US rapper, record producer, and founder of Beats Music (acquired by Apple in 2014) Dr Dre, will produce and star in Apple's first original television show, according to entertainment news site The Hollywood Reporter (THR).
The six-episode series, Vital Signs, will be a semi-autobiographical "dark drama", according to THR.
While Apple is financially backing the series, it is unclear what role the company or its media offshoots (namely its Apple TV video streaming service) will play in distributing the show, although THR reports it will be released all at once, in the same way Netflix series are.
It is widely speculated, however, that Vital Signs will mark Apple's entry into the original programming niche that competitors Amazon and Netflix have successfully carved out.
While Vital Signs is the only original series Apple is known to be behind at present, the company is purportedly willing to work with artists who already have a relationship with it.
Dre's subscription-based online music streaming service and audio equipment-maker Beats Music was acquired by Apple for $3 billion in 2014. The takeover is Apple's most expensive purchase to date.
Cnet describes Apple and Dre's production as 'un-Apple-like', saying the show's content contrasts with the company's "rigidly defined moral principles", in banning pornography from its App Store.
THR claims the show contains "no shortage of violence and sex", and an "extended orgy scene" was filmed for the show last week.
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