Jerry Heller helped make gangsta rap/hip-hop history in the mid 80’s and 90’s by managing hip-hop’s most outspoken hip-hop group in history called N.W.A. or “Ni$$az With Attitude” and recently released his book “Ruthless: A Memoir” where he describes for the first time real life stories working with gangsta rap/hip hop legends Eazy- E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and other major hip-hop icons that revolutionized hip-hop from the West Coast.Back in the early 80’s when hip-hop was gaining more credibility and mainstream acceptance. Hip-hop music from New York City was the dominant sound in the industry. Hip-hop artists from the West Coast where unheard of, at that time no one from the state of Calif. or any other major city really made a name for themselves in hip-hop at that time.
Until a short, stocky young African-American in his early 20’s, from the ghetto of Compton, Calif., set up a business meeting with Jerry Heller an older white man with gray hair who happened to be Jewish. The meeting between Eazy-E and Jerry set off the beginning of what we now call today gangsta rap, which revolutionized the hip-hop industry forever.
Jerry Heller and gangster rap icon Eazy-E probably look like the odd couple by just taking a quick glance of the two, but together, working side-by-side they made history in the music industry and created classic music like “F$$k the Police” and “Boyz In the Hood.” In 2004 Rolling Stone Magazine placed N.W.A. at #83 out of 100 greatest artists all time.
The road to opening up a door for gansta rap and making it successful wasn’t easy and many major record labels wanted nothing to do with N.W.A.’s music.
“There was no doubt in my mind that it was going to be an important movement in music,” Heller said.
You have to take a trip back in time before watered down hip-hop radio songs by artists like 50 Cent, Jay-Z, and even Snoop Dogg were played on the radio. Jerry Heller and Eazy-E played a major role by breaking down the barriers for hip-hop music to be heard and sold in stores around the world.
Just like Latin hip-hop and reggaeton the reason behind the success and mainstream acceptance of gangsta rap/hip-hop is because it spoke for the people living in the ghettos, barrios, and gave a voice to the people living in neighborhoods where drugs, gangs, and police brutality was a part of every day life.
In Jerry Heller’s book “Ruthless: A Memoir” that can be found in book stores everywhere and is also available on the Internet, he describes his years and various situations working with Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. From police harassment to wild concerts, the book takes you in inside the life of one of the most famous gangsta rap groups in history and reveals the real life gangsta situations that followed being apart of it.