armored truck in the Nevada desert to commemorate the game reaching 10 million visitors in two weeks. By leveraging Zynga’s more than 200 million monthly active users worldwide, this partnership provides a unique platform for listeners. Mafia Wars, which revolves around advancing one’s criminal empire by creating clans, is the world’s most popular crime game with 19 million people playing the game each month on Facebook and the iPhone.