![]() You described Eazy-E’s funeral in pretty great detail. That wasn't the path I was supposed to go. Even though I know I went down the wrong path. It's just like everybody just went their way doing their own thing. I was thinking what I'm doing or where I'm going. Once I was in that lane of movies, I didn't look at music or hip-hop, nothing. You know what the craziest thing is? I never knew about the headphones until Dre gave them to me. Was it hard not to be envious or compare your path in that period? Then he hit billionaire status with the massive success of Beats By Dre. Dre had built an empire with Aftermath Records and Eminem. Meanwhile, Ice Cube was a successful rapper and went on to be the star of action and children’s movies. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage) WireImage Dre and Jimmy Iovine attend the unveiling of Beats By Dr. At no point did you compare yourself to others.ĭr. In your book, you describe when you were struggling the hardest, around 2010, you were homeless, staying with friends and family and sleeping on a slowly deflating air mattress in the projects. You went to work with Eazy and never could’ve known that he would die so suddenly. You seem to be at peace with your life as you look back on it, stating that God has had a path for you. Never sat there like, "Oh, I should have went with him." Not one bit. I didn't even have time to think about that. I didn't think of it as girls and thrills. I jumped into the movies like a producer making songs and albums. If I listened to music, it was old stuff that's already been out from the early 90s and 80s. I’m gonna do the adult films all the way, 100%. That's when I started putting my name and face, using my likeness and everything.īut a year later, somebody wanted a solo album and for me to finish Eazy's album and the greatest hits. But that was it for music. I remember when they buried him and they put the dirt on top of him and then everybody left, I said, "I'm done with music." The music just went out of my body. You had inadvertently chosen your path, now you were alone and the other guys had moved on. Then, the world tragically loses Eazy in 1995 due to AIDS-related pneumonia. So by default, you were then with Eazy-E and working on Ruthless Records and that became your immediate future. ![]() (Photo by Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Getty Images Dre of the rap group NWA pose for a portrait in 1991. (L-R) Rappers DJ Yella, MC-Ren, Eazy-E and Dr. I'm quite sure it had to be stuff like that. What would you hypothesize the outside influences could’ve been? Someone telling another member that they could be way more successful if they went solo? It wasn't the group mad at each other, pointing fingers. Always the outsiders looking in, what can they get? That's what happened to us. ![]() And this is the part-you break up at number one, but the group is not mad at each other!? So evidently, there's some outside influences. I tell people all the time, how many groups break up when they're number one? I don't think it's ever happened. You’ve had your share of extreme highs and lows. Before the pandemic hit, you were literally traveling the entire world playing shows. You were immortalized in Straight Outta Compton and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You were in the biggest group in the world, then eventually things changed and you hit your self-described rock bottom. Given the struggles you’ve outlined, it's a miracle that you are where you are today. Spoiler alert: the origins of NWA are intertwined with the much more delicate image of the World Class Wreckin’ Cru.īelow, DJ Yella discusses the rise and breakup of NWA, the death of his pal, Eazy-E, and the staying power of the group’s most controversial track, “F*ck The Police.” Perhaps the most ridiculous of memories is when Carraby was trying to focus on directing one of his adult movies and Eazy-E was in the background distracting him by loudly crunching down a bag of potato chips.įor music nerds, the musician also intricately details the origins of his DJ career and technological innovations in real-time, mapping out the path he and his contemporaries took to their gangster aesthetic. Dre thought it was funny to pretend to tug at his catheter. Or, a hysterically nerve-wracking anecdote where Carraby was hospitalized for surgery and Dr. Take for example, a recollection of NWA members having a philosophical as to whether or not they’d sell their souls to the devil. Yella (Antoine Carraby), Cli-N-Tel (Marquette Hawkins) and Lonzo 'Grandmaster' (Alonzo Williams) (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives) getty LOS ANGELES - 1985: Electronic funk group World Class Wreckin' Cru (L-r Dr Dre (Andre young), DJ.
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