{"id":635,"date":"2024-06-02T01:05:47","date_gmt":"2024-06-02T01:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/90220.info\/?page_id=635"},"modified":"2024-06-03T02:52:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T02:52:32","slug":"635-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/90220.info\/?page_id=635","title":{"rendered":"Eazy Street"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Alonzo Williams, left, and Eric Darnell Wright Jr., the son of the late rapper Eazy-E who goes by Lil Eazy-E, celebrate the renaming of Towne Center Drive in Compton as \u201cEazy Street\u201d on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Kathie Wright and Eric Darnell Wright Jr., children of Eazy-E, listen as friends and family give speeches honoring the late rapper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

 (Michael Blackshire\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brennon Dixson<\/a>Staff Writer <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nov. 23, 2023 11:03 AM PT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric Darnell Wright Jr. remembers his father driving down Muriel Avenue in Compton for Thanksgiving dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was there that his now 86-year old grandmother, Katie Wright, would prepare large meals for all her kin, including her son Eric Lynn Wright \u2014 better known as the late N.W.A rapper Eazy-E.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t no entertainment,\u201d Eric Darnell Wright, the rapper\u2019s son who goes by Lil Eazy-E, recalled. Only family existed in these moments. \u201cIt was just kind of like the hip-hop world was out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erica Wright, the artist\u2019s oldest daughter, never really cared for the rapper Eazy-E. \u201cI cared about Eric,\u201d she said of her father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The siblings said they were heartbroken they weren\u2019t able to spend enough of those moments with their dad, who died in 1995 at the age of 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the day of Wright\u2019s funeral, cars rolled down Harvard Boulevard near the First African Methodist Episcopal Church<\/a>. His gold coffin was wheeled into the church as thousands of people \u2014 including fans, family, gang members, mothers and children \u2014 watched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a quarter-century later, Wright\u2019s son still remember his father cruising in his \u201csix-four\u201d through the streets of Compton to N.W.A classics like \u201cStraight Outta Compton.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decades after Wright and N.W.A helped put the city on the map with the chart-topping single \u201cBoyz N the Hood,\u201d Eazy-E was celebrated Wednesday with an honor befitting someone who loved to cruise down the avenues of his famous and sometimes infamous hometown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compton officially renamed Towne Center Drive as \u201cEazy Street.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about time,\u201d a man in the crowd yelled as officials raised the lime green sign for the public to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family, friends and community leaders pose with the new Eazy St. sign during Wednesday\u2019s ceremony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Michael Blackshire\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The happy disruption and ceremony featuring lowriders, musical performances and original gangsters in a Best Buy parking lot perfectly encapsulated Wright\u2019s rugged personality, his loved ones said on stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eazy-E\u2019s graphic lyrics from old albums blared from the stage where former N.W.A member DJ Yella exchanged greetings with Wright\u2019s loved ones. Members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony showed up for the event to pay respects to Wright, who appeared on their track \u201cFoe tha Love of $\u201d the year he died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black hats embroidered with \u201cCompton\u201d in bold white letters poked above the hundreds of attendees who danced in the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With fellow N.W.A members Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, MC Ren and Arabian Prince, Wright brought notoriety to Compton with the group\u2019s West Coast rap albums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the fame, Wright was a high school dropout who dealt drugs for a living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two album releases \u2014 N.W.A\u2019s \u201cStraight Outta Compton\u201d and Wright\u2019s solo project \u201cEazy-Duz-It\u201d \u2014 were considered the opening of a new era for hip-hop, a genre and industry that had primarily been lyrically defined and commercially dominated by East Coast acts until that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both albums were released under Wright\u2019s label, Ruthless Records, which he co-founded with manager Jerry Heller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With iconic music videos showing Eazy-E and his group parading through the streets, Wright, a Compton native, quickly rose to the status of American pop culture icon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alonzo Williams \u2014 one of Wright\u2019s earliest collaborators \u2014 owned Compton\u2019s Eve After Dark nightclub, which helped launch acts including Dr. Dre and Eazy-E. He now heads the Compton Entertainment Chamber of Commerce that organized the event and spearheaded the naming of Eazy Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlways putting in work,\u201d a member of the crowd yelled in recognition of Williams during the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wright went to Williams for advice when setting up Ruthless Records. Williams introduced Wright to a graphic designer and later Heller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With fellow N.W.A members Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, MC Ren and Arabian Prince, Wright brought notoriety to Compton with the group\u2019s West Coast rap albums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the fame, Wright was a high school dropout who dealt drugs for a living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two album releases \u2014 N.W.A\u2019s \u201cStraight Outta Compton\u201d and Wright\u2019s solo project \u201cEazy-Duz-It\u201d \u2014 were considered the opening of a new era for hip-hop, a genre and industry that had primarily been lyrically defined and commercially dominated by East Coast acts until that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both albums were released under Wright\u2019s label, Ruthless Records, which he co-founded with manager Jerry Heller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With iconic music videos showing Eazy-E and his group parading through the streets, Wright, a Compton native, quickly rose to the status of American pop culture icon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alonzo Williams \u2014 one of Wright\u2019s earliest collaborators \u2014 owned Compton\u2019s Eve After Dark nightclub, which helped launch acts including Dr. Dre and Eazy-E. He now heads the Compton Entertainment Chamber of Commerce that organized the event and spearheaded the naming of Eazy Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlways putting in work,\u201d a member of the crowd yelled in recognition of Williams during the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wright went to Williams for advice when setting up Ruthless Records. Williams introduced Wright to a graphic designer and later Heller.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alonzo Williams, left, and Eric Darnell Wright Jr., the son of the late rapper Eazy-E who goes by Lil Eazy-E, celebrate the renaming of Towne Center Drive in Compton as \u201cEazy Street\u201d on Wednesday.  (Michael Blackshire\/Los Angeles Times) By Brennon DixsonStaff Writer  Nov. 23, 2023 11:03 AM PT Eric Darnell Wright Jr. remembers his father driving down…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-635","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/90220.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/90220.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/90220.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90220.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90220.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=635"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/90220.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":659,"href":"https:\/\/90220.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/635\/revisions\/659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/90220.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}