If you were a hip-hop head in the late 1980s, chances are you
grew up listening to the music of pioneering "gangsta" rap
group N.W.A. as well as their solo efforts. From the group's
controversial song "F-The Police," to the G-funk sound of Dr.
Dre's pivotal album, The Chronic, the members of this Compton,
Calif.-based group are still influencing the rap-game over 20
years later.
However, it was the late Eric "Eazy-E" Wright
who laid the foundation for the group and its
label, Ruthless Records, and created the sound
of hard core West Coast hip-hop that is
beginning to see resurgence on the charts with
the popularity of artists like The Game and
Guerilla Black.
Wright grew up on the impoverished streets of
Compton, Calif. and like many of his peers,
turned to drug dealing as a means of survival.
However, he turned those profits into a
legitimate business by founding Ruthless
Records in the 1980s.
While having a successful solo career that was
aided by the Ice Cube-penned hit, "Boys N' The
Hood," Wright would later form the super group
N.W.A. in 1986. The group released its first
LP, N.W.A. and The Posse in 1987 to little
fanfare, but struck platinum with their 1988
follow-up Straight Outta Compton.
Internal tension over finances led to Ice
Cube's departure in 1989 with Dr. Dre following
Ice Cube's lead by leaving the group in 1992,
essentially marking the end of the group's
successful run.
However, Wright's battle with AIDS, which would
eventually take his life in 1995, led to
reconciliation between Wright and his former
band mates, and members Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and
M.C. Ren occasionally record and perform
together to this day.
Now, Wright's son, Lil Eazy-E, is following in
his famous father's footsteps by releasing his
debut album Prince of Compton, which is
scheduled to drop on September 16, 2008. The
first single off the LP will be "What We're
Claimin."
Lil Eazy remembers Eazy
E
What We're
Claiming
Coming From
Compton
Lil Eazy's music has been described as a hard-core depiction of
the mean streets of Compton, Calif. and the struggles his
family endured as a result of his father's untimely death of
AIDS. Nevertheless, many in the hip-hop game have questioned
his street credibility because of the success of his famous
father.
"A lot of people probably think I grew up in the suburbs of
southern California, living a privileged life. What they don't
know is I was born and raised in the same house as my father,
the oldest of nine kids. We were a big family that all grew-up
together. I lived the same life as my father, and I'm giving
you that life on The Prince of Compton," says Lil Eazy-E.
Lil-Eazy-E also works with former Ruthless Records artists,
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Ice Cube, who owe much of their early
success to his late father, on the new album.
"Ice Cube was a huge influence on my record," says Lil Eazy-E.
"Knowing him as a kid and then working with him as a man was a
great learning experience."
And over 20 years later, the lessons taught by Eazy-E, Dr. Dre,
M.C. Ren, Ice Cube and D.J. Yella are still resonating
throughout hip-hop, as many young artists continue to emulate
their sound and learn from their success.
Todd A. Smith is the publisher of http://www.regalmag.com
, an online magazine dedicated to issues
affecting African American men. The website
tackles such topics as social and political
issues, health, relationships, business, sports
and entertainment.
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