Remembering Eazy: 10 years Ago he Died

[MBC]

***These articles are taken from the FNV newsletter. To suscribe to this newsletter, send a blank message to FNV_Newsletter-on@mail-list.com or visit http://www.daveyd.com***

Remembering Eazy: 10 years Ago he Died "I may not seem like a guy you would pick to preach a sermon. But I feel it is now time to testify because I do have folks who care about me hearing all kinds of stuff about what's up."

"Yeah, I was a brother on the streets of Compton doing a lot of things most people look down on -- but it did pay off. Then we started rapping about real stuff that shook up the LAPD and the FBI. But we got our message across big time, and everyone in America started paying attention to the boys in the 'hood."

"Soon our anger and hope got everyone riled up. There were great rewards for me personally, like fancy cars, gorgeous women and good living. Like real non-stop excitement. I'm not religious, but wrong or right, that's me."

"I'm not saying this because I'm looking for a soft cushion wherever I'm heading, I just feel that I've got thousands and thousands of young fans that have to learn about what's real when it comes to AIDS. Like the others before me, I would like to turn my own problem into something good that will reach out to all my homeboys and their kin. Because I want to save their asses before it's too late."

"I'm not looking to blame anyone except myself. I have learned in the last week that this thing is real, and it doesn't discriminate. It affects everyone. My girl Tomika and I have been together for four years and we recently got married. She's good, she's kind and a wonderful mother. We have a little boy who's a year old. Before Tomika I had other women. I have seven children by six different mothers. Maybe success was too good to me. I love all my kids and always took care of them."

"Now I'm in the biggest fight of my life, and it ain't easy. But I want to say much love to those who have been down to me. And thanks for your support."

Just remember: it's YOUR real time and YOUR real life.
Eazy E

These profound words that were read by Eazy-E’s lawyer just days before he passed, says it all… This March 26th will mark the 10th anniversary of Eazy E’s passing and it’s something that we should take a little time out to acknowledge.

When Eazy passed his death sent shock waves within the Hip Hop community and forced everyone to take a long hard look at themselves and their behavior and change up. After all, up till the time Eazy passed, many of us simply saw HIV and AIDs as something that would never touch us. It was always perceived as a gay white man’s disease… and even after Magic Johnson came forth years before Eazy’s death to admit he had contracted the disease, many of us dismissed it to him being a freaky type, Hollywood promiscuous cat who may have sexually crossed the line.

However, when Eazy passed, all the hoods around the country were put on notice, HIV and AIDs was no joke and would take out anyone including ‘gangsta types like Eazy who once rapped that he was ‘built to last’.

When Eazy passed folks were shook, as folks began to really ‘check themselves before they wrecked themselves’. If you recall it wasn’t long after Eazy E’s death that many artists came together and did songs for compilation albums like “America is Dying’ and ‘Red Hot Cool’ that addressed the issue of HIV and AIDs . You had everybody from KRS-One and his song ‘Jimmy’ to TLC and the late singer Left Eye wearing condom earrings to promote safe sex.

Nowadays in 2005, if one were to watch a few choice videos or listen to the lyrics of a few songs, that are piped to us day in and day out, one would not know that we as a Hip Hop community had come together and attempted to be more responsible. This perception is boosted by numerous studies that show the rapid rise in HIV and AIDs especially among young Black women who apparently are getting their sexual values and cues from rap videos and the outspoken, over the top attitude and on screen behavior of their favorite artists. Hopefully folks heed the lessons learned 10 years ago…

With respect to Eazy E the artists as we acknowledge the 10th anniversary of his death, we have to look beyond the debate about whether or not he had conscious raising lyrics or whether or the best rhyme flow. He was truly one of those guys who came from Rags to Riches and history will show that he and his group NWA for better or for worse changed the face of Hip Hop forever as well as the misperceptions many had about the West Coast.

Now is this a good thing for Hip Hop? Many have weighed in over the years and have given some very strong opinions and debated whether or not they helped or hurt Hip Hop. Over the years when I interviewed Eazy and I have had some very heated discussions with him about his lyrics, he always insisted that what he was doing was ‘reality rap’. . The term ‘gangsta rap’ was something that later applied to him and his music by mainstream media. He was clear that what he and NWA were ‘street reporters’ and that there was room within Hip Hop for all sides of our existence. He felt it was important that folks outside of Cali understood that there was more to it then nice beaches and palm trees.

Below are the links to an incredible radio documentary put together by LA Hip Hop artist the Poetess. Not only is she major fixture in LA’s Hip Hop scene, she also tight with Eazy and other members of NWA, Hence she wound up getting some incredible interviews on the days leading up to Eazy death and the days after.. If you ever wanted to know about NWA, Eazy E and their true legacy be sure to peep these interviews and drop Poetess a line at Poetess92@aol.com and let her know what you think.

She covers everything in this piece from how the group first came together, the conflicts they had including their break up, how everyone eventually came together to resolve their differences and of course Eazy’s death and how everyone dealt with it and is dealing with it..

Here are the links…Please note you will need winamp www.winamp.com
to best hear the radio show..

Rags to Ruthless The Life and Times of Eazy E and NWA pt 1

www.kpfa.org/cgi-bin/gen-...on1600.mp3

Rags to Ruthless The Life and Times of Eazy E and NWA pt 2

www.kpfa.org/cgi-bin/gen-...ue1600.mp3


In closing we are including an excellent time line that chronicles the life of Eazy E.. It comes courtesy of www.eazy-e.com/eazy-e-timeline.html

September 7, 1963 - Eric Wright, a.k.a. Eazy-E was born in Compton

Winter 1979 - Eazy-E drops out of high school in 10th grade. He later returned to receive his GED.

March 3, 1987 - Eazy-E meets Jerry Heller at a record-pressing plant in Hollywood. Heller hears a sample of Eazy-E's music and the two become partners, launching Ruthless Records.

March 1987 - Eazy-E discovers D.O.C., signs him to a Ruthless/Atlantic Records deal and brings him out on tour with N.W.A.

November 1987- N.W.A. with members Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, DJ Yella and Arabian Prince, Starts a 14-date national tour on the bill with UTFO, Salt & Pepa and Heavy D.

July 1988 - Ruthless Records cuts a deal with Atco Records to distibute products by JJ Fad and Michel'le

August 1988 - N.W.A. releases "Straight Outta Compton", which eventually sells more than 3 million units

September 1988 - - MTV refuses to air the video for "Straight Outta Compton, "claiming the clip, a re-creation of a police gang sweep of black teens, "glorified violence"

September 1988 - - Eazy-E releases solo project "Eazy Duz It, " which eventually sells more than 2.5 million copies.

June 19, 1989 - Members of N.W.A. are arrested for performing "@#%$ Tha Police" on stage.

August 6, 1989 - Members of N.W.A. are briefly detained by Detroit police after chanting a few lines from "@#%$ Tha Police" in concert

August 20, 1989 - D.O.C. falls asleep while behind the wheel of a car he gets into a serious accident. He loses his voice as a result of the accident

August 1989 - A woman, 16, says she was raped after a concert in Birmingham, Ala. In a later civil suit she claims she had a daughter as a result of being raped by N.W.A. member Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson on a tour bus after the concert.

September 1989 - FBI sends a letter to ruthless Records, warning the group that the agency didn't take kindly to the single "@#%$ Tha Police"

January 1990 - Ice Cube leaves N.W.A. over finacial disputes

March 26 1990 - Tennesse District Attourney Joe Baugh rules that N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton" and 2 Live Crew's "As Nasty as They Wanna Be" violates the Tennessee obscenity laws

August 1990 - N.W.A releases "100 MILES AND RUNNIN" EP, which eventually sells more than 500, 000 copies.

September 1990 - WaxWorks, a 110-store, Kentucky basedretail chain, pulls 100 Miles and Runnin from its store shelves and refuses to sell it due to its explicit references to oral sex and gang violence.

November 1990 - Fox TV rap video show "Pump it up" runs a segment on N.W.A in which it crosscut between members of the group badmouthing Ice Cube and a interview Ice Cube saying bad things about them.

January 27, 1991 - Dre runs into "Pump it up" host Dee Barnes at a record release party in Los Angeles and gets into a physical confrintation with her.

Febuary 1991 - Barnes files criminal charges against Dre for "assault and battery" and files a $22.7 million lawsuit against Dre and the members of N.W.A. The civil case is eventually settled outside of court.

May 29, 1991 - N.W.A releases "Efil4zaggin", which eventually sells more then 1 million copies. Debuts at No.2 on the pop chart.

June 22, 1991 - "Efil4zaggin" becomes the first gangsta rap album to reach No.1 on the Billboard charts.

June 1991 - Irish singer Sinead O'Conner, after originally aggreeively defending N.W.A, tells British music magazine "New Musical Express" that N.W.A's "attitudes have become increasingly dangerous". O'Conner also said "the way they deal with women is pathetic".

Summer 1991 - N.W.A breaks up.

August 1991 - Eazy-E files a state court complaint against Dr.Dre, DeatRow Records executive Marion "Suge" Knight and rap artist D.O.C. that alleges the defendents used "duress" and "menace" to get Eazy-E to void his exclusive contracts with Dre and the D.O.C. The case is still pending.

October 1992 - Ruthless Records sues Dr. Dre's Death Row Records and accuses Dre's label of racketeering. The suit gets dismissed on Aug.9, 1993. It is under appeal.

November 1992 - Dr. Dre releases "Dre Day, " a video where he shows an Eazy-E likeness in a disparaging light.

December 1992 - Eazy-E releases solo EP "5150 Home For Tha Sick, Which has sold more than 500, 000 copies.

April 1993 - Amid a swirl of controversy, Eazy-E publicly speaks out in support of Timothy Briseno, one of the police officers who was video taped beating Rodney King.

May 1993 - Houston-based rapper Willie Dee, formerly of the Getto Boys, tells the Los Angeles Times in a interview that "Eazy-E is a sellout, " for supporting Briseno.

August 1993 - Relitivity Records signs a deal with Ruthless Records to promote, market and distribute Ruthless artist.

October 26, 1993 - Eazy-E releases second solo album "It's on(Dr.Dre)187um Killa, " which eventually sell more than 1.5 million copies. The album contains repeated references to Dr.Dre and shows Dre on the album's inner sleeve wearing eye shadow, lipstick and sequins.

Winter 1993 - Eazy-E pays $2, 500 to attend a fund-raising luncheon for the Republic Inner Circle, where George Bush spoke.

Winter 1993 - Eazy-E ordered to pay child support of $58, 000 a year for a girl he fathered in Nebraska.


April 1994 - Eazy-E starts hosting "The Ruthless Radio Show" at Los Angeles radio station KKBT (The Beat) on Saturday nights with former N.W.A. member Yella.

October 14, 1994 - Members of the rap act Po' Broke & Lonely sue Eazy-E, claiming Ruthless Records interfered with their ability to negotiate with other labels.

Febuary 24, 1995 - Eazy-E is hospitalized for what he believes to be a case of chronic asthma.

March 16, 1995 - Through attourney Ron Sweeney Eazy-E releases a statement, disclosing he has contracted full-blown AIDS. In this statement, Eazy-E also says that he has fathered 7children with 6 different women

March 1995 - Eazy-E marries Tomika Wood, with whom he had a son, Dominick, In his statement Eazy-E says that both Wood and Dominick have tested negative for HIV

March 26, 1995 - Eazy-E dies aty Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 31.The cause was complications from AIDS, according to his doctor, Dr. Williams Young

***Again, these articles are taken from the FNV newsletter. To suscribe to this newsletter, send a blank message to FNV_Newsletter-on@mail-list.com or visit http://www.daveyd.com***