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MICHAEL ABRAMSON Ciets TOTALK ABOUT HIS NWA DAYS, Hl$ FRIEND EAZY-E, YELLA and Hl$ NEW ALBUM

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MICHAEL ABRAMSON Ciets TOTALK ABOUT HIS NWA DAYS, Hl$ FRIEND EAZY-E, YELLA and Hl$ NEW ALBUM FIGURATIVELY FORCED TO PERFORM BY THE EMBARASSMENT OF PREVIOUS EFFORTS Arts and Entertainment Supplement -to the Da i I MICHAEL ABRAMSON CiETS TOTALK ABOUT HIS NWA DAYS, Hl$ FRIEND EAZY-E, YELLA AND Hl$ NEW ALBUM. Over the course of the past year, A rtsw eek has spent a significant amount of ink re­ I wanted Dre and Cube to do something, butat the time, it would have been invading flecting on the death from AIDS of gangsta rap pioneer and all-around music legend - their space or something. I didn’t want to just come to them, after not talking to them Eazy-E. This is for several reasons, the primaiy one being that Eazy is simply an inter­ for so long, and ask them for something. I just didn’t even go through it The people I esting guy to read about as well as an enigmatic figure who, since ms entrance into the got with on this one were the people that was around Ruthless [the record label started world of popular music, was destined to be an icon. by Eazy]. So, I just stayed the same, that’s all. Me and Dre still talk to this day. I just But today, we close a chapter of the A rtsw eek experience. Today is the day we actu­ talked to him yesterday. ally print an interview with an ex-compatriot of Eazy’s and have several of our most What do you think abopt how Ruthless Records is being handled right now? fantastic questions about Compton’s most notorious hip-hop thugsta answered. Read I think it’s crazy. Too many people got their hands out Right now, the court is run­ on, as staff writer Michael Abramson speaks with D] Yella, who, dong with Ice Cube, ning it so it’s nothing but a name. The real Ruthless is gone. They got newstuff coming Dr. Dre, MC Ren and Eazy-E, made up "the world’s most dangerous group,” NWA. out, but the court-appointed people are running it, not the people Eazy appointed. Did you initially want to put out your album on Ruthless? You’ve had a fascinating career . Tell me how you first got involved in the rap Well, me and him [Eaw] was doing something together, but that just faded away. industry. What happened to au the tracks you guys did? Actually, me and Dre was DJs in a club in L.A, So that’s really how it started and They’re still sitting around with noi words on them. I still got one song that he fin­ that’s how we met too. We saw how simple it was to make records, so we just started. It ished that’s notreleased. I may not even ever release that to nobody. I may just set it up was real simple. on my counter like a trophy. - And that lead to the formation o f the group known as the World Class Wrecking What about all the tracks we've heard about? Crew, correct? There’s tracks, but there’s no words. There’s a bunch of tracks, there can be 20 or 30 Yup. tracks, but he never got around to the words. That was just him. We’d always do tracks, And NWA was the next step? but he’d never write to them. Yeah, a few years later. How did you all hook up? - Dre already knew Eazy and Ren because they was from his side of town. Me and Dre was trying to find a way to get out of the Wrecking Crew, so we just waited around and waited around until we justfigured it out and it all came together. We all started at one time. What was your role in NWA? Well, I was a producer. All me and Dre was were pro­ ducers, from the Wrecking Crew on up. Me and him pro­ duced everything. I've noticed that on most o f the production credits it lists both your name and Ore’s. How exactly did you share that responsibility? It was always me and him, that's how we worked. We worked like a team all the time. It was nobody’s job to do this and nobody’s job to do that. It just happened really. Where did you find yourself when NWA first began experiencing trouble? I was in the middle, because I wasn’t jumping on this side or that side. I stayed in the middle and stayed neutral and that’s why nobody could really say anything about me. I didn’t talk to nobody. It was just a bunch of mess. Nobody was cheated. The prob­ Are you still a DJ? lem was NWA making too much money, that’s what the real problem was. I haven’t deejayed in years. I haven’t deejayed since the NWA tour in 1989. Actually, How was that a problem? the “DJ” was just a name. I didn’t really deejay. Back in the old days, yeah, but not no When there’s too much money, there's always somebody on the outside telling more. somebody on the inside, “You should be getting more.” There was just a lot of money. i It’s really rem arkable to notice the artists who originated in NWA. The mass media didn’t really give Eazy the kind o f tribute he deserved. Your tri­ Yeah. I’m the last person with a solo project It’s a rare rap group with so many re­ bute, by dedicating your solo album, 4 tha E to him, seems more appropriate. cord sales. People think that Eazy-E and NWA had a lot of albums. But Eazy-E had two It’s because it was something from the heart, not just something done. There prob­ albums in eight years. It’s hard to believe. His first album and his last.one, with two EPs ably can be more done. At the time it was all I could think of. I owe a lot. A lot of people in the middle. And NWA only had two albums and one EP. You would swear there was owe a lot. He helped a lot of careers and people that wasn’t even in the business, he still more. If you really think about it, that’s a heck of an impact. helped them. It’s just a little way of showing appreciation. What are you working on now? Are your memories of Eazy still very vibrant? I just finished NWA’s Greatest Hits on Priority. [See review below]. They called me Yeah. I think of him every day. Every day and every night. It’s just hard to realize and to do it. I’m the only one left to do it. think that it really happened. It was just like losing a brother. When you lose a brother What was your role in that project? you think about it all the time, but you still gotta live on. What I’m doing is iust so that T was over the whole thing. I selected the songs, I found all kinds of interviews that people won’t forget him. He changed the whole era of rap music. NWA changed the were never out and stuff. I found a live show that was never heard before. It sounds whole face of West Coast music. If it wasn’t for NWA, there wouldn’t probablybe a lot good. I did it the way I did Eazy’s album, I made it just flow through from beginning to of this. And if it wasn’t for Eazy having the money to start NWA, there wouldn’t be a lot end. more. He helped a lot of people. Can you think of any last words? , Looking at the long and impressive list of rappers you’ve worked with over your Just don’t foiget him. Watch yourself out there, because that little word [AIDS] has a career, how did you decide which rappers to have appear on your solo album? big meaning to it It’s dangerous. You’ve just gotta protect yourself. And it’s for real. fwx w m m . 3.m 11 a gHH| ^ •* t ■ wm JB liquor pitchman and a completely commercialized caricature of a worse than anything the Oeto Boys ever did. it's still good though, Greatest Hitt * hardcore and much better than his most recent sold effort. t i W i f j r aware hip hop of the '90s Pick up Death Certificate tor proof So, on to Greatest Hits If Eazy-E is dead Dre and Cube are alienat­ Following a year of drama Dr D a was, like Cube, able to break ed and Ren la doing his ownahlfc who is putting the ben of MV A Take a second and answer this question: Who would be offended if his contract with Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records and start Ins own label. together7 I'd like to do it, but as Artsweek has learned, it was D| you played NWA in front of them ’ (A) Your sister (B) Your molhrr Death How, Die'S ensuing debut solo album set the tone for current •Yella, , * ( W ' -• ' ** JV ' , ‘ ' >. / (Cl Your closest female friend Actually all of them probably would West Coast mainstream hip hop most significantly by Introducing --1», unless they ant entirely devoted to being open-minded or com­ the world to Snoop Doggy Dogg, Daz, Kurrupt, Warren C. and Nate < -- Yella k mysterious: His background, stalls and his role in NWA are pletely numb -V” ” •, / Dogg.
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