Ruthless Records

 ( Hip-hop Record Labels ) 

In 1989, after coming off tour, group member Ice Cube voiced his opinions on the group's finances. Cube, who had been paid about $32,000 so far, asked Eazy-E for a meeting on money allocation.David J. Leonard, "Ice Cube", in Mickey Hess, ed., Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture, Volume 1 (Westport, Connecticut & London, England: ABC-CLIO, 2007), p. 301. N.W.A's manager Jerry Heller, Eazy's business partner, led the meeting. At Cube's concerns, Heller offered N.W.A's five members—Eazy, Dr. Dre, Cube, DJ Yella, and MC Ren—a contract nearly unchanged, with a $75,000 signing bonus. Only Cube refused to sign it. Though Heller continually claimed that everything was in order, and even offered them to open the account books to prove his innocence, Ruthless (Heller/Reavill, 2007) the ensuing confrontation ended in Ice Cube leaving N.W.A. in January 1990 without signing on as a solo artist to Ruthless, which the remaining members proceeded to do. Cube's departure caused the rest of the group to turn on him.

That August, through Ruthless, N.W.A. released their lone EP, 100 Miles and Runnin', with Dr. Dre and DJ Yella providing full production and Eazy-E providing executive production. In the EP's only single, 100 Miles and Runnin', alluding to Ice Cube, Dre raps, "It started with five, but yo, one couldn't take it / So now there's four, 'cause the fifth couldn't make it." And in "Real Niggaz", soon after Ren raps, "Only reason niggas pick up your record is 'cause they thought it was us", Dre calls Cube both "too much cargo" and the proverbial traitor Benedict Arnold. The EP was critically and commercially successful, going platinum in America.

The label also experienced outside pressure due to the group. The success of their song "Fuck tha Police" led to a threatening FBI letter to distributor Priority Records.

1988 also saw the release of J.J. Fad's gold-certified album Supersonic, produced by N.W.A members Dr. Dre and DJ Yella and co- produced by Arabian Prince and in 1989, singer Michel'le's first album Michel'le, and the D.O.C.'s critically acclaimed No One Can Do It Better (all released through Atlantic), the former produced by N.W.A beat-smiths Dr. Dre and DJ Yella with the latter produced solely by Dre; following these efforts, Dre and Yella 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) and Kokane's Addictive Hip Hop Muzick.

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. began to split in 1991. Dr. Dre recalls, "The split came when Jerry Heller got involved. He played the divide and conquer game. Instead of taking care of everybody, he picked one nigga to take care of and that was Eazy. And Eazy was like, 'I'm taken care of, so fuck it'." Dr. Dre was advised by The D.O.C. and the rapper's friend and bodyguard, Suge Knight, that he should leave the label to avoid any possible financial meddling by Heller, offering to extricate Dre from his Ruthless contract. Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. sent Suge to look into Eazy-E's financial situation as they began to grow suspicious of Eazy-E and Jerry Heller. Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. asked Eazy-E to release them from Ruthless, but Eazy-E refused. The impasse led to what reportedly transpired between Suge Knight and Eazy at Audio Achievements. After he refused to release Dr. Dre and The D.O.C., Suge Knight told Eazy-E that he had kidnapped Jerry Heller and was holding him hostage in a van. This did not convince Eazy to release Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. from Ruthless. Knight succeeded in procuring Dre, D.O.C. and Michel'le's contracts—through reportedly illicit means—Suge Knight threatened Eazy-E's family: Suge Knight gave Eazy a piece of paper that contained Eazy's mother's address, telling him, "I know where your mama stays." Eazy-E finally signed Dr. Dre and The D.O.C.'s releases, officially ending N.W.A.