Eazy addressed his feud with Dre on the 1993 EP It’s On (Dr. (Hoez With Attitude), and, eventually, the lucrative Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. E’s 1992 solo EP 5150 Home 4 tha Sick sold well, but did little to dispel his increasingly cartoon-ish image he found more success running the Ruthless label, with a roster that included Above the Law, N.W.A bandmate MC Ren, the poorly received all-female group H.W.A. The case was eventually thrown out, but a bitter feud between Dre and Eazy raged for the next several years Dre’s seminal solo debut The Chronic made merciless fun of Eazy.

Disputes between the members led to N.W.A’s breakup that summer, and a court battle between Ruthless and Dre’s new label Death Row soon followed, with Eazy alleging that Death Row head Suge Knight had coerced Ruthless into releasing Dre from his contract. His taste for cartoon-ish vulgarity began to undermine the claims of realistic inner-city reporting that the group had used to defend themselves. E seized the opportunity to release a solo project later in the year, titled Eazy-Duz-It, which would be the only full-length album he would complete it would sell well over two million copies.Īfter Ice Cube’s bitter departure from N.W.A toward the end of 1989 (precipitated in part by Heller’s business tactics), Eazy-E took over his not inconsiderable share of the rapping and songwriting duties, becoming the group’s dominant voice on 1991’s Efil4zaggin. Their first album, N.W.A and the Posse was released in 1987 and largely ignored after a few tweaks of the lineup and the rough-edged subject matter, 1988’s Straight Outta Compton made N.W.A into superstars. When their composition ‘Boyz-N-the Hood’ was rejected by Ruthless signee HBO, Cube, Dre, and E formed the first version of N.W.A to record it themselves. Dre to write songs for his stable of artists. E discovered a major performing talent in the D.O.C.

A high school dropout, Wright turned to drug dealing to support himself and eventually used the profits to start his own rap label, Ruthless Records, with partner and music-business veteran Jerry Heller. Following N.W.A’s breakup, E’s street credibility took a major beating, though his recordings continued to sell well when they appeared unfortunately, he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1995 and died not long after.Įric “Eazy-E” Wright was born September 7, 1964, in Compton, CA, a rough part of the Los Angeles metro area that N.W.A would later make notorious. While his technical skills as a rapper were never the greatest, his distinctive delivery (invariably described as a high-pitched whine), over-the-top lyrics, and undeniable charisma made him a star. Whether as a member of N.W.A, a solo act, or a label head, Eazy-E was one of the most controversial figures in gangsta rap.

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