EzekelRAGE
Superstar
I want to preface this by saying, if nothing else, it's a good read. This dude is some type of insider/ "somebody in the know". I check out his page every other day to see what's new on there. He has information on a lot of stuff including Pac. So check out the page for good reads on other things including other black history/music history/tv industry etc. I included posts having to do with pac or how Dre/Cube treated others. This was because it sorta led back to Straight Outta Comptom/N.W.A.
If you enjoy it, daps and reps plz
For those who can't be bothered to read, cliff notes at the bottom. But you are missing out.
{As the track from EFIL4ZAGGIN, "PRELUDE starts}"All hail to those believin in the real gangsta sh**
Cause when it comes to the real n*****
It makes the shyt that much harder to deal with..." My "Straight Outta Compton" review:
I ACTUALLY LIKED THE MOVIE. I love the feeling of that it has seemingly given African Americans which is one of "Black Empowerment". I Love the fact that the spotlight has been thrust upon how F'd up the police have been for years not only out here but period especially in these days and times. I loved hearing a Hollywood crowd rap "F*** THA POLICE" in unison no matter what the color was. The brother that played Eazy acted his a** off so shouts to him. Director Felix Gary Gray did a real good job as this movie will go down as a "classic" to colored folks(he now has three under his belt: Friday, Set It Off, now this) and proves to Hollywood that Black folks can make blockbusters too. Now for those of you that are new in here, I predicted exactly what was going to happen on set and in this movie years ago when they first announced it was green lit. THE INMATES WERE RUNNING THE ASYLUM! So with that being said, HERE COMES THE TRUTH AND SOMETIMES THE TRUTH IS HARD TO SWALLOW SO JUST DONT BITE IT....
no.1: The very first question @cthagod asked of the producer of the film was "You wasn't under contract with N.W.A the whole time???" To which Brother Cube essentially answered "Yes". The REAL reason for that was he was ALWAYS seen as "Dre's little man". You see as I have readily explained, Eazy was and was only supposed to be seen as THE star period. The N.W.A project was a vehicle to get more money and set up future project for the rest including 6th member ARABIAN PRINCE{Something To Dance To}(have you not wondered why he NEVER gets mentioned). You see Eazy then worked(NOT ON PURPOSE) on a "homeboy honor" system. Meaning, "Let's deal with contracts later so we can get buzzed and mix these breezies now". He didn't have anyone sign contracts till the big money started rolling in but he fronted EVERYTHING so of course he deserves the lion's share. You see one thing Cube conveniently leaves out is, HE ALWAYS GOT HIS PUBLISHING. Which is KEY to any artist's survival. What he wasn't getting that he wanted more than anything else was "shine". Dre and Yella didn't want it while Ren was happy to be there. So when the part of the movie where Jerry Heller tells Eazy that Cube wants to be him that Charlemenge alluded to gets LEFT IN and NOT ON THE CUTTING ROOM floor and the people are telling us that everything in the movie is THE TRUTH then well...
no. 2 Say what you will about who and what Dr. Dre is today but during these early formative years, he was very much a Ladies Man. Dudes hung around Dre because he had all the "mixes"(literally and figuratively) on deck. When @cthagod asked Cube about Dre's first group, World Class Wrecking Cru, " wearing lipstick" and the producer of the film denied it but Charlemenge was not entirely wrong. You see the group was supposed to be the Hip Hop version of Prince. They were purposely dressed this way. If you're familiar with Snoop's song and video, "Sexual Eruption", then you know what they were trying to achieve. During those times in the 80's, the clothes they wore were very much acceptable as a result of the huge Gang culture problem Los Angeles had at the time. One had to dress like that to get in the club. To perform at these clubs and get that dough you had to be dressed up. Most guys couldn't afford to wear their "church" clothes to the club so they had to wear these club clothes plus, the ladies sometimes liked that look. Now as for the shiny lips the group sometimes had, well that's on them. Hahahahahaha
no. 3When @cthagod asked was there any backlash from leaving the group, the producer of the film while clearly uncomfortable mentioned with a chuckle that there were some fists thrown. Well sorta. You see he and his crew called Da Lenchmob were being beaten up by the legendary west coast Rap group and members of Ruthless Records, Above The Law(@officialabvdlaw). With Above The Law being REAL dudes from the streets, it wasn't nothing for them to beat crews up that only had one or two official street guys. So when Charlemenge asked the producer of the film did he feel more safe on the East Coast he wasn't too far off. Hence at least part of the motivation for the producer of the film to then seek out The Nation of Islam for protection(post maybe later) and would eventually influence CLASSIC music material to come. The last thing I will address again is 2Pac being in the film. Although PAC was mortal enemies with Dre & Cube(& vise versa because they knew his INFLUENCE at the time was just as much or probably more than theirs which could render them obsolete), I still think he would have supports the film's message regarding Eazy and his battle with AIDS. I do believe that AIDS awareness would have been cause that PAC championed and been an advocate for. I will keep stressing how likable Eazy was and that he was hard NOT to get along with. Their friendship would have led them to work together more beyond the songs he had with Above The Law and Bone Thugs for sure.
no. 4: {Blastmaster KRS One voice}"Let us begin, what, where, why or when. Will all be explained like instructions to a game..." This all matters for you to understand the full spectrum. The group C.I.A.(Cru' In Action) consisted of three members: best friends O'shea Jackson, originally known as Purple Ice later changed to Ice Cube(Both names derive in homage from who was then the best rapper is Los Angeles, Ice T{one of the only FOUR rappers that could then and still can go into any neighborhood in LA WITHOUT SECURITY}). Along with, Darrell Johnson, originally known as Kid Disaster and later as K-Dee(had a hit album himself independently in '95). Also add to the mix is Sir Jinx, Dr. Dre's cousin and the reason for Cube meeting Dre at all(post maybe). Jinx is forever memorialized as the dancer in the Pittsburgh Penguins jersey in N.W.A.'s "Express Yourself" video. Jinx and Cube are the same person in real life that's why they don't hang because they remind themselves of themselves. Hahahahahaha!!! Cube and Jinx are Dre's "sons" and always will be. The three in C.I.A. started out trying to emulate the hottest group of the time, RUN D.M.C, featuring the rapper Cube got his style from Run. Knowing Cube could really create and DELIVER on the spot, Dre brought him in to start writing rhymes for a group from NYC called "H.B.O.". And then...
In the annals of history one cannot begin to unravel the stories of men building and destroying empires without breaking down the trials and tribulations of the women standing right next to or behind them. This holds true especially in the history of popular American Black Music. Men often seek to leave these things out as a way to bolster their image of supreme masculinity. A sort of, "I conquer it all! I am man hear My roar!" But in all actuality it should be, "Hear My Cry". The two subjects in the top photos were INTEGRAL in shaping the minds, hearts, and attitudes of the bottom photos. One for the better(right) and one for the worse(left). For Me this adds more credence to My assertion that Marvin Gaye is the G.O.A.T. because he wasn't afraid to say, "Man this situation with HER has Me ALL THE WAY F'd Up!!!" It also adds to the desire for more female voices in Hip Hop that truly KNOW THEMSELVES and won't be afraid to express heartache and despair. I say all that because right now we're being presented tales but the key chapters are missing. But hey what do I know...
As you all should know by now, "Straight Outta Compton", while on a $29 million dollar budget has grossed $56.1 million since Thursday and the Sunday totals aren't even in!!! Congrats!! Now there is a part of N.W.A. lore that was not in the movie that I shall try to frame for you here so it is NOT a spoiler. This night I remember vividly... The discord between N.W.A./Ruthless Records and Ice Cube and his Lenchmob had reached an all time high. Partly because N.W.A. had felt betrayed by Cube for "putting him on" especially because he was Dre's "creation"(listen to the last verse of "Dre Day" '...spot em got Em as I steps in the temple...YOU DISS DRE YOU DISS YOURSELF, HELL YEAH!!!'). Cube preceded to go on a video show called "Pump It Up" hosted by "Body & Soul" rapper D Zire aka Dee Barnes. When Dee asked Cube about his former cohorts, he said basically "I will have dem suckas 100 Miles and Runnin'". Dre felt his son showed the ultimate disrespect and saw BLOOD. Cube is probably the best rapper ever in "eluding the wolves" so Dre knew it would be a minute before he caught up to him. So the guys were in the studio getting super buzzed and talking about the incident that they felt was disrespectful when they got an invite to an industry party. Dre was steadily making himself more and more angry to where Eazy got concerned like "Ren, this N**** trippin'!" They get to the party and see the video host Dee Barnes. Dre tells the guys, "Ima F*** this B**** Up!" Eazy tells Ren and Yella, "WATCH THIS N**** MAN!!" Dre, 200+ lbs., breaks away from them a goes right to Barnes who is all of 110 lbs.. He beats her mercilessly and throws her down the stairs of the event. Unrepentant and Defiant, he takes out his frustrations with his "son" on someone that only asked a question. The fellas get Dre off of her and push him into a car...
"I was dreaming when I wrote this Forgive Me if this goes astray Could've sworn it was judgement day..." Note when this was posted that I was just trying to lend some understanding to you in regards to "The World's Most Dangerous Group". For however twisted the logic was Eazy had good hearted intentions, he just didn't know any better. So when or if you watched the film, during the tour scenes when they were partying remember THIS is what was happening. Eazy was a F'n ROCKSTAR. He was the Rockstar. They were his band. Get it? If have readily for years explained to you the group dynamic to you get a picture of how the hierarchy was. "Man E, this b**** says she's pregnant!" "Tell her call Ruthless and ask for Jerry so he can cut her a check!" Sometimes keeping it real does go wrong...
I've been waiting to debunk the myths surrounding this gentleman for years. Now that a good number of you have seen the movie I think it is ok to do so. If you have not seen it:****SPOILER ALERT****!!!! Here comes the truth.
JERRY HELLER:
Ask yourself this, if an old decrepit white man was beating some young Street self professed N***** out of their money, why was he never touched, whupped on or sued?? HMMMMM... That because he wasn't!! He was "robbing Peter to pay Paul". To keep the business of Ruthless Records afloat, Jerry had to make some questionable moves without Eazy's knowledge because of EAZY'S SPENDING!!!! The same happened with Motown, STAX, Philadelphia International etc. etc. I told y'all Eazy was generous to a FAULT. The rest of the guys didn't like the way Eazy took Jerry's word as the gospel and the fact that Eazy would ok something and Jerry would tell him NO. EAZY WAS JERRY'S CLIENT. EAZY WAS JERRY'S CLIENT. Not beholden to anyone else except for the guy that signed HIS CHECK: EAZY MUTHAF***** E!!!! So of course he was going to be "EAZY-CENTRIC"! He was a convenient scapegoat because he was then and still is OLD!!! THERE IS NO N.W.A WITHOUT JERRY HELLER. THERE IS NO N.W.A WITHOUT JERRY HELLER!!!! Ruthless would not have been a $100 Million Dollar company without Jerry's vision! Jerry got fired because it was time. EAZY knew the business and Jerry was unnecessary. Ice Cube put all these ideas in your head because the REAL culprit, who was in the movie as well if you were paying attention and could read between the lines an his name does NOT rhyme with Suge Knight, started a divide and conquer because Eazy with Jerry's help was MAKING TOO MUCH MONEY!! Jerry had Eazy sign deals that let Ruthless distribute with OTHER LABELS. $$$$$$$$$ That is too dangerous and revolutionary! You see no other label has had that deal since! Plus Eazy also had COMPTOWN RECORDS. Mo' Money, Mo' Money, Mo' Money! As for Suge...
I was asked by the Homie @darnellblue do a character by character synopsis of the REAL version of each member and role they played in the group and in the movie. I guess I will have to do each in parts because there is waaaaay too much info. So @dgsigma said start with this brother right here... If you talk about him, you have to admit that he is BRILLIANT. There is a VERY, VERY short list of Rappers that can claim relevance after 5 years and this dude is going on 30!!!!!!!!!!! You do know this movie was written from he and his "Dad's" perspective right? You do know that? Well don't you? Where do I start...hmmmm... Let's start with the INFAMOUS "contract". The "contract" that was portrayed in the movie that he "never" got. The "contract" that Jerry just wanted him to sign sight unseen. Welp folks I hate to burst your bubble but you know the reason Cube did not get a contract off the bat was because...HE LEFT THE GROUP FOR 2 YEARS!!!!! HE LEFT THE GROUP FOR 2 YEARS!!! His Father, Hosea, said he had to leave Rap alone and go to college. So right when the group began to take off in '87 with "N.W.A. and the Posse", he was gone!!!!! "Boyz-N-The-Hood" began to blow up while Cube was in Arizona attending school. The group toured and was getting money and telling him all the fun(girls) they were having so he begged his father to let him leave and his dad obliged. That same "contract" he said he "never got to look at", he sure did bring to William Howard Taft High School to show everyone he was indeed a part of N.W.A.(refer your questions on this #FACT to @darnellblue). Again I stress the part in the film where Jerry says to Eazy that Cube "wants to be him", if that was fake then why leave it in the movie? You have to understand, Cube was the youngest and had no money and no girls...correct that he had one but I will post later so you will truly understand the spark that lit the flame... ANYTHING Cube ever wrote for the group Dre told him what to write, how to say it, and when to say it. He deserves equal writing credit. Hahahahaha PART TWO SOON....
I don't care how you feel about this guy but he deserves NOT to get lied on. "F You AG!!! He is an "Evil Genius" that orchestrated everything from Kennedy's assassination, Global Warming, Marshawn Lynch not getting the ball on the goal line, UFOs, and he also supplied Bill Cosby with those pills back in the 1960s!!!! I am unfollowing you now if you defend him!!!" See, doesn't that feel better because I said it for you? Yes, Suge has done a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, wrong. I can give you personal instances from friends and family alike. Suge just saw an angle and ran with it. The guys were being paid not of the stature they should have been but that's because EAZY PAID ALL THEIR BILLS!!!! With that being said, legal cases, bad habits, extra mixes, and baby mamas ALL ADD UP TO MUCHO DINERO. So it was even. I already told you Eazy was working on the "Homeboy Honor System". But what Suge "preyed" upon were FRAGILE EGOS. He knew he could appeal to the desires to be "The Man" and it worked. Suge took Dre to an even HIGHER level than before as he was not a Rapper per say. He only started on the mic because Cube left. The same person that got in Cube's ear about the "contract" is the same person that hired Suge in the first place(just wait on the post eventually)! Go figure. That stuff they portrayed in the movie to make him this "crazed monster clad in red" is just the reason he will go down in the history books without his full due. He has been made an example of so you will NOT have anymore Deathrow's or Ruthless situation to where you control your own destiny. Suge didn't touch Eazy. No one did. Dre left because there were too many new Negroes and the control was out of his grasp plus Suge had "sonned" him in other ways and PAC was pressing. All Ego. Which leads Me to the next and tied as arguably the most important person in blowing up the dynasty.... Leave Suge alone. He has enough going on for this revisionist history to make his situation worse. "Bye AG!!! I'm done!"
How many people can say that they are the UNQUESTIONED GREATEST OF ALL TIME at what they do? This gentleman is pure genius. His "EAR" is undisputed. If there was a challenger they'd have just as much or even more of an impact than this man. I think what has made him even more clever is he has learned to maneuver and navigate on such an elite level now that it looks effortless. As in the case with the film, he shaped and molded his character portrayal to where he looked like the victim in most situations while bolstering his image as a street hip guy. BRILLIANT. Little things like his car throughout the movie, a lowrider, choice of wardrobe, and repeatedly punching dudes in the face would make someone in let say Oklahoma say, "Whew that Dr. Dre ain't no joke!" Well he isn't but not to that degree. Yes it is "Dre's way or the highway" but he is non confrontational. You won't know when you've been "kicked off the hood" till it's too late. So the parts where he tells Eazy and Suge respectively that he is leaving them....FALSE. You see when Cube rapped in the Top 5 All Time Diss Record, "No Vaseline", "Livin' with the whites. One big house and not another n**** in site..." He kind of told the truth about Eazy and Dre's living situation as they lived next door to one another in houses Eazy PAID for. Eazy also had one big bank account for himself, Dre and Ren to share with access to HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars. All this business about having no dough...hmmm where? The "Homeboy Honor System" again. When Dre left Ruthless he didn't tell anyone except Ren and asked him to leave with him in order to validate his move. Then he proceeded to STEAL HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars out of the joint bank account and the MASTERS to their music worth MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. When he left Deathrow, he stole the MASTERS to their music worth TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. So that whole last part about him confronting Suge at the studio, FALSE!!!! See flipping it around in the movie to make Suge look like the aggressor is nice and tidy a fits just right in a 147min film. Once again, the same person that got in Cube's ear to leave Ruthless, also sparked Dre's fuse.
Why make him out to be a "weenie" in the end of the film? Why negate that he had UNIVERSAL RESPECT EVERYWHERE? That "VIP WRISTBAND" status that I describe, Rappers out here would die for and he had it 10 fold. Why act like after Dre left he had more and more hits? He had arguably THE BIGGEST Rap group in the world. Who sold quintuple platinum. Why act like HE DIDN'T GET PAID AS MUCH IF NOT MORE THAN DRE ON DEATHROW RELEASES???? Why have him portrayed as the ONLY womanizer in the group when THEY ALL WERE???? This is the trailblazer. This is the gangster. This is the maverick. But you make him beg to have negroes come back? That scene in the film in NYC where he comes up to Cube and asks to talk...NO! It was the other way around! Eazy was there situated and Cube and Mack 10 asked to come up and talk to him! They had already made peace on the set of CB4. Why make downgrade E? See maybe part of the problem is, he married Tomica on his death bed right there in the hospital(post eventually), and maybe she harbors resentment because if that were Me as a producer of the film, I never would have let My loved one look like they were doing bad. Part of the reason he downgraded was because HE TOOK CARE OF EVERYONE. First class all the way. Have you ever noticed that no one else complained about money with E? Hmmmmm... Ask yourself why is that???? (Photo Cred: @darnellblue)
Broke, Huh? Doing bad, Huh? Ren=Platinum, his own EP=Gold, and The Atban Klann which would go on to become The Black Eyed Peas, hadn't found their "sound" yet. And not to mention a little group out of Cleveland, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. All with a staff of only 6 employees. I would gather that many a record exec would want these "Broke Problems".
I posted this years ago. Now in wake of the mega success of the movie, WHY MARGINALIZE REN INVOLVEMENT AND CONTRIBUTION???? They gave his character only a few words like he was just there "hanging out". Like he had nothing better to do. "Man E you gonna let him talk to you like that?" was his biggest line. They had him portrayed as a monosyllabic hanger on. REN IS A VICTIM OF HIS OWN LOYALTY! Sometimes loyalty kills your career... By @artemusgordon via @RepostWhiz app:
#RAPHOFFridays: WHEN KEEPING IT LOYAL GOES SOUTH. MC Ren is walking into not only the Hip Hop HOF but probably by next year, the Rock & Roll HOF too. Ren's problem is he stayed too long with Eazy and got accustomed to Eazy paying all the bills(house, car, gas, churren etc.) leaving him with "no headaches". That sort of "crutch" slows your growth and development. So by the time, first Cube then Dre, had it super crackin', it was too late for Ren to catch up. Ren was the second of the group(well third if you count The D.O.C as a member) to go platinum with his solo project trailing Cube. Then he got a group, C.P.O., signed to Capitol but after that....CRICKETS. With Eazy pouring all his attention into Bone Thugs and The Atban Klan(Will.I.Am & Apl), Ren was left to fend on his own. Ren found the Nation of Islam, hence the album, "Shock of the Hour", at then more crickets. He was torn between staying true to his new religion and being the gangsta rapper everyone grew up with. Cube mastered it but Ren couldn't. Ren was really selling beans pies and papers but very one else wasn't. Fast Forward to today, Dre and Cube are each THE man in their collective genres...and HAVE SOME CONTROL OVER THE N.W.A. movie coming soon(uh, you know I will give you the real deal....someday hahahahahaha). Ren and Yella, not so much. As for Ren salute but let's hope he can rise like a Phoenix from the ashes.
(#RepostWhiz app)
I've said it before and will say it again, most empires fall because of a Man's love or lust over a Woman. Two dynasties in ruin in part because of a "magic box"?? Let's start from the beginning. A young O'shea Jackson gets himself a girl he really likes named Michel'le Toussaint. Things are going good for him as he has a little popularity and penned as few songs that would go on to become classics. Ms. Toussaint can sing and O'shea brought her to the attention of his Big Homie that he looks up to, Andre Young. When O'shea has to go off to college he asks his Big Homie to watch his girl. Asking Andre this is akin to leaving a wolf to guard a hen house. Dre starts mixing Toussaint and when a singer doesn't show up for a session, he has her do vocals on the last song he ever recorded with his group, The World Class Wrecking Crew. The song "Turn Off The Lights" became a major hit everywhere except the East Coast. Hahahaha. When young O'shea returns from college he finds the woman he couldn't wait to see now "shacked up" with his big homie he would not dare cross. He of course like most men is hurt. He stays with the group but feels betrayed. He starts "Looking At The Front Door". This combined with other reasons(will discuss) makes his exit all the more easier. Now Ms. Toussaint thinks she is Dre's "main" but, like Dre's buddy, E, who is the boss, EVERY CHICK IS A SIDE CHICK. The two soon go and have a child together. Ms. Toussaint is turned on by power though. Who has the power? E has the power. So she slides over to E so he can get a "test drive". E mixes and ain't trippin' because he does this all day. When Dre finds out, like young O'shea, he isn't happy either so when the split comes it is easier too. He does take Ms. Toussaint with him to his new situation because she can make him $$$. But so volatile is their relationship, that one time Dre breaks her nose. Like I said, Ms. Toussaint loves power and at that time the man with the power is Dre's new boss, Marion Knight. They start mixing. Dre finds out and is unhappy again. When he does split from them it is all the more easier again. There is more but stew on this for a while...
Once again, I posted this years ago. I again ask a question about his role in the film, WHY LESSEN HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GROUP? DRE and YELLA produced all the music for N.W.A.. YELLA & DRE=High Powered Productions. BTW I will say this, his character and Eazy's were the only ones properly attired the entire movie. The rest had on costumes. Hahahahahaha
By @artemusgordon via @RepostWhiz app:
DJ Yella was the silent member of N.W.A not because he had nothing to say but because he is VERY FAR from the ignorance the others tried to display. Coming from a family of ALL accomplished doctors and lawyers except for one of his older brothers, standing behind he and Eazy, Yella was at first a disappointment to the family that he didn't follow In the family's scholastic footsteps. Once He made it big time they relented and recognized his craft. He never complained about the money they were getting because since he was the most loyal, Eazy ALWAYS looked out and also he didn't need it. Yella, like Dre and Eazy, wasn't at a loss for female companionship either. He always kept himself separate and never fell into the jealousy/envy mode that ultimately consumed Dre and Cube. I will break down the TRUE reason the group broke up coming soon on Globalgrind.com. After Eazy died, Yella became a successful porn director an still gets a check from Ruthless. He likes being anonymous and hopes it stays that way.
Amongst the further incongruences of the film was the portrayal of Dre's first "boss", Lonzo. They made Lonzo out to be a "Curl activator Juice Out of Date Dinosaur" when in actuality he was very far from it. Lonzo had and probably still has serious street credibility that why in the movie Eazy and Ren were able to come up in his club dressed like Crips and not "sweated". This is a photo of Lonzo's house in the Athens Park section of Los Angeles. This is were N.W.A.'s initial recordings happened. "Boyz...", "8 Ball", "Gangsta...", etc. etc. right there in the back house. This is also where the guys used to hang out as well but it is in a ultra Blood neighborhood hence why the group only wore Black so there would not be any trouble. This also is where the World Class Wrecking Cru recorded their classic, "Turn Off The Lights" with Cube's girlfriend, Michel'le. The studio in the back is where Dre used to mix Michel'le on the low initially and where Jewell of Deathrow fame used to umm....let's say...umm "provide Stress Relief" for the guys. Yes, she was down with the group from the beginning and that is why she's on the second N.W.A. album playing the "hooker" they kidnap and kill on "One Less...". Oh and BTW, the reason the World Class Wrecking Cru dressed the way they did was at that time out here in LA the most popular group was, Ready For The World, and to capitalize on their success with the ladies, Lonzo decided to make a Rap group similar and it WORKED.
Once again I ask you all, "WHY MARGINALIZE HIS INVOLVEMENT??" The D.O.C. is just as much a part of N.W.A. as the rest of the members. I think I now understand why they played him like {Biz voice}"...a wet Food Stamp", because it didn't fit their "narrative". See in order to set up Dre and Cube as the "creative" forces within the group, you have to lessen the everyone else's contribution. To paint a clearer picture for you, while Dre is obviously the guy that is in charge of the music, he had D.O.C. "managing" the lyrics. D.O.C. is a writer's writer and at that time was your favorite Rapper's favorite Rapper. Busta Rhymes once said to Me, "The only one out of them(N.W.A.) that gets true respect on the East is D.O.C..." So in the movie they portray him as an aloof drunkard but he was right there writing alongside Cube AND Ren. D.O.C. wrote "We Want Eazy" and help write "Straight Outta Compton" amongst others. He would go on to write much of the second N.W.A. album, "EFIL4ZAGGIN", including the lead single, "Alwayz Into Somethin". Do you ever wonder why those initial Deathrow releases were so lyrically on point? One word: D.O.C., who also wrote the classic, "Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang". Did you notice that after those initial Deathrow releases the lyrical barrage went south? This is a result of D.O.C. "leaving" and trying to go back to Eazy. Dre managed to get him back in the fold once he left The 'Row and started Aftermath. There D.O.C. wrote, "The Next Episode". So again I ask, does a man this talented deserve to have his role diminished??? Oh and yeah, D.O.C. HAS HIS VOICE BACK. (Shouts to the LEGEND @djchristheglove {Google him and get a bar!})
When this landed fresh of a private jet straight from prison it changed a the entire culture of a "record label, staff, and a crew". You can't buy this anywhere. The culture before he arrived had been one of, "Hey let's work on this ONE thing till we get it right"(Dre always works this way that's why there are very few releases with his name attached but in turn it makes the brand more exclusive). This is on stage is SELF MADE pure unadulterated STAR POWER. The man in charge of the music was used to building stars(Cube, E, D.O.C., Em, etc. etc.) as in evidence that you rarely see him work with established artists that have not come from his immediate family tree. This hastened the guy in charge of the music exodus from the label. It also caused the label top dog who was also a star to go from first to second position. Something he loathed and also a reason he keeps such a tight grip on everything and anything around him today. The professional envy ran rampant amongst the halls of Deathrow. The funny thing is the only person that really didn't have and issue with him coming in and taking over was Daz because his work effort matched the star's work effort. So once again when PAC erroneously shows up in the movie, it should not be smiles, "sh*** and giggles". They both should be looking at one another and sighing under their breath saying, "Look at this N**** Here!"
I understand the frustration when it comes to historical accuracy as that is what I attempt to do here. In the case of Eazy's daughter, E.B., I can definitely relate to her displeasure but I think she has to take a step back a look at the entire picture. Her father's wife, Tomica Woods-Wright, was one of the producers of the film and THE MOST IMPORTANT person in getting it made as she OWNS THE RIGHTS TO RUTHLESS RECORDS. Just like when Mick Jagger was brought in to secure the music rights for the horrible film, "Get On Up", so was Tomica in the same capacity for "Straight Outta Compton". Now E.B. has to think that the reason things were not discussed in regards to Eazy's latter years would be because Tomica's relationship with her father would have to be discussed and dissected for good or bad and some folks don't want to be under that type of scrutiny. Also when you have these kind of stories, people that worked for or with the deceased tend to start believing their owed monies that they've already been paid. Hahahaha! Eazy's legacy is forever GOLDEN. The folks who know KNOW. I keep telling you how good a dude he was and how REAL. He didn't get bodyguards until AFTER his run in with Suge to sign the paperwork freeing Dre, D.O.C., and Michel'le from Ruthless. He also could go ANYWHERE & EVERYWHERE in LA and that "VIP wristband" has been reserved for only three other Rappers. E.B. says here she working in a documentary about her father but I say again if you are not cool with the person who OWNS the legacy(Tomica) then what can you really bring to the table?
When you get into the business of Music as group of young Black males from the "street", many times you don't know what you in for. You may go in as "friends/brothers-to-the-end" but.... You fall into stardom "bright eyed and bushy tailed" not knowing that the path to success is not a straight line. In many cases, more important than the music portion is the leg work you have to do day to day to not only make your record "stick" but your career "pop" as well. Personality is KEY. K-E-Y. Too often than not many performers do interviews like they're taking mug shot photos. Drab, droll, and seemingly unhappy to be there. So because of this trend many media outlets direct their focus on one or a couple of members that are going to talk instead of the entire unit. Sometimes this causes great animosity between members thinking the one getting the focus is trying to get the "shine". The best example of this was shown the the film, "The Show", where Wu Tang members, Method Man, Ghostface, and U-God go at it regarding this very subject. If it wasn't for the vision and strength of Wu leader and founder, RZA, this moment in time could have fractured the group forever. As the meteoric rise of the "Straight Outta..." album grew N.W.A.'s star status, the group was being sought out by every media outlet both print and electronic. Eazy hated doing interviews and when he did they were VERY monotone and filled with profanity. Plus, they worked on the "Homeboy Honor System"=DOOWUTCHYALIKE. Dre, Yella, and Ren barely talked so that left the "kid" to do them and he did them well. Soon young Ice Cube was in demand to speak with. Although he might have "dumbed down" his speech, his interviews were highly intelligent and well thought out. Fresh from a two year stint in college, Cube was a man with some formal education and from a very well grounded two parent household. His parents were custodians at UCLA and wanted the best for their son and felt education was the key to success. People close to the group began to recognize this seed of greatness and the operation to extract him from the group and make him the preeminent star was now underway..
With the dearth of Female M.C.'s in Hip Hop plaguing the planet, it would have been great for "Straight Outta Compton" to show who really paved the way for N.W.A. and Ruthless Records. The first project to drop with the "RUTHLESS" logo was J.J. Fad, an all female Rap group. They were the ones who lit the fuse and gave Eazy and the Homies the time and more importantly, capital, to finish the album "Straight Outta Compton" comfortably. The Ladies' album went Gold bolstered by it's hit CLASSIC single, "Supersonic", which went platinum. The song was produced by the SIXTH member of N.W.A., Arabian Prince(top left). "Who AG??? I ain't heard of him and he ain't in the movie!!" In the beginning stages of the group and with no clear path to their niche, N.W.A. did both reality rap and dance music. The dance music portions were produced by Arabian Prince. Prince created "Panic Zone" and "Something To Dance To" for the group. His style of music was at the forefront of what is basically EDM today. He eventually left or was dismissed from them after a "disagreement" with Eazy. Hahahahhaha!! He landed on his feet though and signed what was then a big record deal with Orpheous Records. He was living good in a very nice section of LA rolling around in a brand new '90 convertible Porsche. I used to see him all the time and ask what he was doing and his answer was, "I'm selling big in Europe." Hey this is Rap music and sometimes you're "jammin' in Bucharest" harder than you are in Compton. BTW when(not if) the group gets elected to the Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame, If I am him, I AM WALKING ON THAT STAGE RIGHT ALONGSIDE EVERYONE ELSE AND GETTING MY TROPHY!!!!!
Who killed N.W.A.? Greed? Jealousy? Envy? An old feeble white man with no knowledge of Rap music that was only beholden to the group's boss? Or just general ignorance to the business? NO to all. The man responsible for the breakup but actually empowered two of the three most well known members is....drumroll please.......Priority Records head BRYAN TURNER. You see Eazy was essentially printing money. I mean literally because he had a "product" that NO ONE ELSE possessed. So he called all the shots. He only came to labels for DISTRIBUTION and not a PARTNERSHIP. As in evidence that the J.J. Fad and the D.O.C. projects were through Atco/Atlantic distribution and Tairrie B was through Comptown/MCA Records. Whereas E and N.W.A. were solely through Priority. When you spread your money like that, no one label can tell you what to do. So E printing money meant Bryan Turner wanted in. Distribution is good but OWNERSHIP AND DISTRIBUTION IS BETTER. So who is the easiest member to approach about a partnership? The street savvy Vet or the musical genius who only cares about the studio and getting laid? No, you come at the college educated good kid with the two parent's who want the most for their son and you tell him to look at his "contracts" because "I can pay you waaaaay more than $75k." Plus you give the kid who wants to be as big as his mentors the chance to be "in charge". When Dre left whom did he consult too? Look at the back of your "Chronic" cd or LP and tell me whom it is distributed by? Why would E eventually stop messing with them and take BONE somewhere else? BECAUSE HE KNEW. When Snoop left Deathrow, whom did he run screaming to in order to get out of his contract? AND as to not get pressed by Suge, who convinced Master P to pay the money to get Snoop out of his deal and wound up with him eventually anyway? So you see, if you break the guys up, you find a way to own them all and eat big time. You can't get full off of just some "California Raisins". There's waaaaay more to this but LEAVE JERRY AND SUGE ALONE. They portrayed this man a kind, gentle man in the movie when it's quite the opposite. BTW, who do you think hired Suge first?
A little musical history lesson for you today. The production style called "G FUNK" was created by the two men on either side of Dr. Dre, Big Hutch(right) a.k.a. Cold 187um and Laylaw(left). Hutch is the lead rapper and man in charge of Rap group, Above The Law. He is also the nephew of legendary R&B singer/producer/songwriter extraordinaire, Willie Hutch. Many of you know Willie Hutch from his heavily sampled soundtrack for the cult classic film, "The Mack", which have turned into songs like "International Player's Anthem" for UGK & Outkast and "Definition Of A Thug Ni***" for 2PAC just to name a couple. If D.O.C. Is the "official unofficial" 6th member of N.W.A., then Laylaw is the 7th! He was right there assisting in many production duties for the 3 N.W.A. albums. Law and his production, along with the LA uprising, were responsible for changing 2PAC's "Troublesome 21" into "Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...." When Above The Law was trying to get on, they were brought to Eazy's attention by Law, who's brother Go Mack, was one of their DJ's. Their debut album was their demo and surprisingly polished for a new group. When they signed, all Dre did was re-fit some tracks. Above The Law's second project, "Vocally Pimpin'"(listen for yourself) was basically the blueprint for what would become Dre's musical taste during the time of making his beyond classic, "The Chronic". During this time, Hutch was working with an up and coming rapper named, Snooper Duper. Working so much together, either Hutch sounded like Snooper or Snooper sounded like Hutch. Snooper also happened to be good friends with Dre's step brother, Warren, who eventually brought him to meet his brother. The rest as they say is musical history layered in Platinum records. Law would go on to become A&R over at Aftermath. Hutch would eventually go on to run Deathrow Records for a sec when Suge was in jail, BTW, if you know Dre, you will notice he doesn't work with "older" artists or artists that have previously been out and haven't had a hit a quite some time. So why would you think Dre put Hutch on his new "COMPTON" album? Feelings of guilt for jacking his style maybe? Dunno...
If Jerry Heller was the thief then would it make sense for Dr. Dre to let his own mother live a few doors down from him? If the "Jew that broke up the crew" was so devilish, why would Dre still be cool with him up until recently? Hmmmm...where was Jerry when the 5 artists on the right(along with many others) openly and steadily complained about getting jerked by the artist on the left. "Goons", "Wolves", "Hounds" and "Ninjas" or combinations thereof, have been sent his way steadily since he left N.W.A. for what they felt were violations such as "stealing others work" or failure to pay royalties. Ask yourself why is that?
I know many of you were waiting on a story about Xscape's UNSUNG episode but I haven't watched it so I can't elaborate. From reading all the various comments throughout different posts I am shocked that you are shocked about people's behavior in or out of a group. Let Me reiterate to some and let others in a a secret about the music business...ahem.... THERE ARE NO FRIENDS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS! I repeat, THERE ARE NO FRIENDS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS. For the guys, there are a lot of dudes that are cool, some even cooler with each other than most, even super cool but unless your family, you're still competition. In the case of Dr. Dre, DRE HAS NO FRIENDS. Just like his "son" Ice Cube, HAS NO FRIENDS. Why do you think they're each worth $100+ million strong with Dre being a Billionaire with a big "B" or damn near close to it! Dre can make you or break you and more often break you. If I was an artist with the killer lyrics would I sign to Dre? No because you can end up in "Dr. Dre Jail" faster than your head can spin. Dre is all about a "vibe" and what ever "vibe" he's on, that's what he rolls with. Look how many legends, first ballot HOFers, all stars, and great six man bench players has he had on his squad whose music has NEVER seen the light of day. Hittman(top right) was a MAJOR part of the success of the Chronic 2001 and made the fatal mistake of telling Dre to his face, "I would've made it with or without you!" Now Hittman can now only be found on the side of a milk carton. As I previously detailed here on this IG, once Rakim fell out of favor with Dre, his tracks were erased and given to the man he signed only a week after the listening party and turned into much of the music surrounding, "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'". Once 50 signed the deal to promote SMS Audio, he was on the fast track to being shown the door at Interscope. For what ever foolishness Game does in terms of Dre, Others need to follow his formula. Hahahahaha! It's a dirty game full of depression and oppression but there's a line 7 miles long full of folks thinking, "It ain't gonna happen to Me!"
There have only been FOUR so called LA based rappers EVER to be able to walk in ANY neighborhood they wanted to WITHOUT security or "The Homies". Ice T, Eazy, W.C. and Pac period. The one time Ice T was EVER robbed, the so called assailant was found dead the next day AND Ice T got ALL of his belongings returned. Eazy only got security after an incident with Suge at Jerry Heller's suggestion. Pac was THE most powerful rapper at the time and everyone wanted to "touch the hem of his garment". As for W.C., he has been one of the VERY FEW LA Crip rappers to truly be from his hood and not an honorary member because of Rapping. As a result Dub has garnered ultimate respect in the streets.
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Cliff Notes: Yella and DOC didn't get done right in the film considering they were a very big part of the various writing processes. Michele hoped dikk from Cube, to Dre, to Eazy, to Suge, or something like that. Eazy E was actually a good hearted guy and the movie made him seem weak. He was also rich as fukk by not only getting paid off of Dre stuff, but had Bone Thugs and Will I am's first group. The head of Priority Records, Bryan Turner was the one that actually broke up the group. It was because he saw Eazy making too much money since he only needed labels for distrubution, he called the shots and got the lion's share in the deals he made with other labels. Bryan convinced Dre and Cube to leave, got Snoop with Master P and other stuff, to fatten his pockets. Jerry was a decent guy and actually looked out for Eazy. Although Suge did a lot of bad shyt but wasn't the big bad evil demon he is portrayed to be. Says Suge is being drug through the mud mostly to make and example to others to not make another Death Row or Ruthless Records (major black owned lables). He mentioned that no one on the label really liked ( dre/snoop) Pac because they were jealous, especially dre/snoop since Pac bumped them down a notch and was the star. Only ppl to have vip passes in L.A. were Dub C, Tupac, Ice T, and Eazy E. Posted about Dre cuttin ppl off when they "started feeling themselves". Said something about Rakim's track's being given to 50 Cent when 50 first got signed.
If you enjoy it, daps and reps plz
For those who can't be bothered to read, cliff notes at the bottom. But you are missing out.
{As the track from EFIL4ZAGGIN, "PRELUDE starts}"All hail to those believin in the real gangsta sh**
Cause when it comes to the real n*****
It makes the shyt that much harder to deal with..." My "Straight Outta Compton" review:
I ACTUALLY LIKED THE MOVIE. I love the feeling of that it has seemingly given African Americans which is one of "Black Empowerment". I Love the fact that the spotlight has been thrust upon how F'd up the police have been for years not only out here but period especially in these days and times. I loved hearing a Hollywood crowd rap "F*** THA POLICE" in unison no matter what the color was. The brother that played Eazy acted his a** off so shouts to him. Director Felix Gary Gray did a real good job as this movie will go down as a "classic" to colored folks(he now has three under his belt: Friday, Set It Off, now this) and proves to Hollywood that Black folks can make blockbusters too. Now for those of you that are new in here, I predicted exactly what was going to happen on set and in this movie years ago when they first announced it was green lit. THE INMATES WERE RUNNING THE ASYLUM! So with that being said, HERE COMES THE TRUTH AND SOMETIMES THE TRUTH IS HARD TO SWALLOW SO JUST DONT BITE IT....
no.1: The very first question @cthagod asked of the producer of the film was "You wasn't under contract with N.W.A the whole time???" To which Brother Cube essentially answered "Yes". The REAL reason for that was he was ALWAYS seen as "Dre's little man". You see as I have readily explained, Eazy was and was only supposed to be seen as THE star period. The N.W.A project was a vehicle to get more money and set up future project for the rest including 6th member ARABIAN PRINCE{Something To Dance To}(have you not wondered why he NEVER gets mentioned). You see Eazy then worked(NOT ON PURPOSE) on a "homeboy honor" system. Meaning, "Let's deal with contracts later so we can get buzzed and mix these breezies now". He didn't have anyone sign contracts till the big money started rolling in but he fronted EVERYTHING so of course he deserves the lion's share. You see one thing Cube conveniently leaves out is, HE ALWAYS GOT HIS PUBLISHING. Which is KEY to any artist's survival. What he wasn't getting that he wanted more than anything else was "shine". Dre and Yella didn't want it while Ren was happy to be there. So when the part of the movie where Jerry Heller tells Eazy that Cube wants to be him that Charlemenge alluded to gets LEFT IN and NOT ON THE CUTTING ROOM floor and the people are telling us that everything in the movie is THE TRUTH then well...
no. 2 Say what you will about who and what Dr. Dre is today but during these early formative years, he was very much a Ladies Man. Dudes hung around Dre because he had all the "mixes"(literally and figuratively) on deck. When @cthagod asked Cube about Dre's first group, World Class Wrecking Cru, " wearing lipstick" and the producer of the film denied it but Charlemenge was not entirely wrong. You see the group was supposed to be the Hip Hop version of Prince. They were purposely dressed this way. If you're familiar with Snoop's song and video, "Sexual Eruption", then you know what they were trying to achieve. During those times in the 80's, the clothes they wore were very much acceptable as a result of the huge Gang culture problem Los Angeles had at the time. One had to dress like that to get in the club. To perform at these clubs and get that dough you had to be dressed up. Most guys couldn't afford to wear their "church" clothes to the club so they had to wear these club clothes plus, the ladies sometimes liked that look. Now as for the shiny lips the group sometimes had, well that's on them. Hahahahahaha
no. 3When @cthagod asked was there any backlash from leaving the group, the producer of the film while clearly uncomfortable mentioned with a chuckle that there were some fists thrown. Well sorta. You see he and his crew called Da Lenchmob were being beaten up by the legendary west coast Rap group and members of Ruthless Records, Above The Law(@officialabvdlaw). With Above The Law being REAL dudes from the streets, it wasn't nothing for them to beat crews up that only had one or two official street guys. So when Charlemenge asked the producer of the film did he feel more safe on the East Coast he wasn't too far off. Hence at least part of the motivation for the producer of the film to then seek out The Nation of Islam for protection(post maybe later) and would eventually influence CLASSIC music material to come. The last thing I will address again is 2Pac being in the film. Although PAC was mortal enemies with Dre & Cube(& vise versa because they knew his INFLUENCE at the time was just as much or probably more than theirs which could render them obsolete), I still think he would have supports the film's message regarding Eazy and his battle with AIDS. I do believe that AIDS awareness would have been cause that PAC championed and been an advocate for. I will keep stressing how likable Eazy was and that he was hard NOT to get along with. Their friendship would have led them to work together more beyond the songs he had with Above The Law and Bone Thugs for sure.
no. 4: {Blastmaster KRS One voice}"Let us begin, what, where, why or when. Will all be explained like instructions to a game..." This all matters for you to understand the full spectrum. The group C.I.A.(Cru' In Action) consisted of three members: best friends O'shea Jackson, originally known as Purple Ice later changed to Ice Cube(Both names derive in homage from who was then the best rapper is Los Angeles, Ice T{one of the only FOUR rappers that could then and still can go into any neighborhood in LA WITHOUT SECURITY}). Along with, Darrell Johnson, originally known as Kid Disaster and later as K-Dee(had a hit album himself independently in '95). Also add to the mix is Sir Jinx, Dr. Dre's cousin and the reason for Cube meeting Dre at all(post maybe). Jinx is forever memorialized as the dancer in the Pittsburgh Penguins jersey in N.W.A.'s "Express Yourself" video. Jinx and Cube are the same person in real life that's why they don't hang because they remind themselves of themselves. Hahahahahaha!!! Cube and Jinx are Dre's "sons" and always will be. The three in C.I.A. started out trying to emulate the hottest group of the time, RUN D.M.C, featuring the rapper Cube got his style from Run. Knowing Cube could really create and DELIVER on the spot, Dre brought him in to start writing rhymes for a group from NYC called "H.B.O.". And then...
In the annals of history one cannot begin to unravel the stories of men building and destroying empires without breaking down the trials and tribulations of the women standing right next to or behind them. This holds true especially in the history of popular American Black Music. Men often seek to leave these things out as a way to bolster their image of supreme masculinity. A sort of, "I conquer it all! I am man hear My roar!" But in all actuality it should be, "Hear My Cry". The two subjects in the top photos were INTEGRAL in shaping the minds, hearts, and attitudes of the bottom photos. One for the better(right) and one for the worse(left). For Me this adds more credence to My assertion that Marvin Gaye is the G.O.A.T. because he wasn't afraid to say, "Man this situation with HER has Me ALL THE WAY F'd Up!!!" It also adds to the desire for more female voices in Hip Hop that truly KNOW THEMSELVES and won't be afraid to express heartache and despair. I say all that because right now we're being presented tales but the key chapters are missing. But hey what do I know...
As you all should know by now, "Straight Outta Compton", while on a $29 million dollar budget has grossed $56.1 million since Thursday and the Sunday totals aren't even in!!! Congrats!! Now there is a part of N.W.A. lore that was not in the movie that I shall try to frame for you here so it is NOT a spoiler. This night I remember vividly... The discord between N.W.A./Ruthless Records and Ice Cube and his Lenchmob had reached an all time high. Partly because N.W.A. had felt betrayed by Cube for "putting him on" especially because he was Dre's "creation"(listen to the last verse of "Dre Day" '...spot em got Em as I steps in the temple...YOU DISS DRE YOU DISS YOURSELF, HELL YEAH!!!'). Cube preceded to go on a video show called "Pump It Up" hosted by "Body & Soul" rapper D Zire aka Dee Barnes. When Dee asked Cube about his former cohorts, he said basically "I will have dem suckas 100 Miles and Runnin'". Dre felt his son showed the ultimate disrespect and saw BLOOD. Cube is probably the best rapper ever in "eluding the wolves" so Dre knew it would be a minute before he caught up to him. So the guys were in the studio getting super buzzed and talking about the incident that they felt was disrespectful when they got an invite to an industry party. Dre was steadily making himself more and more angry to where Eazy got concerned like "Ren, this N**** trippin'!" They get to the party and see the video host Dee Barnes. Dre tells the guys, "Ima F*** this B**** Up!" Eazy tells Ren and Yella, "WATCH THIS N**** MAN!!" Dre, 200+ lbs., breaks away from them a goes right to Barnes who is all of 110 lbs.. He beats her mercilessly and throws her down the stairs of the event. Unrepentant and Defiant, he takes out his frustrations with his "son" on someone that only asked a question. The fellas get Dre off of her and push him into a car...
"I was dreaming when I wrote this Forgive Me if this goes astray Could've sworn it was judgement day..." Note when this was posted that I was just trying to lend some understanding to you in regards to "The World's Most Dangerous Group". For however twisted the logic was Eazy had good hearted intentions, he just didn't know any better. So when or if you watched the film, during the tour scenes when they were partying remember THIS is what was happening. Eazy was a F'n ROCKSTAR. He was the Rockstar. They were his band. Get it? If have readily for years explained to you the group dynamic to you get a picture of how the hierarchy was. "Man E, this b**** says she's pregnant!" "Tell her call Ruthless and ask for Jerry so he can cut her a check!" Sometimes keeping it real does go wrong...
I've been waiting to debunk the myths surrounding this gentleman for years. Now that a good number of you have seen the movie I think it is ok to do so. If you have not seen it:****SPOILER ALERT****!!!! Here comes the truth.
JERRY HELLER:
Ask yourself this, if an old decrepit white man was beating some young Street self professed N***** out of their money, why was he never touched, whupped on or sued?? HMMMMM... That because he wasn't!! He was "robbing Peter to pay Paul". To keep the business of Ruthless Records afloat, Jerry had to make some questionable moves without Eazy's knowledge because of EAZY'S SPENDING!!!! The same happened with Motown, STAX, Philadelphia International etc. etc. I told y'all Eazy was generous to a FAULT. The rest of the guys didn't like the way Eazy took Jerry's word as the gospel and the fact that Eazy would ok something and Jerry would tell him NO. EAZY WAS JERRY'S CLIENT. EAZY WAS JERRY'S CLIENT. Not beholden to anyone else except for the guy that signed HIS CHECK: EAZY MUTHAF***** E!!!! So of course he was going to be "EAZY-CENTRIC"! He was a convenient scapegoat because he was then and still is OLD!!! THERE IS NO N.W.A WITHOUT JERRY HELLER. THERE IS NO N.W.A WITHOUT JERRY HELLER!!!! Ruthless would not have been a $100 Million Dollar company without Jerry's vision! Jerry got fired because it was time. EAZY knew the business and Jerry was unnecessary. Ice Cube put all these ideas in your head because the REAL culprit, who was in the movie as well if you were paying attention and could read between the lines an his name does NOT rhyme with Suge Knight, started a divide and conquer because Eazy with Jerry's help was MAKING TOO MUCH MONEY!! Jerry had Eazy sign deals that let Ruthless distribute with OTHER LABELS. $$$$$$$$$ That is too dangerous and revolutionary! You see no other label has had that deal since! Plus Eazy also had COMPTOWN RECORDS. Mo' Money, Mo' Money, Mo' Money! As for Suge...
I was asked by the Homie @darnellblue do a character by character synopsis of the REAL version of each member and role they played in the group and in the movie. I guess I will have to do each in parts because there is waaaaay too much info. So @dgsigma said start with this brother right here... If you talk about him, you have to admit that he is BRILLIANT. There is a VERY, VERY short list of Rappers that can claim relevance after 5 years and this dude is going on 30!!!!!!!!!!! You do know this movie was written from he and his "Dad's" perspective right? You do know that? Well don't you? Where do I start...hmmmm... Let's start with the INFAMOUS "contract". The "contract" that was portrayed in the movie that he "never" got. The "contract" that Jerry just wanted him to sign sight unseen. Welp folks I hate to burst your bubble but you know the reason Cube did not get a contract off the bat was because...HE LEFT THE GROUP FOR 2 YEARS!!!!! HE LEFT THE GROUP FOR 2 YEARS!!! His Father, Hosea, said he had to leave Rap alone and go to college. So right when the group began to take off in '87 with "N.W.A. and the Posse", he was gone!!!!! "Boyz-N-The-Hood" began to blow up while Cube was in Arizona attending school. The group toured and was getting money and telling him all the fun(girls) they were having so he begged his father to let him leave and his dad obliged. That same "contract" he said he "never got to look at", he sure did bring to William Howard Taft High School to show everyone he was indeed a part of N.W.A.(refer your questions on this #FACT to @darnellblue). Again I stress the part in the film where Jerry says to Eazy that Cube "wants to be him", if that was fake then why leave it in the movie? You have to understand, Cube was the youngest and had no money and no girls...correct that he had one but I will post later so you will truly understand the spark that lit the flame... ANYTHING Cube ever wrote for the group Dre told him what to write, how to say it, and when to say it. He deserves equal writing credit. Hahahahaha PART TWO SOON....
I don't care how you feel about this guy but he deserves NOT to get lied on. "F You AG!!! He is an "Evil Genius" that orchestrated everything from Kennedy's assassination, Global Warming, Marshawn Lynch not getting the ball on the goal line, UFOs, and he also supplied Bill Cosby with those pills back in the 1960s!!!! I am unfollowing you now if you defend him!!!" See, doesn't that feel better because I said it for you? Yes, Suge has done a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, wrong. I can give you personal instances from friends and family alike. Suge just saw an angle and ran with it. The guys were being paid not of the stature they should have been but that's because EAZY PAID ALL THEIR BILLS!!!! With that being said, legal cases, bad habits, extra mixes, and baby mamas ALL ADD UP TO MUCHO DINERO. So it was even. I already told you Eazy was working on the "Homeboy Honor System". But what Suge "preyed" upon were FRAGILE EGOS. He knew he could appeal to the desires to be "The Man" and it worked. Suge took Dre to an even HIGHER level than before as he was not a Rapper per say. He only started on the mic because Cube left. The same person that got in Cube's ear about the "contract" is the same person that hired Suge in the first place(just wait on the post eventually)! Go figure. That stuff they portrayed in the movie to make him this "crazed monster clad in red" is just the reason he will go down in the history books without his full due. He has been made an example of so you will NOT have anymore Deathrow's or Ruthless situation to where you control your own destiny. Suge didn't touch Eazy. No one did. Dre left because there were too many new Negroes and the control was out of his grasp plus Suge had "sonned" him in other ways and PAC was pressing. All Ego. Which leads Me to the next and tied as arguably the most important person in blowing up the dynasty.... Leave Suge alone. He has enough going on for this revisionist history to make his situation worse. "Bye AG!!! I'm done!"
How many people can say that they are the UNQUESTIONED GREATEST OF ALL TIME at what they do? This gentleman is pure genius. His "EAR" is undisputed. If there was a challenger they'd have just as much or even more of an impact than this man. I think what has made him even more clever is he has learned to maneuver and navigate on such an elite level now that it looks effortless. As in the case with the film, he shaped and molded his character portrayal to where he looked like the victim in most situations while bolstering his image as a street hip guy. BRILLIANT. Little things like his car throughout the movie, a lowrider, choice of wardrobe, and repeatedly punching dudes in the face would make someone in let say Oklahoma say, "Whew that Dr. Dre ain't no joke!" Well he isn't but not to that degree. Yes it is "Dre's way or the highway" but he is non confrontational. You won't know when you've been "kicked off the hood" till it's too late. So the parts where he tells Eazy and Suge respectively that he is leaving them....FALSE. You see when Cube rapped in the Top 5 All Time Diss Record, "No Vaseline", "Livin' with the whites. One big house and not another n**** in site..." He kind of told the truth about Eazy and Dre's living situation as they lived next door to one another in houses Eazy PAID for. Eazy also had one big bank account for himself, Dre and Ren to share with access to HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars. All this business about having no dough...hmmm where? The "Homeboy Honor System" again. When Dre left Ruthless he didn't tell anyone except Ren and asked him to leave with him in order to validate his move. Then he proceeded to STEAL HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars out of the joint bank account and the MASTERS to their music worth MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. When he left Deathrow, he stole the MASTERS to their music worth TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. So that whole last part about him confronting Suge at the studio, FALSE!!!! See flipping it around in the movie to make Suge look like the aggressor is nice and tidy a fits just right in a 147min film. Once again, the same person that got in Cube's ear to leave Ruthless, also sparked Dre's fuse.
Why make him out to be a "weenie" in the end of the film? Why negate that he had UNIVERSAL RESPECT EVERYWHERE? That "VIP WRISTBAND" status that I describe, Rappers out here would die for and he had it 10 fold. Why act like after Dre left he had more and more hits? He had arguably THE BIGGEST Rap group in the world. Who sold quintuple platinum. Why act like HE DIDN'T GET PAID AS MUCH IF NOT MORE THAN DRE ON DEATHROW RELEASES???? Why have him portrayed as the ONLY womanizer in the group when THEY ALL WERE???? This is the trailblazer. This is the gangster. This is the maverick. But you make him beg to have negroes come back? That scene in the film in NYC where he comes up to Cube and asks to talk...NO! It was the other way around! Eazy was there situated and Cube and Mack 10 asked to come up and talk to him! They had already made peace on the set of CB4. Why make downgrade E? See maybe part of the problem is, he married Tomica on his death bed right there in the hospital(post eventually), and maybe she harbors resentment because if that were Me as a producer of the film, I never would have let My loved one look like they were doing bad. Part of the reason he downgraded was because HE TOOK CARE OF EVERYONE. First class all the way. Have you ever noticed that no one else complained about money with E? Hmmmmm... Ask yourself why is that???? (Photo Cred: @darnellblue)
Broke, Huh? Doing bad, Huh? Ren=Platinum, his own EP=Gold, and The Atban Klann which would go on to become The Black Eyed Peas, hadn't found their "sound" yet. And not to mention a little group out of Cleveland, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. All with a staff of only 6 employees. I would gather that many a record exec would want these "Broke Problems".
I posted this years ago. Now in wake of the mega success of the movie, WHY MARGINALIZE REN INVOLVEMENT AND CONTRIBUTION???? They gave his character only a few words like he was just there "hanging out". Like he had nothing better to do. "Man E you gonna let him talk to you like that?" was his biggest line. They had him portrayed as a monosyllabic hanger on. REN IS A VICTIM OF HIS OWN LOYALTY! Sometimes loyalty kills your career... By @artemusgordon via @RepostWhiz app:
#RAPHOFFridays: WHEN KEEPING IT LOYAL GOES SOUTH. MC Ren is walking into not only the Hip Hop HOF but probably by next year, the Rock & Roll HOF too. Ren's problem is he stayed too long with Eazy and got accustomed to Eazy paying all the bills(house, car, gas, churren etc.) leaving him with "no headaches". That sort of "crutch" slows your growth and development. So by the time, first Cube then Dre, had it super crackin', it was too late for Ren to catch up. Ren was the second of the group(well third if you count The D.O.C as a member) to go platinum with his solo project trailing Cube. Then he got a group, C.P.O., signed to Capitol but after that....CRICKETS. With Eazy pouring all his attention into Bone Thugs and The Atban Klan(Will.I.Am & Apl), Ren was left to fend on his own. Ren found the Nation of Islam, hence the album, "Shock of the Hour", at then more crickets. He was torn between staying true to his new religion and being the gangsta rapper everyone grew up with. Cube mastered it but Ren couldn't. Ren was really selling beans pies and papers but very one else wasn't. Fast Forward to today, Dre and Cube are each THE man in their collective genres...and HAVE SOME CONTROL OVER THE N.W.A. movie coming soon(uh, you know I will give you the real deal....someday hahahahahaha). Ren and Yella, not so much. As for Ren salute but let's hope he can rise like a Phoenix from the ashes.
(#RepostWhiz app)
I've said it before and will say it again, most empires fall because of a Man's love or lust over a Woman. Two dynasties in ruin in part because of a "magic box"?? Let's start from the beginning. A young O'shea Jackson gets himself a girl he really likes named Michel'le Toussaint. Things are going good for him as he has a little popularity and penned as few songs that would go on to become classics. Ms. Toussaint can sing and O'shea brought her to the attention of his Big Homie that he looks up to, Andre Young. When O'shea has to go off to college he asks his Big Homie to watch his girl. Asking Andre this is akin to leaving a wolf to guard a hen house. Dre starts mixing Toussaint and when a singer doesn't show up for a session, he has her do vocals on the last song he ever recorded with his group, The World Class Wrecking Crew. The song "Turn Off The Lights" became a major hit everywhere except the East Coast. Hahahaha. When young O'shea returns from college he finds the woman he couldn't wait to see now "shacked up" with his big homie he would not dare cross. He of course like most men is hurt. He stays with the group but feels betrayed. He starts "Looking At The Front Door". This combined with other reasons(will discuss) makes his exit all the more easier. Now Ms. Toussaint thinks she is Dre's "main" but, like Dre's buddy, E, who is the boss, EVERY CHICK IS A SIDE CHICK. The two soon go and have a child together. Ms. Toussaint is turned on by power though. Who has the power? E has the power. So she slides over to E so he can get a "test drive". E mixes and ain't trippin' because he does this all day. When Dre finds out, like young O'shea, he isn't happy either so when the split comes it is easier too. He does take Ms. Toussaint with him to his new situation because she can make him $$$. But so volatile is their relationship, that one time Dre breaks her nose. Like I said, Ms. Toussaint loves power and at that time the man with the power is Dre's new boss, Marion Knight. They start mixing. Dre finds out and is unhappy again. When he does split from them it is all the more easier again. There is more but stew on this for a while...
Once again, I posted this years ago. I again ask a question about his role in the film, WHY LESSEN HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GROUP? DRE and YELLA produced all the music for N.W.A.. YELLA & DRE=High Powered Productions. BTW I will say this, his character and Eazy's were the only ones properly attired the entire movie. The rest had on costumes. Hahahahahaha
By @artemusgordon via @RepostWhiz app:
DJ Yella was the silent member of N.W.A not because he had nothing to say but because he is VERY FAR from the ignorance the others tried to display. Coming from a family of ALL accomplished doctors and lawyers except for one of his older brothers, standing behind he and Eazy, Yella was at first a disappointment to the family that he didn't follow In the family's scholastic footsteps. Once He made it big time they relented and recognized his craft. He never complained about the money they were getting because since he was the most loyal, Eazy ALWAYS looked out and also he didn't need it. Yella, like Dre and Eazy, wasn't at a loss for female companionship either. He always kept himself separate and never fell into the jealousy/envy mode that ultimately consumed Dre and Cube. I will break down the TRUE reason the group broke up coming soon on Globalgrind.com. After Eazy died, Yella became a successful porn director an still gets a check from Ruthless. He likes being anonymous and hopes it stays that way.
Amongst the further incongruences of the film was the portrayal of Dre's first "boss", Lonzo. They made Lonzo out to be a "Curl activator Juice Out of Date Dinosaur" when in actuality he was very far from it. Lonzo had and probably still has serious street credibility that why in the movie Eazy and Ren were able to come up in his club dressed like Crips and not "sweated". This is a photo of Lonzo's house in the Athens Park section of Los Angeles. This is were N.W.A.'s initial recordings happened. "Boyz...", "8 Ball", "Gangsta...", etc. etc. right there in the back house. This is also where the guys used to hang out as well but it is in a ultra Blood neighborhood hence why the group only wore Black so there would not be any trouble. This also is where the World Class Wrecking Cru recorded their classic, "Turn Off The Lights" with Cube's girlfriend, Michel'le. The studio in the back is where Dre used to mix Michel'le on the low initially and where Jewell of Deathrow fame used to umm....let's say...umm "provide Stress Relief" for the guys. Yes, she was down with the group from the beginning and that is why she's on the second N.W.A. album playing the "hooker" they kidnap and kill on "One Less...". Oh and BTW, the reason the World Class Wrecking Cru dressed the way they did was at that time out here in LA the most popular group was, Ready For The World, and to capitalize on their success with the ladies, Lonzo decided to make a Rap group similar and it WORKED.
Once again I ask you all, "WHY MARGINALIZE HIS INVOLVEMENT??" The D.O.C. is just as much a part of N.W.A. as the rest of the members. I think I now understand why they played him like {Biz voice}"...a wet Food Stamp", because it didn't fit their "narrative". See in order to set up Dre and Cube as the "creative" forces within the group, you have to lessen the everyone else's contribution. To paint a clearer picture for you, while Dre is obviously the guy that is in charge of the music, he had D.O.C. "managing" the lyrics. D.O.C. is a writer's writer and at that time was your favorite Rapper's favorite Rapper. Busta Rhymes once said to Me, "The only one out of them(N.W.A.) that gets true respect on the East is D.O.C..." So in the movie they portray him as an aloof drunkard but he was right there writing alongside Cube AND Ren. D.O.C. wrote "We Want Eazy" and help write "Straight Outta Compton" amongst others. He would go on to write much of the second N.W.A. album, "EFIL4ZAGGIN", including the lead single, "Alwayz Into Somethin". Do you ever wonder why those initial Deathrow releases were so lyrically on point? One word: D.O.C., who also wrote the classic, "Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang". Did you notice that after those initial Deathrow releases the lyrical barrage went south? This is a result of D.O.C. "leaving" and trying to go back to Eazy. Dre managed to get him back in the fold once he left The 'Row and started Aftermath. There D.O.C. wrote, "The Next Episode". So again I ask, does a man this talented deserve to have his role diminished??? Oh and yeah, D.O.C. HAS HIS VOICE BACK. (Shouts to the LEGEND @djchristheglove {Google him and get a bar!})
When this landed fresh of a private jet straight from prison it changed a the entire culture of a "record label, staff, and a crew". You can't buy this anywhere. The culture before he arrived had been one of, "Hey let's work on this ONE thing till we get it right"(Dre always works this way that's why there are very few releases with his name attached but in turn it makes the brand more exclusive). This is on stage is SELF MADE pure unadulterated STAR POWER. The man in charge of the music was used to building stars(Cube, E, D.O.C., Em, etc. etc.) as in evidence that you rarely see him work with established artists that have not come from his immediate family tree. This hastened the guy in charge of the music exodus from the label. It also caused the label top dog who was also a star to go from first to second position. Something he loathed and also a reason he keeps such a tight grip on everything and anything around him today. The professional envy ran rampant amongst the halls of Deathrow. The funny thing is the only person that really didn't have and issue with him coming in and taking over was Daz because his work effort matched the star's work effort. So once again when PAC erroneously shows up in the movie, it should not be smiles, "sh*** and giggles". They both should be looking at one another and sighing under their breath saying, "Look at this N**** Here!"
I understand the frustration when it comes to historical accuracy as that is what I attempt to do here. In the case of Eazy's daughter, E.B., I can definitely relate to her displeasure but I think she has to take a step back a look at the entire picture. Her father's wife, Tomica Woods-Wright, was one of the producers of the film and THE MOST IMPORTANT person in getting it made as she OWNS THE RIGHTS TO RUTHLESS RECORDS. Just like when Mick Jagger was brought in to secure the music rights for the horrible film, "Get On Up", so was Tomica in the same capacity for "Straight Outta Compton". Now E.B. has to think that the reason things were not discussed in regards to Eazy's latter years would be because Tomica's relationship with her father would have to be discussed and dissected for good or bad and some folks don't want to be under that type of scrutiny. Also when you have these kind of stories, people that worked for or with the deceased tend to start believing their owed monies that they've already been paid. Hahahaha! Eazy's legacy is forever GOLDEN. The folks who know KNOW. I keep telling you how good a dude he was and how REAL. He didn't get bodyguards until AFTER his run in with Suge to sign the paperwork freeing Dre, D.O.C., and Michel'le from Ruthless. He also could go ANYWHERE & EVERYWHERE in LA and that "VIP wristband" has been reserved for only three other Rappers. E.B. says here she working in a documentary about her father but I say again if you are not cool with the person who OWNS the legacy(Tomica) then what can you really bring to the table?
When you get into the business of Music as group of young Black males from the "street", many times you don't know what you in for. You may go in as "friends/brothers-to-the-end" but.... You fall into stardom "bright eyed and bushy tailed" not knowing that the path to success is not a straight line. In many cases, more important than the music portion is the leg work you have to do day to day to not only make your record "stick" but your career "pop" as well. Personality is KEY. K-E-Y. Too often than not many performers do interviews like they're taking mug shot photos. Drab, droll, and seemingly unhappy to be there. So because of this trend many media outlets direct their focus on one or a couple of members that are going to talk instead of the entire unit. Sometimes this causes great animosity between members thinking the one getting the focus is trying to get the "shine". The best example of this was shown the the film, "The Show", where Wu Tang members, Method Man, Ghostface, and U-God go at it regarding this very subject. If it wasn't for the vision and strength of Wu leader and founder, RZA, this moment in time could have fractured the group forever. As the meteoric rise of the "Straight Outta..." album grew N.W.A.'s star status, the group was being sought out by every media outlet both print and electronic. Eazy hated doing interviews and when he did they were VERY monotone and filled with profanity. Plus, they worked on the "Homeboy Honor System"=DOOWUTCHYALIKE. Dre, Yella, and Ren barely talked so that left the "kid" to do them and he did them well. Soon young Ice Cube was in demand to speak with. Although he might have "dumbed down" his speech, his interviews were highly intelligent and well thought out. Fresh from a two year stint in college, Cube was a man with some formal education and from a very well grounded two parent household. His parents were custodians at UCLA and wanted the best for their son and felt education was the key to success. People close to the group began to recognize this seed of greatness and the operation to extract him from the group and make him the preeminent star was now underway..
With the dearth of Female M.C.'s in Hip Hop plaguing the planet, it would have been great for "Straight Outta Compton" to show who really paved the way for N.W.A. and Ruthless Records. The first project to drop with the "RUTHLESS" logo was J.J. Fad, an all female Rap group. They were the ones who lit the fuse and gave Eazy and the Homies the time and more importantly, capital, to finish the album "Straight Outta Compton" comfortably. The Ladies' album went Gold bolstered by it's hit CLASSIC single, "Supersonic", which went platinum. The song was produced by the SIXTH member of N.W.A., Arabian Prince(top left). "Who AG??? I ain't heard of him and he ain't in the movie!!" In the beginning stages of the group and with no clear path to their niche, N.W.A. did both reality rap and dance music. The dance music portions were produced by Arabian Prince. Prince created "Panic Zone" and "Something To Dance To" for the group. His style of music was at the forefront of what is basically EDM today. He eventually left or was dismissed from them after a "disagreement" with Eazy. Hahahahhaha!! He landed on his feet though and signed what was then a big record deal with Orpheous Records. He was living good in a very nice section of LA rolling around in a brand new '90 convertible Porsche. I used to see him all the time and ask what he was doing and his answer was, "I'm selling big in Europe." Hey this is Rap music and sometimes you're "jammin' in Bucharest" harder than you are in Compton. BTW when(not if) the group gets elected to the Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame, If I am him, I AM WALKING ON THAT STAGE RIGHT ALONGSIDE EVERYONE ELSE AND GETTING MY TROPHY!!!!!
Who killed N.W.A.? Greed? Jealousy? Envy? An old feeble white man with no knowledge of Rap music that was only beholden to the group's boss? Or just general ignorance to the business? NO to all. The man responsible for the breakup but actually empowered two of the three most well known members is....drumroll please.......Priority Records head BRYAN TURNER. You see Eazy was essentially printing money. I mean literally because he had a "product" that NO ONE ELSE possessed. So he called all the shots. He only came to labels for DISTRIBUTION and not a PARTNERSHIP. As in evidence that the J.J. Fad and the D.O.C. projects were through Atco/Atlantic distribution and Tairrie B was through Comptown/MCA Records. Whereas E and N.W.A. were solely through Priority. When you spread your money like that, no one label can tell you what to do. So E printing money meant Bryan Turner wanted in. Distribution is good but OWNERSHIP AND DISTRIBUTION IS BETTER. So who is the easiest member to approach about a partnership? The street savvy Vet or the musical genius who only cares about the studio and getting laid? No, you come at the college educated good kid with the two parent's who want the most for their son and you tell him to look at his "contracts" because "I can pay you waaaaay more than $75k." Plus you give the kid who wants to be as big as his mentors the chance to be "in charge". When Dre left whom did he consult too? Look at the back of your "Chronic" cd or LP and tell me whom it is distributed by? Why would E eventually stop messing with them and take BONE somewhere else? BECAUSE HE KNEW. When Snoop left Deathrow, whom did he run screaming to in order to get out of his contract? AND as to not get pressed by Suge, who convinced Master P to pay the money to get Snoop out of his deal and wound up with him eventually anyway? So you see, if you break the guys up, you find a way to own them all and eat big time. You can't get full off of just some "California Raisins". There's waaaaay more to this but LEAVE JERRY AND SUGE ALONE. They portrayed this man a kind, gentle man in the movie when it's quite the opposite. BTW, who do you think hired Suge first?
A little musical history lesson for you today. The production style called "G FUNK" was created by the two men on either side of Dr. Dre, Big Hutch(right) a.k.a. Cold 187um and Laylaw(left). Hutch is the lead rapper and man in charge of Rap group, Above The Law. He is also the nephew of legendary R&B singer/producer/songwriter extraordinaire, Willie Hutch. Many of you know Willie Hutch from his heavily sampled soundtrack for the cult classic film, "The Mack", which have turned into songs like "International Player's Anthem" for UGK & Outkast and "Definition Of A Thug Ni***" for 2PAC just to name a couple. If D.O.C. Is the "official unofficial" 6th member of N.W.A., then Laylaw is the 7th! He was right there assisting in many production duties for the 3 N.W.A. albums. Law and his production, along with the LA uprising, were responsible for changing 2PAC's "Troublesome 21" into "Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...." When Above The Law was trying to get on, they were brought to Eazy's attention by Law, who's brother Go Mack, was one of their DJ's. Their debut album was their demo and surprisingly polished for a new group. When they signed, all Dre did was re-fit some tracks. Above The Law's second project, "Vocally Pimpin'"(listen for yourself) was basically the blueprint for what would become Dre's musical taste during the time of making his beyond classic, "The Chronic". During this time, Hutch was working with an up and coming rapper named, Snooper Duper. Working so much together, either Hutch sounded like Snooper or Snooper sounded like Hutch. Snooper also happened to be good friends with Dre's step brother, Warren, who eventually brought him to meet his brother. The rest as they say is musical history layered in Platinum records. Law would go on to become A&R over at Aftermath. Hutch would eventually go on to run Deathrow Records for a sec when Suge was in jail, BTW, if you know Dre, you will notice he doesn't work with "older" artists or artists that have previously been out and haven't had a hit a quite some time. So why would you think Dre put Hutch on his new "COMPTON" album? Feelings of guilt for jacking his style maybe? Dunno...
If Jerry Heller was the thief then would it make sense for Dr. Dre to let his own mother live a few doors down from him? If the "Jew that broke up the crew" was so devilish, why would Dre still be cool with him up until recently? Hmmmm...where was Jerry when the 5 artists on the right(along with many others) openly and steadily complained about getting jerked by the artist on the left. "Goons", "Wolves", "Hounds" and "Ninjas" or combinations thereof, have been sent his way steadily since he left N.W.A. for what they felt were violations such as "stealing others work" or failure to pay royalties. Ask yourself why is that?
I know many of you were waiting on a story about Xscape's UNSUNG episode but I haven't watched it so I can't elaborate. From reading all the various comments throughout different posts I am shocked that you are shocked about people's behavior in or out of a group. Let Me reiterate to some and let others in a a secret about the music business...ahem.... THERE ARE NO FRIENDS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS! I repeat, THERE ARE NO FRIENDS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS. For the guys, there are a lot of dudes that are cool, some even cooler with each other than most, even super cool but unless your family, you're still competition. In the case of Dr. Dre, DRE HAS NO FRIENDS. Just like his "son" Ice Cube, HAS NO FRIENDS. Why do you think they're each worth $100+ million strong with Dre being a Billionaire with a big "B" or damn near close to it! Dre can make you or break you and more often break you. If I was an artist with the killer lyrics would I sign to Dre? No because you can end up in "Dr. Dre Jail" faster than your head can spin. Dre is all about a "vibe" and what ever "vibe" he's on, that's what he rolls with. Look how many legends, first ballot HOFers, all stars, and great six man bench players has he had on his squad whose music has NEVER seen the light of day. Hittman(top right) was a MAJOR part of the success of the Chronic 2001 and made the fatal mistake of telling Dre to his face, "I would've made it with or without you!" Now Hittman can now only be found on the side of a milk carton. As I previously detailed here on this IG, once Rakim fell out of favor with Dre, his tracks were erased and given to the man he signed only a week after the listening party and turned into much of the music surrounding, "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'". Once 50 signed the deal to promote SMS Audio, he was on the fast track to being shown the door at Interscope. For what ever foolishness Game does in terms of Dre, Others need to follow his formula. Hahahahaha! It's a dirty game full of depression and oppression but there's a line 7 miles long full of folks thinking, "It ain't gonna happen to Me!"
There have only been FOUR so called LA based rappers EVER to be able to walk in ANY neighborhood they wanted to WITHOUT security or "The Homies". Ice T, Eazy, W.C. and Pac period. The one time Ice T was EVER robbed, the so called assailant was found dead the next day AND Ice T got ALL of his belongings returned. Eazy only got security after an incident with Suge at Jerry Heller's suggestion. Pac was THE most powerful rapper at the time and everyone wanted to "touch the hem of his garment". As for W.C., he has been one of the VERY FEW LA Crip rappers to truly be from his hood and not an honorary member because of Rapping. As a result Dub has garnered ultimate respect in the streets.
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Cliff Notes: Yella and DOC didn't get done right in the film considering they were a very big part of the various writing processes. Michele hoped dikk from Cube, to Dre, to Eazy, to Suge, or something like that. Eazy E was actually a good hearted guy and the movie made him seem weak. He was also rich as fukk by not only getting paid off of Dre stuff, but had Bone Thugs and Will I am's first group. The head of Priority Records, Bryan Turner was the one that actually broke up the group. It was because he saw Eazy making too much money since he only needed labels for distrubution, he called the shots and got the lion's share in the deals he made with other labels. Bryan convinced Dre and Cube to leave, got Snoop with Master P and other stuff, to fatten his pockets. Jerry was a decent guy and actually looked out for Eazy. Although Suge did a lot of bad shyt but wasn't the big bad evil demon he is portrayed to be. Says Suge is being drug through the mud mostly to make and example to others to not make another Death Row or Ruthless Records (major black owned lables). He mentioned that no one on the label really liked ( dre/snoop) Pac because they were jealous, especially dre/snoop since Pac bumped them down a notch and was the star. Only ppl to have vip passes in L.A. were Dub C, Tupac, Ice T, and Eazy E. Posted about Dre cuttin ppl off when they "started feeling themselves". Said something about Rakim's track's being given to 50 Cent when 50 first got signed.
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