However, after his cousin was shot and killed, he decided that he could make a better living in the Los Angeles hip hop scene, which was growing rapidly in popularity. In 1986, at age 22, Wright had allegedly earned as much as US$250,000 from dealing drugs. Likewise, 'dope dealer' was a role that accorded you certain privileges and respect." 'Thug' was a role that was widely understood on the street it gave you a certain level of protection in the sense that people hesitated to fuck with you. Heller explains: "The hood where he grew up was a dangerous place. Heller would claim that Wright's "dope dealer" label was part of his "self-forged armor". Wright's music manager Jerry Heller recalls seeing Wright selling marijuana, but not cocaine. Wright supported himself mainly by selling drugs, and introduced his cousin to the illicit occupation. You had to be "thug," "playa," "athlete," "gangsta," or "dope man." Otherwise, there was only one role left to you: "victim." No one survived on the streets without a protective mask. Wright dropped out of high school in the tenth grade, but later received a general equivalency diploma (GED). His father was a postal worker and his mother was a grade-school administrator. He died from HIV/AIDS-related illness in 1995.Įarly life and Ruthless Records investmentĮric Wright was born to Richard and Kathie Wright on September 7, 1964, in Compton, California, a Los Angeles suburb once noted for high crime rates and gang culture. Resuming his solo career Eazy-E released two EPs, yet he remained more significant behind the scenes, signing and nationally debuting the rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony from 1993 to 1994. Dre, who had departed for solo careers in 19, respectively. The group released its second and final studio album, Niggaz4Life, in 1991, and soon after disbanded.ĭuring N.W.A's splintering, largely by disputes over money, Eazy-E became embroiled in bitter rivalries with Ice Cube and Dr. Controversial upon release, it is now ranked among the greatest and most influential albums ever. N.W.A's debut studio album, Straight Outta Compton, was released in 1988. Dre, they joined, forming N.W.A, later that year. After a short solo career with frequent collaboration with Ice Cube and Dr. īorn and raised in Compton, California, Wright had several legal troubles before founding Ruthless in 1987. He is often referred to as the "Godfather of Gangsta Rap". There are dustier, sample-driven moments like “It’s All On Me” and satisfying throwback G-funk tracks like the Snoop Dogg collab “Satisfaction.” But there are also more curious variations on the theme-the lightly drunken neo-soul groove of “Animals”-and wild detours like the glitchy pseudo-trap in the second half of "Medicine Man." The album might be called Compton, but there’s a global quality about this music, reflective of so much hip-hop that came in the decade and a half during which Dre was largely absent from the pop music sphere as a soloist.Eric Lynn Wright (Septem – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. Paak assumes the Nate Dogg-like role of G-funk crooner but adds his own sense of urgency and eccentricity-see his inspired, unhinged interplay with Dre on “All In a Day’s Work.”Ĭompton’s beats reflect a pangenerational viewpoint as well. In “Genocide,” he goes toe-to-toe with his city’s star hip-hop talent, Kendrick Lamar, rapping in high, hoarse, and energized tones to complement Lamar’s own idiosyncratic, range-switching style. Dre did not return just to cash in on nostalgia he thoughtfully pits the greatest minds of his generation and the next couple-Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Eminem-against a panoply of new talent from his home city, as a challenge to all parties to be on top of their game.Īs a rapper, Dre works to demonstrate the extent to which he can evolve with the times and play off of his collaborators. Every beat sounds expensive and high stakes, often changing shape with the entrance of a new voice-either a legacy act, reigning royalty, or a protégé on the rise. Dre has often compared his albums to films, and Compton sounds more cinematic than anything in his discography with its all-star ensemble cast, it feels perfect for the age of Marvel movies that it surfaced into. Loosely pegged to the release of the N.W.A biopic, Straight Outta Compton, the album found the West Coast rap founding father fully embracing his legacy as an auteur-an expert curator who knows his role and plays it to stylish, hard-boiled perfection.ĭr. Dre shocked a skeptical music world by dropping Compton, the long-awaited follow-up to 1999 chart monster 2001 that many expectant fans had come to believe was apocryphal.
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