We don’t normally acknowledge famous birthdays here at When Falls, but we should. And today we do. September 7th is the late Eazy E’s birthday. Eazy E (given name Eric Wright) was the founder of the seminal rap group NWA, and subsequently, the founder of gangster rap music.

In 1995, at the age of 31 and in the prime of his career as a rap artist and record executive, Eazy E died from AIDS complications. Shortly after his death, Eazy’s record company essentially folded and his music disappeared. His death was quickly overshadowed by those of the more in vogue Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur. Since then, Eazy has faded from pop-culture consciousness, and his accomplishments and talent have been greatly undervalued. Even today, the gangster rap he created has given way to an indefinable rap form focused on diamonds, champagne, mansions, and jingles.

However, there is much to be said for the legacy of Eazy E. If you know anything about rap music, you know its uncensored attitude helps fuel its appeal and success. In the late 1980’s, Eazy’s crazy life and playfully demented mind carried this attitude to a captivating level. Before forming NWA, he allegedly sold drugs and ran with gang members in LA. But he also made amateur music in his parents’ basement about the gore and glamour of street life. He knew this could sell, so he organized a group of guys, which included the more widely know Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, who could make violent music sound good. Then he generated the ideas and subject matter, if not the lyrics, for the albums that would pioneer a new form of rap music.

Eazy also set a business precedent in rap, and in music in general. He knew his music was controversial, so he circumvented the restrictions set by major record labels by creating his own label. Then, as an artist and executive, he played off the controversy. In 1989 the FBI sent him a letter threatening him to get him to tone down his musical rhetoric. Instead of toning down the album content for NWA, he pushed a second F*** Tha Police song called Sa Prize (Part 2). By 1991 the NWA album Efil4zaggin, which is despicably crude, was the number one pop album in America.

Beyond rap music, for better or worse, Eazy introduced the city of Compton, California to America. The subject matter of gang violence in his songs and the persona he created of neighborhood criminal inspired a lot of the “hood” movies released in the early 1990’s that made Compton a familiar name. Ask someone who is unfamiliar with rap music if they know NWA, and they may not. But ask anyone about Compton, CA and they will have an opinion. That is Eazy’s influence.

None of this is all too noble, but it is definitely substantial. Eazy never pretended to have any motive other than making money and messing with people. However, from accounts in interviews, articles, and books, Eazy was very light-hearted and altruistic. But even those closest to Eazy fail to give him the credit for the one thing that made everything else possible — his voice.

Eazy was honored at the 2006 VH1 Hip Hop Awards, and in his segment of the show his own widow, Tomika Wright, implied that he was not very skilled as an artist. Today he is not even considered one of the top 50 rappers of all time. That is how mishandled his legacy is. Nevertheless, Eazy E was quite simply the most distinguishable voice of NWA, which is regularly considered the best rap group of all time. Think of Straight Outta Compton, Boyz-N-The Hood, F*** Tha Police, 100 Miles And Runnin’, or Niggaz 4 Life without Eazy’s verses. These songs would not have gained the popularity they did without him. I read somewhere an artist say that Eazy’s voice was the exclamation point of a rap song. That is why he made guest appearances on so many other artists’ albums. He was the voice that sold the song to fans. That is indisputable proof of music talent.

I heard there was an NWA biopic in production. The producers are supposedly Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Tomika Wright. I hope they touch on some of these points instead of mishandling his legacy like they have before.

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