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Eazy-E

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Eazy-E

Eric Wright (September 7, 1963 – March 26, 1995) from Compton, California, better known as Eazy-E, was an American rapper, hip hop producer, and record executive who initially rose to fame as a member of the group N.W.A. Eazy-E's lyrical and vocal style is instantly recognizable by his relatively high-pitched voice and his lyrics focusing on guns, drugs, the police, violent acts against those who disrespect him, and abundant sexual activity. Eazy-E was one of the pioneers of gangsta rap and remains one of hip hop's most distinctive and influential icons.

Life and music

Eazy-E was born in Compton, California, to Richard and Kathie Wright in 1963. As a teen, he was bussed from South Central Los Angeles to Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California. During those years, he was a Kelly Park Compton Crip from South East Compton and began selling drugs such as Marijuana, Sherm, Cocaine, Heroin, etc. Following this period, he used his drug profits to start a record label, Ruthless Records, with his business partner, Jerry Heller. He recruited Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince soon afterward. The group's debut album, N.W.A. and the Posse, sold well for an underground release. During this period, Dr. Dre and DJ Yella augmented the group's sound with slower, heavier beats and Ice Cube emerged as the group's primary songwriter. As a result, N.W.A.'s late-'80s releases are now considered to be hip hop masterpieces. The 1988 album Straight Outta Compton became a platinum-certified underground hit and sold 2 million copies after its re-release in 1989.

Eazy-E quickly released his debut solo album Eazy-Duz-It, which went double-platinum, selling 2.7 million copies. Production was done by Dr. Dre and the songs were written by the rest of N.W.A and spawned 3 hit singles, We Want Eazy, Eazy-err Said Than Dunn and Boyz-N-The-Hood. In 1989, Ice Cube left N.W.A., convinced that Eazy-E and Heller were reaping an undue share of the group's profits at the expense of the other members.

Eazy-E's creative vision was not always shared by his fellow N.W.A. members. Dr. Dre was especially critical of the direction Eazy was leading the group. Eazy wanted to portray a rough, realistic image using stark production and minimal beats; Dre preferred to incorporate more mainstream elements into his production. Their sound and image contined to evolve. The subsequent period saw the release of EPs (both group and Eazy-E solo efforts) as well as side projects from The D.O.C. For the final N.W.A. album, Efil4zaggin (1991), Some of the lyrics provoked outrage from many critics and conservative circles, but that only increased the group's predominately male, white suburban audience. Eazy-E included even more of the elements which Dr. Dre considered cartoonish, such as the use of pistols and shotguns in videos for Always into Somethin' and Appetite for Destruction. These differences of opinion lead to a break-up and, citing economical differences, a feud erupted between the two stars.

Dr. Dre & Death Row rivalry

It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa

In August 1991, Eazy filed a state court complaint against Dr .Dre, Death Row Records executive Suge Knight, and rap artist D.O.C. alleging that the defendants used "duress" and "menace" to get Eazy-E to void his exclusive contracts with Dre and The D.O.C. In October of the next year Ruthless Records sued Dr. Dre's Death Row Records and accused Dre's label of racketeering. The suit was dismissed on August 9, 1993. It is under appeal. During this feud with his former friend Dr. Dre, Dre blasted Eazy-E in his famous solo debut The Chronic, most notably in the hit single "Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')". In response, Eazy-E released a second solo album, It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa which was eventually certified double platinum and sold over 500, 000 copies. The album contains repeated references to Dr. Dre and his protege Snoop Dogg, then known as Snoop Doggy Dogg. He responded to "Dre Day" on the track "Real Muthaphukkin' Gs", rapping "Muthaphukk Dre, Muthaphukk Snoop, MuthaPhukk Death Row, yo, And here comes my left blow".

One of the videos from the album shows Dre during his days as a member of The World Class Wreckin' Cru, dressed in drag and wearing eyeshadow, lipstick and sequins. Eazy-E dissed him and Tha Dogg Pound in other songs such as It's On, Wut Would U Do, and Ole School Shit. This rivarly with Death Row Records and Dr. Dre carried well into 1994. Eazy-E was heavily criticized by many rap fans in Los Angeles, especially in Compton, after vocally supporting Theodore Briseño, the only non-white police officer to take part in the Rodney King beating, and also for attending a Republican Party fundraiser. Eazy claimed:

So what they did was picked my name off for giving donations and they sent me an invitation to come down there, an invitation that said "We want to invite you to the Republican's party". I'm not no fuckin' Republican you know, so I went down there. When we went down there, and as soon as I got off the plane, we had CNN and all these people like Eazy-E gangs member drug dealer.. and they just blew it up. Basically, what I did was paid $1,500 for $1,000,000 worth of press.

Death

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In 1995, Eazy-E entered the hospital with what he believed to be bronchitis. He was diagnosed with AIDS, and almost immediately announced his illness to the public. He died soon after, on March 26, 1995 at approximately 6:35 PM. Before his death, rumors had it Chris Cumming had killed Eazy-E over a drug deal, so that got on Eazy-E's nerves not to mention Suge Knight was a M.O.B. Piru Blood and Eazy-E was a Kelly Park Compton Crip, Eazy-E also had back up from his friends from Compton, Watts, Gardena and South Central Los Angeles, he made peace with Ice Cube, but never got the chance to do so with Dr. Dre. However, Dre believes that their history together overshadowed the feud. Four years later, Dr. Dre publicly addressed his former foe/friend in the song "What's the Difference" from Chronic 2001.

Legacy

Eazy-E's influence lives on through the new generation of West Coast rappers. Two posthumous albums were released, Eternal E in 1995, and Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton in 1995. Both releases proved to be successful. Following Eazy's death, his record label was taken over by his wife, Tomica Wright. It is currently a division of Epic Records. Ruthless Records has also found considerable success with Above the Law, MC Ren, Brownside, Kokane, Dirty Red, Slow Pain, Leicy Loc, Domino, B.G. Knocc Out & Dresta and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. The latter group has dedicated a few of its songs to Eazy, mainly their 1996 hit single "Tha Crossroads" and also their peformance at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.

Eazy's oldest son, nicknamed "Eazy-E, Jr." or "Lil Eazy-E", released a documentary about his father entitled The Life and Times of Eric Wright. Another documentary called Impact of a Legend was produced and sold along with the CD of the same name. Today, many of Eazy-E's rare and posthumous materials have been remixed by fellow Compton rapper The Game, notably Still Cruisin'. The combination of Eazy's rare vocals and original material from The Game became an underground hit and helped The Game early in his career. The track has appeared on several mixtapes including G-Unit Radio Part 8. "How We Do (Remix)" is another rare track featuring 50 Cent. The Game often mentions Eazy-E in his songs, most notably on his album The Documentary.

In 2001, post-grunge band Dynamite Hack released "Boyz-N-The-Hood", a cover of the 1987 original written by Ice Cube and performed by Eazy-E. Eazy-E is also mentioned in the songs "Pass Me By" and "The Staleness" by Insane Clown Posse. Rapper South Park Mexican has released a song called "Boyz On Da Cut" which is a Houston, TX version of Eazy-E's Boyz-N-The-Hood, also before Eazy-E died, he was to make music with artists Guns N' Roses, Tupac Shakur, Brownside, Scarface, Dirty Red, Brotha Lynch Hung, Kid Frost and Bizzy Bone. The character of Ryder in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was modeled after Eazy-E, as the game is set during the early 1990s, the high-point of Eazy's career.

Eazy's son Lil Eazy is set to make his debut album Prince of Compton as well as featuring friends like Ice Cube, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and production by Dr. Dre out on June 2006.

See also

Discography

Albums

Singles

From Eazy-Duz-It

From 5150: Home 4 Tha Sick

  • 1992 "Only If You Want It"
  • 1992 "Neighborhood Snyper"

From It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa

From Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton

  • 1995 "Just tah Let U Know" #30 UK Chart

Posthumous material

  • 2005 "Still Cruisin'"

References

  • Burbank, Luke (March 6, 2006). "Terror, Hope on the Streets of Compton, Part 2". National Public Radio.
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