Ruthless is an American record label, founded by Jerry Heller and gangsta rapper Eazy-E. The record label was founded in Torrance, California in 1986. The label's acts over the years have earned RIAA certifications of Platinum or higher on 15 of its released albums, including releases by N.W.A, Eazy-E, MC Ren, The D.O.C., Michel'le, J.J.Fad and Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony.
History
N.W.A days
Ruthless was formed as a vehicle for releases by N.W.A, as well as member and cofounder Eric "Eazy-E" Wright; its first successful single was Eazy's "Boyz-n-the-Hood", followed by N.W.A's "Dopeman", "8-Ball" and "Panic Zone", introductory to the group's N.W.A. and the Posse, a compilation album released under the group's name, albeit not on Ruthless. It also put out singles by underground California acts such as Frost and J.J. Fad, but the label's first full-length release was N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton, which was eventually certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA. Immediately following this was the release of Eazy's solo debut, Eazy-Duz-It.
As the six members went on tour in support of their project, some began to voice their displeasure with the financial situation at Ruthless. According to group member MC Ren, it was a common opinion that N.W.A manager and Ruthless co-founder Jerry Heller was the one receiving their due:
We felt he didn’t deserve what he was getting. We deserved that shit. We were the ones making the records, traveling in vans and driving all around the place. You do all those fucking shows trying to get known, and then you come home to a fucking apartment. Then you go to his house, and this motherfucker lives in a mansion. There’s gold leaf trimmings all in the bathroom and all kinds of other shit. You’re thinking, “Man, fuck that.â€
The label also experienced outside pressure due to the group. The success of their song "Fuck tha Police" led to a threatening F.B.I. letter to distributor Priority Records. After coming off tour, group member Ice Cube voiced his opinions on the group's finances. Though Heller continually claims that everything was in order, and has even offered them to open the account books to prove his innocence, the ensuing confrontation ended in Ice Cube leaving Ruthless without signing on as a solo artist, which the remaining members proceeded to do.
Nineteen eighty-eight also saw the release of J.J. Fad's gold-certified album Supersonic, produced by founding N.W.A member Arabian Prince and in 1989, singer Michel'le's eponymous self-titled album, and The D.O.C.'s critically acclaimed No One Can Do It Better (all released through Atlantic), all produced by N.W.A beatsmiths Dr. Dre and DJ Yella; following these efforts, Dre returned to N.W.A, producing the 100 Miles and Runnin' E.P. and the group's sophomore effort, Niggaz4Life, which reached Platinum status. Above the Law's Livin' Like Hustlers was also released during this period (by way of Epic Records).
In 1989, Eazy signed hip-hop's first white female rapper Tairrie B to Ruthless' new Comptown label subsidiary. She released her debut album The Power of a Woman in 1990 (through MCA Records) featuring the single and video for "Murder She Wrote" which Eazy and Philadelphia rapper Schoolly D appeared in. The album also featured guest vocals by Dr. Dre, D.O.C. and future House of Pain frontman Everlast, and production by QDIII.
N.W.A breakup & other Ruthless artists
Though N.W.A was highly successful, Dre was advised by The D.O.C. and the rapper's friend, Suge Knight, that he should leave the label to avoid any possible financial meddling by Heller and Eazy-E, offering to extricate Dre from his Ruthless contract. Suge became such a problem for the label-heads that at one point Eazy-E allegedly suggested killing him, a move vetoed by Heller. Eventually, Suge succeeded in procuring Dre, D.O.C. and Michel'le's contractsâ€"through reportedly illicit meansâ€"and proceeded to set up Death Row Records with the producer.
Now short of his main producer, Eazy-E signed various other acts that would assist him in a subsequent rivalry with Death Row. Gangsta Dresta and B.G. Knocc Out were among the most vocal of these rappers, with DJ Yella and new producer Rhythum D producing. While MC Ren stayed neutral, he remained with Ruthless, releasing several albums. Eazy-E released several high-profile albums dissing Dr. Dre, including most famously It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa. Producer Big Hutch/Cold 187Â um alleges that during this time period, with Ruthless switching distributors from Priority to Relativity Records, even Wright began to feel as though Heller wasn't being honest with the label's finances:
When the money started rolling and a lot of cats couldn’t come to the table and renegotiate…. Ya know, it was fucked up! That’s what was wrong. Like Eazy came to me one night and he said “Man, shit is fucked up, man.†Because he was at a point where even he was getting played by Jerry Heller.
Eazy-E allegedly fired Jerry Heller, shortly before his death.
Eazy-E's death
In March 1995, Eazy-E was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS; around this time he was beginning to work on his third album Money + Sex = Eazy. He had just signed the Cleveland-based group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, whose 1994 EP release Creepin on ah Come Up was well received by critics and fans. Eazy was given executive producer credit on Bone Thugs' first full-length album, E 1999 Eternal, which was released shortly after his death on March 26, 1995 of AIDS-related pneumonia in Los Angeles. before the album's release. Their smash 1995 single "Tha Crossroads" was dedicated to Eazy-E and helped push the album to multi-platinum success.
Comptown Records Inc. is the parent company currently owned by Tomica Woods-Wright that she inherited from Eric Wright and Comptown Records owns Subsidiary Ruthless Records. After his death, the label was taken over by Eazy-E's wife, Tomica Woods-Wright. Due to a shift in promotions and marketing, the label's artists began leaving for other recording homes. Into 1996, only MC Ren, Kid Frost and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony remained, and even those acts eventually departed, though re-releases of previous projects have appeared since then. Ruthless is now a division of Epic Records.
The label has had several distributors simultaneously. Early Ruthless releases were distributed by Macola Records (including certain material from JJ Fad which was made prior to the completion of the Supersonic album, which were at first released on Ruthless' short-lived Dream Team Records subsidiary), but that deal was short-lived and the rights reverted to Ruthless.All of N.W.A's releases and Eazy-E's first two solo albums on Ruthless Records were distributed by Priority Records, and the rights to these releases are now held by Priority's new owner, Capitol Records. Releases by The D.O.C, Michel'le, Yomo & Maulkie and JJ Fad were marketed through Atlantic Records or its subsidiary Atco Records. These master rights are still held by Atlantic's parent company, Warner Music Group, while Above The Law's releases were marketed through Epic Records and Giant Records. In 1994, Ruthless found exclusive distribution through Relativity Records, formerly a heavy metal label. Relativity was later folded into its parent company, Sony Music Entertainment. Currently, Lil Eazy-E is signed to the label. The most recent album released through Ruthless was Hopsin's Gazing at the Moonlight.
Straight Outta Compton
With the success of Notorious, New Line Cinema reps announced to Entertainment Weekly's "Hollywood Insider Blog" that N.W.A's story was in development to become a theatrical release. Filmmaker S. Leigh Savidge and radio veteran Alan Wenkus wrote the initial drafts of the screenplay, working closely with Tomica Woods-Wright. Later drafts were written by Andrea Berloff and, after New Line put the project in turnaround and it was picked up by Universal Pictures, Jonathan Herman was brought on to do the final drafts of the script. The film was produced by Tomica Woods-Wright, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Matt Alvarez, Scott Bernstein, and F. Gary Gray, who also served as director. Straight Outta Compton was released in North American theaters on August 14, 2015. Eazy-E was portrayed by actor Jason Mitchell, with Paul Giamatti playing Jerry Heller.
Current artists
- Lil Eazy-E
Former artists
Discography
References
Works cited
- Billboard
External links
- Biography of Eazy-E