Trent Reznor announces collaboration with Beats By Dre

Trent Reznor teases an upcoming project with an unlikely partner.

The Nine Inch Nails and How To Destroy Angels frontman is working with the headphone behemoth on a project that is still secret. “I have been wanting to experiment and focus my energy and creativity in some different directions, and Beats has afforded me that very opportunity,” Reznor says, adding that “I can tell you it’s probably not what you’re expecting!”

This is a surprising development, even more so than HTDA’s decision to sign with a major label. When Nine Inch Nails was signed to Interscope, Reznor feuded with label boss (and Beats by Dre co-founder) Jimmy Iovine. From a 2009 New Yorker story:

He was also depressed by the pressure from the label’s head, Jimmy Iovine, to make his records more “urban.” As Reznor saw it, “This is simply, How do we smooth off all the rough edges and make you just like what’s selling now?” Iovine commissioned a number of hip-hop remixes of Nine Inch Nails songs, all of which Reznor rejected, and Reznor soon ended the relationship. “You know what, Jimmy? Fuck you. Take that beat and shove it up Timbaland’s ass.”

Increasing the intrigue, this news comes a day after Reznor tweeted that he was “In the studio for a day of experimentation with a hero of mine…” Could the mystery hero be Dre himself? The hip-hop legend did contribute production on Nine Inch Nails’ 1999 opus The Fragile. Whatever the project is, it probably won’t be a collaboration with Timbaland.

The full statement is below, via Facebook.

Some of you may have read that I have begun working with Beats By Dre. For the past year I have indeed been involved with Dre, Jimmy Iovine, Luke Wood, and the rest of the team on a number of very interesting projects that will start to emerge next year. I have been wanting to experiment and focus my energy and creativity in some different directions, and Beats has afforded me that very opportunity. The process has been challenging and fascinating and as much as I’d like to tell you about the things we’ve dreamed up… I just can’t.
Not yet…
(I can tell you it’s probably not what you’re expecting!)

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