Eazy-E

Eazy-E (1993)

Eric Lynn Wright (born September 7, 1964 in Compton , California , † March 26, 1995 in Los Angeles , California) was known as Eazy-E and was an American rapper .

Life

In his youth, Eric Lynn Wright, then known as "casual", developed a criminal image. According to his own account, he dealt with drugs during and after graduation in order to finance his own record label Ruthless Records with the proceeds of around US $ 500,000 and to pay music manager Jerry Heller . At that time the drug crack came onto the market, and Eazy must have recognized its potential very early on. Together with Ice Cube , Dr. Dre , DJ Yella , MC Ren and some friends released their first album NWA and the Posse in 1987 under the name NWA (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) . The success came with the following album Straight Outta Compton , on which a hip-hop cover version of Charles Wright's Express Yourself opened the B-side.

One of the most famous songs is the song Fuck Tha Police , in which the racist behavior of the Los Angeles police towards the Afro-American population is denounced. As is typical for the genre, the lyrics are sometimes hard, but also ironic.

Shortly after Straight Outta Compton , Eazy-E released his first solo LP Eazy-Duz-It , which was awarded double platinum. In 1989 Ice Cube left NWA, whereupon Eazy-E took over most of his rap passages for Niggaz 4 Life (reverse Efil4zaggin ) (1991). Shortly thereafter, NWA broke up, resulting in a lengthy legal process between those involved from NWA, Heller, Ruthless Records and Death Row Records ( Suge Knight ). Dr. Dre made fun of Eazy-E in several songs on his solo debut The Chronic . He countered with songs like Real Muthaphuckkin G's (with BG Knocc Out & Gangsta Dresta) or It's On , both of which are featured on his EP It's On ( Dr. Dre ) 187um Killa . Ruthless Records was also successful with Above the Law and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony .

In early 1995, Eazy-E was diagnosed with AIDS . He died on March 26, 1995, shortly after dating Ice Cube and Dr. Dre had made peace again. Str8 Off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton was released after his death, followed by previously unpublished material under the name Impact of a Legend . Eazy-E was the father of seven children by six different women. His first son was born on April 23, 1984. This is also an MC and known under the pseudonym Lil Eazy-E .

To this day, Eazy-E is considered the godfather of gangsta rap and a co-founder of the successful G-Funk era and not least because of this, went down in rap history as one of the most colorful, but also most honest figures. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and the new Ruthless Records artists now honor his memory. He also received a tribute in GTA San Andreas by serving as a model for the appearance of the character Ryder . Another tribute will give him several times in the video for the song I Need a Doctor of Eminem , Dr. Dre and Skylar Gray . At the end of the video, his grave is shown, in front of which Dr. Dre kneels.

In 2012 the documentary Ruthless Memories was released with interviews by Jerry Heller, MC Ren and BG Knocc Out .

In the 2015 published biopic Straight Outta Compton , he was played by actor Jason Mitchell .

Discography

Graffiti by Eazy-E in Leeuwarden

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1988	Eazy-Duz-It	-	US32 × 2 Double platinum (92 weeks)US	First published: September 16, 1988
1995	Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton	UK66 (1 week) UK	US3 gold (18 weeks)US	First published: November 24, 1995

EPs

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1992	5150: Home 4 tha sick	-	US70 gold (18 weeks)US	First published: December 28, 1992
1993	It's On ( Dr. Dre ) 187um Killa	-	US5 × 2 Double platinum (38 weeks)US	First published: October 19, 1993
2002	Impact of a Legend	-	US113 (4 weeks) US	First published: March 26, 2002

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1995	Eternal E	-	US84 gold (12 weeks)US	First published: November 28, 1995
2007	Featuring… Eazy-E	-	-	First published: December 4th, 2007
2010	Tri pack	-	-	First published: 2010

With NWA

→ Main article : “Discography” in the NWA article

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1987	Boyz-n-the-Hood N.WA and the Posse	-	US50 (2 weeks) US
1993	Real Muthaphuckkin G’s It’s On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa	-	US42 (16 weeks) US	feat. BG Knocc Out and Dresta
1995	Just tah Let U Know Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton	UK32 (3 weeks) UK	US45 (12 weeks) US

More singles

• 1988: Eazy-er Said Than Dunn
• 1989: Eazy-Duz-It
• 1989: We Want Eazy ( feat.Dre and MC Ren )
• 1992: Only If You Want It
• 1992: Neighborhood Sniper ( feat.Kokane and Cold 187um )
• 1993: Any Last Werdz ( feat.Kokane and Cold 187um)
• 1994: Luv 4 Dem Gangsta'z
• 1995: Tha Muthaphukkin 'Real (feat.MC Ren)
• 1996: Creep N Crawl
• 2002: Switchez (feat.Roc Slanga)

Singles as guest musicians

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1995	Foe tha Love of $ Creepin on ah Come Up	-	US41 (14 weeks) US	Bone Thugs-N-Harmony feat. Eazy-E

Further guest contributions

• 1989: The Grand Finalé (with The DOC , Ice Cube and MC Ren)
• 1990: Anything You Want (with Tairrie B)
• 1992: Trust No Bitch (with Penthouse Players Clique, DJ Quik and AMG)
• 1993: Game Wreck-Oniz-Iz Game (with Above the Law and Kokane)
• 1993: Niggaz and Jewz (Some Say Kikes) (with Blood of Abraham and Will 1 X )

Awards for music sales

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
United States (RIAA)	3 × gold3	4 × platinum4th	4,250,000	riaa.com
All in all	3 × gold3	4 × platinum4th

swell

1. ^ According to the California Birth Index (based on the public register of the same name of the California Office of Health Information and Research); different sources are from 1963.
2. ^ RIAA - Searchable Database: Eazy-E database of the Recording Industry Association of America on riaa.com, accessed July 31, 2015
3. ↑ Jeff Chang: The Last Days of Eazy E . Swindle, April 24, 2004.
4. ↑ Jon Borgmeyer, Holly Lang: Dr. Dre: A Biography. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, ISBN 0-313-33826-4 , pp. 99-100.
5. ^ Talia, Pele (September 1995). Vibe 3 (7): 32.
6. ^ Eazy-E Documentary at RuthlessMemories.com, accessed August 29, 2015
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart positions: UK US

Web links

• Official Ruthless Records website
• Eazy-E at Discogs (English)
• Eazy-E at laut.de
• Eazy-E at Allmusic (English)