Name	Tairrie B
Caption	Tairrie B in Inverness, Scotland 2008 by D. Crombie
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Theresa Beth
Alias	Tairrie B Murphy
Born	January 18, 1965 California|Anaheim, California
Genre	Alternative metal, hip hop, nu metal
Occupation	Singer, Songwriter, Poet
Years active	1990–present
Label	Comptown/Ruthless/MCA
Associated acts	Tura Satana, My Ruin, The LVRS

Tairrie B (born Theresa Beth on January 18, 1965 in Anaheim, California) is an American singer. She was originally a rapper, but later became an alternative metal singer.

Tairrie B. started her music career as part of the female dance group Bardeux. After the release of their debut single, "Three-Time Lover", in 1987, she left the group. Under the tutelage of Eazy-E from N.W.A, she was later signed to his label Ruthless Records (under a new imprint called Comptown Records) and released her first album, "The Power Of A Woman", which, unlike usual Ruthless fare, was distributed by MCA Records. Tairrie B claimed she was assaulted by Dr Dre at the 1990 Grammie Awards for not collaborating with him on her first album:

"Everyone with NWA - like Above The Law and The D.O.C. - whenever they do an album, all of the guys appear on the last track. So they were going to do that with me at one point and Ice Cube was gonna write lyrics to a track called 'I Ain't Your Bitch'."

She refused, and rewrote the track as a diatribe against her labelmates. When Dr Dre heard the track, he turned up at the awards ceremony party, where he punched Tairrie "twice - once in the mouth and once in the eye. He hit me like Tyson, but I took it - I don't know how."

It turned out to be the only Comptown Records album release. Tairrie later began working on her second full length album 'Single White Female' but before releasing it decided to change her musical direction away from rap. After being released from her contract by Eazy-E, just a few weeks before his 1995 death, she then formed Manhole (later renamed Tura Satana), My Ruin and LVRS.

In December 2008, Tairrie married her longtime partner and guitarist of My Ruin Mick Murphy. She stated in the band's Myspace blog that she had changed her last name to Murphy, but would continue to use the name Tairrie B in music.

Discography

Power of a Woman (1990)

References

External links

Official My Space

Blasphemous Girl Designs

BGD

Manhole/Tura Satana on You Tube

The Power of A Woman on You Tube

Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:American female singers Category:American heavy metal singers Category:Musicians from California Category:Female rappers Category:Female heavy metal singers Category:Nu metal singers Category:People from Anaheim, California Category:Ruthless Records artists

Name	Eazy-E
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Eric Lynn Wright
Born	September 07, 1963Compton, California, U.S.
Died	March 26, 1995Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Parents	Richard Wright, Kathie Wright
Occupation	Rapper, CEO, record producer
Genre	Gangsta rap, West Coast hip hop, gangsta funk
Years active	1986–1995
Label	Ruthless, Priority, Relativity, Epic, MCA
Associated acts	DJ Yella, N.W.A, Rhythum D, Naughty by Nature, Cold 187um, Above the Law, B.G. Knocc Out & Dresta, Kokane, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Brownside, Kid Frost, Compton's Most Wanted, Roger Troutman

Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1963 – March 26, 1995), better known by his stage name Eazy-E, was an American rapper who performed solo and in the hip hop group N.W.A. Wright was born to Richard and Kathie Wright in Compton, California. After dropping out of high school in the tenth grade, he supported himself primarily by selling drugs before investing in Ruthless Records and becoming a rapper. When Ruthless artists Dr. Dre and Ice Cube wrote "Boyz-n-the-Hood", Dre, Cube, and Eazy formed N.W.A. After DJ Yella, MC Ren, and Arabian Prince joined the group, N.W.A released N.W.A. and the Posse. In 1988, they released their most controversial album, Straight Outta Compton. The group released two more albums and then disbanded after Eazy released Dr. Dre from his contract.

Eazy's main influences included 1970s funk groups, contemporary rappers, and comedians. When reviewing Eazy's albums, many critics noted his unique overall style, with Steve Huey of the All Music Guide summing up: "While his technical skills as a rapper were never the greatest, his distinctive delivery (invariably described as a high-pitched whine), over-the-top lyrics, and undeniable charisma made him a star." His father was a postal worker and his mother was a grade school administrator. Wright dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and supported himself by selling drugs. He invested the profits in Ruthless Records. He later received a high-school general equivalency diploma (GED). In 1986, at the age of 23, Wright had allegedly earned as much as USD $250,000 from dealing drugs. However, he decided that he could make a better living in the Los Angeles hip-hop scene, which was growing rapidly in popularity. He began recording songs during the mid-1980s in the garage of his parents' home. When Ruthless signees Dr. Dre and Ice Cube wrote "Boyz-n-the-Hood", Eazy-E formed the group N.W.A with Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. DJ Yella, MC Ren, and Arabian Prince were later added to the group. The compilation album N.W.A. and the Posse was released on November 6, 1987, and would go on to be certified Gold in the United States. The album featured N.W.A collaborating with the Fila Fresh Crew, a West Coast rap group originally based in Dallas, Texas.

Eazy-E's debut album, Eazy-Duz-It, was released on September 16, 1988, and featured twelve tracks. It featured the musical genres West Coast hip hop, Gangsta rap, and Golden age hip hop. It has sold over 2.5 million copies in the United States and reached number forty-one on the Billboard 200. The album was produced by Dr. Dre and DJ Yella and largely written by Ice Cube, with contributions from MC Ren and The D.O.C.. Eazy-Duz-It was said by several critics to have "paved the way" for N.W.A's debut album, Straight Outta Compton. Eazy-E's only solo recording was a remix of the song "8 Ball", which originally appeared on N.W.A and the Posse. The album featured Eazy-E's writing and performing; he performed on eight songs and helped write four songs.

After the release of Straight Outta Compton, Ice Cube left due to internal disputes, and the group continued as a four-piece ensemble. In March 1991 Eazy-E accepted an invitation to a lunch benefiting the Republican Senatorial Inner Circle, hosted by then-President George H. W. Bush. A spokesman for the rapper said that Eazy-E supported Bush because of his performance in the Gulf War.

End of N.W.A and feud with Dr. Dre (1991–94)

N.W.A began to split up after Jerry Heller became the band's manager. Dr. Dre recalls: "The split came when Jerry Heller got involved. He played the divide and conquer game. He picked one nigga to take care of instead of taking care of everybody, and that was Eazy. And Eazy was like, 'I'm taken care of, so fuck it'." Dre sent Suge Knight to look into Eazy's financial situation because he was beginning to grow suspicious of Eazy and Heller. Dre asked Eazy to release him from the Ruthless Records contract, but Eazy refused. The impasse led to what reportedly transpired between Knight and Eazy at the recording studio where Niggaz4life was recorded. After he refused to release Dre, Knight declared that Eazy had kidnapped Heller and was holding him prisoner in a van. The rumor did not convince Eazy to release Dre from his contract, and Knight threatened Eazy's family: Knight gave Eazy a piece of paper that contained Eazy's mother's address, telling him, "I know where your mama stays." Eazy finally signed Dre's release, officially ending N.W.A.

The feud with Dr. Dre continued after a track on Dre's The Chronic contained lyrics that insulted Eazy-E. Eazy responded with the EP It's On (Dr. Dre) 187^um Killa, featuring the tracks "Real Muthaphuckkin G's" and "It's On". The album, which was released on October 25, 1993, contains pictures of Dre wearing "lacy outfits and makeup" when he was a member of the Electro-hop World Class Wreckin' Cru. While Knight had sought an outright release from Ruthless Records for Dr. Dre, the JDL and Ruthless Records management negotiated a release in which the record label would continue to receive money and publishing rights from future Dr. Dre projects with Death Row Records, founded by Dr. Dre with Suge Knight. The FBI launched a money-laundering investigation under the assumption that the JDL was extorting money from Ruthless Records to fight their extremist causes. This led to JDL spokesperson Irv Rubin issuing a press release stating "There was nothing but a close, tight relationship" between Eazy-E and the organization. He died due to "complications from AIDS" one month after his diagnosis, on March 26, 1995, at approximately 6:35 PM (Pacific time). He was 31 years old. During the week of March 20, having already made amends with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Eazy-E drafted his last message to fans. One week after the release of that message, Eazy succumbed to the disease. Eazy was buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California. In November 1995, shortly after Eazy-E's death, Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton was released.

Musical influences and style

Allmusic cites Eazy-E's influences as Ice-T, Redd Foxx, King Tee, Bootsy Collins, Run-D.M.C., Richard Pryor, The Egyptian Lover, Schoolly D, Too $hort, Prince, The Sugarhill Gang, and George Clinton.

When reviewing Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton, Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted "...Eazy-E sounds revitalized, but the music simply isn't imaginative. Instead of pushing forward and creating a distinctive style, it treads over familiar gangsta territory, complete with bottomless bass, whining synthesizers, and meaningless boasts." When reviewing Eazy-Duz-It, Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic said, "In terms of production, Dr. Dre and Yella meld together P-Funk, Def Jam-style hip-hop, and the leftover electro sounds of mid-'80s Los Angeles, creating a dense, funky, and thoroughly unique style of their own." Birchmeier described Eazy's style as "dense, unique, and funky," and said that it sounded "absolutely revolutionary in 1988."

Several members of N.W.A wrote lyrics for Eazy-Duz-It: Ice Cube, The D.O.C., and MC Ren. The EP features a song written by Naughty By Nature. The track "Merry Muthaphuckkin' Xmas" features Menajahtwa, Buckwheat, and Atban Klann as guest vocalists, and "Neighborhood Sniper" features Kokane as a guest vocalist. It's On (Dr. Dre) 187^um Killa features several guest vocalists, including Gangsta Dresta, B.G. Knocc Out. Kokane, Cold 187um, Rhythum D, and Dirty Red. Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton featured several guest vocalists, including B.G. Knocc Out, Gangsta Dresta, Sylk-E. Fyne, Dirty Red, Menajahtwa, Roger Troutman, and ex-N.W.A members MC Ren and DJ Yella.

Legacy

Eazy-E has been called the godfather of gangsta rap. MTV's Reid Shaheem said that Eazy was a "rap-pioneer," Steve Huey of Allmusic said that he was "one of the most controversial figures in gangsta rap." Jerry Heller and Gil Reavill wrote the book Ruthless: A Memoir, which was released August 28, 2007. It included information on his death, his split with Dr. Dre, his debut Eazy-Duz-It, and many of Heller's experiences with Eazy. When Eazy was diagnosed with AIDS, many magazines like Jet, Vibe, Billboard, The Crisis, and Newsweek covered the story and released information on the topic. All of his studio albums and EPs charted on the Billboard 200, and many of his singles —"Eazy-Duz-It", "We Want Eazy", "Real Muthaphuckkin G's", and "Just tah Let U Know"— also charted in the U.S. On March 30, 1995, four days after Eazy-E's death, Tom Elerwine, a Daily Arts editor for The Michigan Daily covered Eazy's career in a feature story.

Discography

;Solo

;With N.W.A

References

External links

Eazy E At Find A Grave

FBI file on Easy E

Category:1963 births Category:1995 deaths Category:African American rappers Category:AIDS-related deaths in California Category:American drug traffickers Category:American music industry executives Category:Crips Category:G-funk Category:N.W.A members Category:People from Compton, California Category:Priority Records artists Category:Rappers from Los Angeles, California Category:Ruthless Records artists Category:Pseudonymous rappers