Eazy-E: The Original West Coast Player

Few people on the West Coast can match the impact that Eazy-E had on the gangsta rap genre. Perhaps the only people who can were the ones who participated in the classic rap group with Eazy-E, a little rap group by the name of NWA. Perhaps you've heard of it? Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was among Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, Ren, and many other hardcore rappers who defined a generation of rap, as well as the next generation.

Eazy-E was no joke either. He was a crip when he was growing up, moving drugs and making money, enough actually that the rumor is that he used that money to start his career in rap. The investment was Ruthless Records, which soon took off as soon as Dr. Dre and Ice Cube signed on the label.

The first NWA and Eazy-E album was "NWA and the Posse," believe it or not, a compilation set of some of their early mixes. That was 1987. In 1988, though, the first full studio NWA and Eazy-E record came out, called "Straight Outta Compton," named after the hood in Los Angeles that they all resided from. Who could forget this record? Such hits as the song of the same name, and "Fuck the Police, put NWA on the radar, of rap fans and the FBI everywhere.

NWA to the End

With the success of the first NWA album still settling in, Ruthless Records released a solo Eazy-E album called "Eazy Duz It." Again, there is nothing like this album, before or after. Already, if you listen to Eazy-E here, you can hear the master Dr. Dre at work in production, starting with his West Coast funky sound. And on top of the beats, there were Eazy-E lyrics, with his high-pitched, slow, confident, and profane tone.

The NWA gang continued with their tear, literally ripping apart what had been hardcore rap and reinvented it into the guns, drugs, and gang life lyrics that all future rappers wouil copy, with their second and last record, called "Efil4zaiggin," which came out in 1991.

Around this time though, the Eazy-E empire started to crumble. Before this last album even came out, Ice Cube had already left the group, claiming that Eazy-E and his cohort Jerry Heller were ripping him off.

Then, after this 1991 record, Dr. Dre would get pissed over money and contracts and leave Eazy-E and Ruthless Records. Dre started his own label, Death Row Records, and became a mortal enemy of Eazy. Just listen to Dre's tracks off of "The Chronic," and you hear anti- Eazy-E lyrics throughout.

The End

Eazy-E responded with his own solo Eazy-E album, "It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa," and you can immediately tell by the name of the album that animosity was strong between the two record labels. Listen to Eazy-E on these tracks as well, and you hear a new sound coming out (as Dre and Yella had previously produced NWA). The new Eazy-E sound including high-pitched squealing and scratching, with minimalist beats and the ever-present high drawl of Eazy-E.

Who knows where Eazy-E could have gone with his solo career. In March 1995, he admitted himself into the hospital, thinking he had bronchitis or something. Ten days later, Eazy-E was dead because of AIDS.

From Eazy-E to Hip Hop Music