Dr. Dre, the man who boasted about being the first billionaire in hip-hop after selling his Beats by Dre to Apple, can be forgiven for taking it easy these days. He has nothing left to prove to anyone. But Beats, the brand that transcended its origins as a cynical celebrity cash-in and became a cultural icon, has everything to prove. For a long time, Apple had seemingly frozen development of new products inside Beats, allowing its adopted brand to release only minor updates and alternative colorways. You could be forgiven for thinking Beats was a neglected stepchild.
