# Who Really Stole Dr\. Dre‘s Phone in GTA Online? - Canonical: https://33rdsquare.com/who-really-stole-dr-dres-phone-in-gta-online/ - Published: 2023-11-04 - Author: Nelson Ayers - Categories: [Business & Worth](https://33rdsquare.com/category/games/worth/) --- In the massive "The Contract" update for Grand Theft Auto Online, hip hop legend Dr. Dre enlists players‘ help to recover his stolen phone containing unreleased music. This brazen theft sparks an action-packed quest for justice across Los Santos. But who actually stole Dre‘s invaluable phone in the first place? Let‘s take a deeper dive into the culprits behind this musical crime. ## The Short Answer The short answer is that **Johnny Guns‘ crew robbed Dre‘s phone** during The Cayo Perico Heist expansion in late 2020. Johnny Guns, real name Johnathan Henderson, is an old rival of Dre‘s from the 1990s hip hop scene. He remains bitter towards Dre over a financial dispute involving unpaid royalties from decades ago. So Johnny Guns hatched a plot for payback – sending his gang to infiltrate Dre‘s studio and steal his prized cell phone containing a fortune in unreleased songs. This kicks off the storyline for The Contract update, as Dre hires GTA Online‘s protagonists to get his phone back by any means necessary. It results in an epic confrontation between the player, Dre, and Johnny Guns – spanning drug deals, shootouts, high-speed pursuits, and infiltrating a lavish island compound. In the end, Dre‘s phone is safely returned, along with a $1 million reward for the player. But the real takeaway is this rich, cinematic tale of retaliation between two hip hop icons. ## Dr. Dre and Johnny Guns‘ Royalties Beef from the 1990s To fully understand this theft, we have to go back in time to the early 1990s, the heyday of West Coast rap and the feud between Dre and Johnny. As rising superproducers in the gangsta rap scene, the two often collaborated on songs and albums for artists like Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and NWA. But conflicts arose over royalty payments, especially related to sample clearance issues. In multiple interviews, Dre has emphasized the challenges around securing rights for all the samples used in his production – a complex, expensive process. As he told Rolling Stone, _"I lose a lot of money on samples. It’s why I don’t really sample like I used to. It got too pricy."_ Dre grew frustrated over disputes with former collaborators like Johnny who felt they weren‘t properly compensated. These tensions boiled over when Dre left Death Row Records in 1996 to start Aftermath Entertainment. Johnny remained closely tied to Death Row and its infamous founder Suge Knight. This split between Dre and Johnny turned their royalty disagreements into a full-blown feud, likely motivating Johnny‘s crew to steal Dre‘s phone decades later. ## Details on Johnny Guns‘ Criminal Operations in Los Santos In The Contract update, Johnny Guns is portrayed as an aging yet still powerful crime boss based out of Davis, Los Santos. He maintains influence across the city through a network of lucrative criminal rackets. His gang distributes narcotics, trafficks illegal weapons, and launders money through fronts like the tattoo parlor and tax company. GTA Online players have to systematically disrupt these operations to locate Dre‘s stolen phone. Some of the highlights include: - **Infiltrating a drug deal** – Posing as buyers, you meet Johnny‘s gang in Cypress Flats to buy a large cocaine shipment. Things quickly go south, sparking a massive shootout. - **Knocking over a gun running ring** – You raid a downtown Ammu-Nation store being used to smuggle guns. After grabbing incriminating evidence, another intense firefight breaks out. - **Hacking the tax company servers** – To find financial records on Johnny‘s money laundering, you hack into the networks of a major tax service firm parodying H&R Block. - **Raiding the gang mansion** – In a final assault, you launch an attack on Johnny Guns‘ palatial compound. Fighting through the grounds, you finally recover Dre‘s stolen phone. These missions showcase the scale of Johnny‘s enterprises built through intimidation and violence. It makes the victory of reclaiming Dre‘s phone even more satisfying. ## The New Music Created for The Contract Update Along with episodes focused on the phone theft, The Contract update adds a slate of new music tracks across different genres: - **Hip hop** – Songs from Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Nipsey Hussle, and others attached to story missions. - **Electronic** – Mixes from real-life DJs Moodymann, Circo Loco, Palms Trax, and Keinemusik featured on the in-game radio station. - **Latin** – The Puerto Rican rapper Residente provides an original Spanish-language tune for the update‘s club. - **Indie** – LA genre-bender Black Silicon composed unique tracks for the agency and club environments. This diverse new music deepens the cinematic experience of playing through The Contract‘s unique missions. It also expands the radio playlists and nightclub environment beyond older hip hop into modern styles. The blend of licensed songs and original compositions was likely recovered thanks to getting Dre‘s phone back! ## Key Locations Added in The Contract Update In tandem with the phone theft story, The Contract update introduces two major new locations for GTA Online: **The Agency** – This swanky property in Little Seoul functions as home base for your missions supporting Dr. Dre. It offers armory and vehicle workshops, business management tools, and a private rooftop helicopter. You can recruit celebrity backup like Franklin Clinton or purchase useful upgrades like bulletproof tires. **The Music Locker** – Found below The Diamond Casino, this ritzy underground nightclub is unlocked midway through The Contract storyline. It features DJ sets, dancing, and drinks in a sleek, modern setting. You can also listen to much of the update‘s new music here. Purchasing The Agency property runs you $2.2 million in GTA Online, while The Music Locker provides a hip destination to experience the update‘s soundtrack. Their additions make the world of Los Santos feel bigger and richer with things to do. ## By the Numbers: Statistics on The Contract Update Since its release in December 2021, The Contract has proven to be one of the most popular Grand Theft Auto Online expansions yet: - Over **25 million** players have logged into GTA Online since the update launched. - It ranks among the top 10 most played games on both PlayStation and Xbox networks. - Player numbers have **increased over 75%** compared to November 2021 right before the update. - The new career builder option has helped over **1.6 million** new players get started. - It achieved the **highest player numbers since 2020‘s Cayo Perico Heist** expansion. Based on this data, The Contract has succeeded in bringing old and new players into GTA Online with its mix of music, story, and features. The massive response shows that Dr. Dre was the perfect superstar collaborator for this blockbuster update. ## How The Contract Compares to Past GTA Online Expansions Looking back at previous updates for GTA Online reveals how ambitious The Contract really is: - **Larger scale** – With 6 hours of missions, The Contract provides the longest storyline of any update yet. - **Major celebrity** – This was the first update centered around a global megastar like Dr. Dre. - **New location** – The Music Locker nightclub equals the Splinter Cell-themed After Hours update‘s flagship bar. But The Contract adds the sizable Agency property too. - **Wide scope** – Mixing story, music, locations, and other features makes this one of the most far-reaching updates so far. While other updates like Heists, After Hours, and Cayo Perico were impressive, The Contract tops them all in terms of depth and breadth of content. The focus on Dr. Dre and music also gives the entire experience a more cinematic, Hollywood blockbuster type feel compared to past DLC packs. ## Real Brands Featured in The Contract Update As always with Grand Theft Auto, The Contract incorporates parody versions of famous real-life brands and companies: - **Pfister** – The premium auto brand spoofing Porsche plays a major role, with new Pfister models like the Comet S2 sports car. - **Apple** – I-Fruit, GTA‘s long-running jab at Apple, is directly referenced through themes of phone theft and music production. - **Intuit** – The mission involving hacking a tax preparation company satirizes Intuit‘s TurboTax and its QuickBooks accounting software. - **McDonald‘s** – A new eCola x Sprunk livery for vehicles mocks the iconic red and yellow of the McDonald‘s brand. These corporate satires add comical, culturally relevant elements that ground the off-the-wall storylines in the same reality we know. It‘s signature Rockstar Games humor that makes the experience of playing The Contract uniquely fun and engaging. ## The Enduring Cultural Impact of Dr. Dre At the heart of The Contract update is Dr. Dre, whose phenomenal hip hop career made this ambitious crossover possible: - Dre has won **6 Grammy Awards** for groundbreaking productions like _The Chronic_ and _2001_. - His songs have defined the West Coast rap sound, influenced countless artists, and topped charts for **30+ years**. - Beyond music, he helped launch megabrand Beats Electronics in 2006 before **selling it to Apple for $3 billion** in 2014. - His fearless, innovative approach to blending rap and gritty storytelling has made him a pop culture icon. Dre‘s prolific output and business success cement him as a titan of hip hop history. Having Dre literally at the center of this new GTA Online storyline reflects his immense stature and influence. It required stealing an invaluable phone to spur the Doctor into action once again. ## In Conclusion The theft of Dr. Dre‘s phone in Grand Theft Auto Online serves as more than just a plot device. It parallels the real-world disputes over money, credit, and respect that have always fueled rap beefs. The chance to help Dre get revenge against his old rival Johnny Guns offers a thrilling, musical twist on GTA‘s carnage-filled missions. This update expanded the possibilities of interactive storytelling through the power of hip hop. So while we may never know exactly who took that fateful phone in Los Santos, experiencing the fallout was one wild ride. --- Source: [Who Really Stole Dr\. Dre‘s Phone in GTA Online?](https://33rdsquare.com/who-really-stole-dr-dres-phone-in-gta-online/)