| If you were a hip-hop head in the late 1980s, chances | | | | members Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and M.C. Ren occasionally |
| are you grew up listening to the music of pioneering | | | | record and perform together to this day. |
| "gangsta" rap group N.W.A. as well as their solo | | | | Now, Wright's son, Lil Eazy-E, is following in his famous |
| efforts. From the group's controversial song "F-The | | | | father's footsteps by releasing his debut album Prince |
| Police," to the G-funk sound of Dr. Dre's pivotal album, | | | | of Compton, which is scheduled to drop on September |
| The Chronic, the members of this Compton, | | | | 16, 2008. The first single off the LP will be "What |
| Calif.-based group are still influencing the rap-game | | | | We're Claimin." |
| over 20 years later. | | | | Lil Eazy's music has been described as a hard-core |
| However, it was the late Eric "Eazy-E" Wright who laid | | | | depiction of the mean streets of Compton, Calif. and |
| the foundation for the group and its label, Ruthless | | | | the struggles his family endured as a result of his |
| Records, and created the sound of hard core West | | | | father's untimely death of AIDS. Nevertheless, many in |
| Coast hip-hop that is beginning to see resurgence on | | | | the hip-hop game have questioned his street credibility |
| the charts with the popularity of artists like The Game | | | | because of the success of his famous father. |
| and Guerilla Black. | | | | "A lot of people probably think I grew up in the suburbs |
| Wright grew up on the impoverished streets of | | | | of southern California, living a privileged life. What they |
| Compton, Calif. and like many of his peers, turned to | | | | don't know is I was born and raised in the same house |
| drug dealing as a means of survival. However, he | | | | as my father, the oldest of nine kids. We were a big |
| turned those profits into a legitimate business by | | | | family that all grew-up together. I lived the same life as |
| founding Ruthless Records in the 1980s. | | | | my father, and I'm giving you that life on The Prince of |
| While having a successful solo career that was aided | | | | Compton," says Lil Eazy-E. |
| by the Ice Cube-penned hit, "Boys N' The Hood," | | | | Lil-Eazy-E also works with former Ruthless Records |
| Wright would later form the super group N.W.A. in | | | | artists, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Ice Cube, who |
| 1986. The group released its first LP, N.W.A. and The | | | | owe much of their early success to his late father, on |
| Posse in 1987 to little fanfare, but struck platinum with | | | | the new album. |
| their 1988 follow-up Straight Outta Compton. | | | | "Ice Cube was a huge influence on my record," says |
| Internal tension over finances led to Ice Cube's | | | | Lil Eazy-E. "Knowing him as a kid and then working |
| departure in 1989 with Dr. Dre following Ice Cube's lead | | | | with him as a man was a great learning experience." |
| by leaving the group in 1992, essentially marking the | | | | And over 20 years later, the lessons taught by |
| end of the group's successful run. | | | | Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, M.C. Ren, Ice Cube and D.J. Yella are |
| However, Wright's battle with AIDS, which would | | | | still resonating throughout hip-hop, as many young |
| eventually take his life in 1995, led to reconciliation | | | | artists continue to emulate their sound and learn from |
| between Wright and his former band mates, and | | | | their success. |