RUTHLESS RECORDS

History of the greatest rap label of all times!

ruthless ni**az: Ren (left) and Eazy (RIP)

Chapter 1:

Eazy-E and Ruthless Records

the hip hop thugsta

Eric "Eazy-E" Wright founded Ruthless Records in 1987. The former drug dealer, who was originally the child of a middle-class family, had gathered around him a bunch of the tightest rap artists including Dr. Dre, MC Ren, DJ Yella and Ice Cube to found the gangsta rap group NWA. This was the first step to make Ruthless Records probably to the best rap label ever. Eazy released NWA's work through Ruthless and created so a secure base for the high quality artists that should follow the pioneers of rap with an attitude. With his reliable instinct for a new and hot style of music, fresh artists that had the balls to spit shit never heard before and his incredible talent for money and organization Eazy-E conquered the whole rap game with his new inventions. Not only this political revolutionary character of NWA's music, that shocked parents and police equally, but also the musical upheaval in the world of hip hop prepared the way for a totally new style of music - gangsta rap. No longer positive suggestions how to make a better world dominated now rap's lyrics or even tales bout rich bros that lived in wealthy suburbs, but true stories bout cruising thru the projects' streets, tryin to get a cheap hoe for a night, using the gun and gettin fucked up by the cops. Eazy talked bout his life, and his groupmates followed him. Nowadays artists like Mack 10 and Three 6 Mafia still give NWA props for influencing them with their music. At the same moment the studio gangsta was born. Musicians like Dr. Dre were influenced too much and acted like hard street g'z. No diss tho cuz Dre made together with Yella the incredible musical background for the lyrics of Ren, Cube and Eazy.

Niggaz with Attitude

Eazy didn't rest on his laurels but kept releasing tight new artists. The D.O.C. came out in 1989 with his classic "no one can do it better". He fascinated rap fans with his tight lyrical skills. Above the Law was a young group that released a further classic, "livin like hustlers". First females were signed like the group HWA (Hoes with Attitude) or the group JJ Fad. Eazy had no conventional boundaries in his life and he didn't set limits to his own musical creation. Eazy set the trends, didn't follow them. So he signed Frost, the first Latino rapper who broke out the underground. But also non-gangsta rap groups recieved money from Ruthless. The Atban Klan was more on the NY tip, today they are the Black Eyed Peas and well-known. Also Blood of Abraham were off-beat the average gangsta rappers. Last but not least also the a Southern artist was signed to Ruthless. Nashville native Pistol released his album "hittin like a bullet" on ruthless Records.

In 1991 NWA broke totally apart, Dre got beef with Eazy bout financial things. Tho he never was signed to Ruthless it was kinda like a break when Dre left the Ruthless camp and founded his own label Death Row, together with former bodyguard Suge Knight. Some former Ruthless artists left also Eazy's label, e.g. Michelle, DOC and others. As DOC said: Eazy had mean conditions for new artists and wanted the money first for himself and his Ruthless manager Jerry Heller. Also the Atban Klan and later Bone Thugs n Harmony agreed with DOC's opinion.

However, Dre and Eazy battled each other musically. Death Row's first release, the hip hop classic "chronic" was partly a diss against Eazy, featuring bad verses from Dre and his protege Snoop Doggy Dogg. Tha E didn't wait long for a response. In 1993 the EP "itz on (dre) 187um killa" dropped featuring 8 tracks directed against Dre. the record also featured the notorious "real compton city g's" aka "real muthaphuccin g'z", together with B.G. Knocc Out and Gangsta Dresta. The EP showed the rap auditory who was the real g and who the studio gangsta. Tho the climax was already reached in 93 with "real compton city g's" the battle continued. Daz and Kurupt, the Dogg Pound, got beef with Ruthless and dissed Eazy and even his new group Bone Thugs n Harmony. B.G. Knoccout and Dresta released in 95 their group album with the song "dpg killa" on it while Eazy's last album dropped. There was the song "wut would you do" on it on which E dissed the whole Death Row camp.

Eazy-E and Bone

In the meanwhile Eazy wasn't lazy but signed the new group Bone Thugs n Harmony to Ruthless. They were 4 youngsters outta Cleveland, Ohio. They had visited E in L.A. and Krazy rapped a few verses on the telephone. Eazy was impressed by Krazy's lyrical skills and some time later Bone released their first EP called "creepin on ah come up". It was a mix between the ole Ruthless style and new, fresh talent. Some of the songs were produced by DJ Yella and Rhythm D. Other songs were produced by a young, gifted cat called DJ U-Neek. Together with Bone's fast and melodious style Eazy had again discovered a fresh kind of street rap music.
In the same year Eazy got lil stress with his long-time homey MC Ren. After his 1992 release "kizz my black azz" Ren released his 1st solo LP called "shock of the hour". When the beef between Eazy and Dre lasted, Ren never was down with one of both sides.
In 1995, the year in which "straight off tha streets of compton" dropped, Eazy-E died of AIDS. The personal battle between him and Dre kinda ended when Dre visited E at his death bed. May Eazy rest in peace!

end of chapter 1...

Chapter 2:

After Eazy's death
or: how you can run down one of the greatest labels in the world!

After Eazy died everything changed. His widow Tomica Wright became the CEO of Ruthless Records. From that day on the label has steered slowly but sure to its cruel end. Many artists left Ruthless when Tomica became the new CEO, including Above the Law, Frost and the Atban Klan. The conditions with this woman were too bad for them. As Cold 187um, the mastermind of Above the Law said: "...nobody wants to deal with Tomica. Thats what our holdup would be..." (Rap Pages, May 1998). The 2 big artists left on Ruthless were MC Ren and Bone Thugs n Harmony. Both are excellent acts. With MC Ren ruthless could have hit the thugstas and street rap fans all over the world. His aggressive "villain in black" (1996) culminated musical hate and rebellious attitude against all odds and laws. On the other hand Bone Thugs n Harmony released in the same year the single "crossroads" and their longplayer "eternal 1999". The album went multi-platinum while the single stayed on #1 in the charts for a longer time than any other single, it even broke the Beatles' record which had hold this record for 30 years!

So with these 2 acts, Ren and Bone, Ruthless could have conquered the musical world. Instead both were hold down from their own label. Ren with his "i dont give a fuck" attitude wasn't mainstream enuff to be pushed with ads and interviews. And Bone seemed to be like strangers, not belonging to Ruthless. the label pushed them the wrong way, with the correct business moves this quartett could be hip hop's best-selling group, but with albums packed with quality! Listen to their music, they don't use hooklines of hits from the 70's, they don't rap bout the usual things with the usual "skills". An extraordinaire style combined with great, versatile production from DJ Uneek. Eazy's inherit for Tomica was so big, but with the wrong moves this inherit wasn't used very well.

Bizzy Bone dissed Tomica on his 98 solo release. then finally in 99 the "black widow" started talking to Bone after years of ignoring them. Now in the year 2000 MC Ren dropped off Ruthless, the last artist who was down with the label from day 1. Ruthless has signed bay area rapper Dru Down. When Bone also drop from Ruthless it will be on him to keep the legend of Ruthless alive...

end of chapter 2...