NEW YORK • Rap mogul Dr Dre will release his first album in nearly 16 years to accompany a film on his former band N.W.A. and has hinted the record will be his last.

Dr Dre - who has become one of music's richest businessmen and works with Apple - said the album would come out on Friday, a week before the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton opens in the United States.

The album will feature collaborations with his protege Eminem, former N.W.A. bandmate Ice Cube and fellow rappers Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg, according to the pre-order information on Apple's iTunes.

N.W.A - which stands for Niggaz Wit Attitude - shocked much of white America in the late 1980s with its unapologetic takes on street life through songs such as F*** Tha Police.

Dr Dre went on to develop headphones and other audio products under the name Beats Electronics, which Apple bought last year for US$3.2 billion (S$4.4 billion).

Forbes this year estimated his net worth at US$700 million.

He has not released a solo studio album since the record 2001 was released in 1999.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE