In an exclusive interview with Former Source editor Soren Baker on the Unique Access platform, West Coast gangsta rap pioneer Ice-T delves into the changes he’s seen in the gangsta rap genre over the past four decades. Ice says that Hip Hop hasn’t seen gangstas in the game since the rise of 50 Cent and in the new millennium, incarcerated Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda.
Ice T says that rappers like 50 Cent invoke a real fear to not be f**ked with, but says today’s gangsta rappers don’t have that in them.
See the interview with Baker and Ice-T in its entirety below.
For those who watched 2015’s Straight Outta Compton film, there was no mention or reference to Arabian Prince. The rapper/producer was a founding member of N.W.A., but left the group in 1988, the same year that the Straight Outta Compton album released. During an interview with Unique Access’ Soren Baker, the artist who later got down with Stones Throw Records, explains why he dipped when he did.
In the early part of the interview, Arabian Prince recalls producing and arranging J.J. Fad’s “Supersonic” with some leftover studio time that he had booked. The 1987 song by MC J.B., Baby D, and Sassy C with DJ Train first released on Dream Team Records. It was the B-side to Roxanne Shanté diss “Anotha Ho (Bites The Dust).” However, the limited run soon sold out after local DJs gave the B-side a try. Eazy-E would then sign J.J. Fad to his Ruthless Records imprint.
The fledgling label would make headway with the single, organizing distribution with Atco. A Supersonic album followed in 1988. However, despite a hit song and album on its way to gold plaques and a historic Grammy nomination, Arabian Prince was soon out the door. The move would forever change the personnel of N.W.A. at an inflection point for the group and Gangsta Rap as a sub-genre.
“Jerry Heller is what changed financially for [N.W.A.], to be honest about it,” says Arabian Prince of N.W.A.’s manager and Eazy’s would-be business partner ahead of 9:00. “And that’s why I left because I had this big record [in ‘Supersonic’] and my homeboy Rudy Pardee [of The L.A. Dream Team] wasn’t the best businessman with me when I put it on his label, so I had to take the record back. We had just started Ruthless Records, and I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ll bring that over here and help that finance what we’re doing as a production team, and as N.W.A. and everything else you wanna do.’ I ain’t never been that cat to say ‘This is all mine,’ and hoard it. I’m about the family. We [were a] family, ‘let’s build this into what we want to do.’ And that’s what I had done, and then when Jerry Heller got involved that all changed.”
Arabian Prince was heavily involved in 1987’s N.W.A. & Posse, a compilation on Macola Records, a label were Jerry Heller worked before partnering with Eazy. In those days, Arabian Prince recalls the member of N.W.A. selling early singles such as “Panic Zone” b/w “Dope Man” and “8 Ball” independently. He says group members divided copies records and each kept the resulting dollars from sales.
That loose business model changed as Ruthless had a new leader. “When Jerry Heller got involved, the money wasn’t coming to you direct no more,” he said. “You had to go ask for money. And I’m like, ‘This is my money. Why am I asking you for my money?’ And with ‘Supersonic,’ this is a big hit. It’s selling major records and it’s my record, and the girls’ records, and we can’t get paid? I’m out. So I did my little deal, and I got out because I don’t trust you, and I’m not gonna stay here regardless of the fame of N.W.A. or ‘Supersonic’ and deal with this. I just need to get paid and move on and do my own thing.”
Notably, Arabian Prince got his royalties in the 2000s, when Fergie sampled “Supersonic” for “Fergalicious.” That track was produced by another former Ruthless artist, will.i.am.
Also during the interview, Arabian Prince was asked why “Something 2 Dance 2” was removed from the later pressings of Straight Outta Compton. “[There’s] a couple reasons why,” he notes. “One, an unnamed person who I’m not going to say—who ran the label and didn’t want to pay me [made the decision]. Two, they probably felt like ‘oh, it doesn’t fit the album.’” Arabian Prince alleges that the song was made to deliver something to radio, especially given his background, as well as Dr. Dre and DJ Yella’s mid-’80s success with World Class Wreckin’ Cru. N.W.A. was hoping for radio support, which would come later on harder Gangsta Rap songs.
For those who watched 2015’s Straight Outta Compton film, there was no mention or reference to Arabian Prince. The rapper/producer was a founding member of N.W.A., but left the group in 1988, the same year that the Straight Outta Compton album released. During an interview with Unique Access’ Soren Baker, the artist who later got down with Stones Throw Records, explains why he dipped when he did.
In the early part of the interview, Arabian Prince recalls producing and arranging J.J. Fad’s “Supersonic” with some leftover studio time that he had booked. The 1987 song by MC J.B., Baby D, and Sassy C with DJ Train first released on Dream Team Records. It was the B-side to Roxanne Shanté diss “Anotha Ho (Bites The Dust).” However, the limited run soon sold out after local DJs gave the B-side a try. Eazy-E would then sign J.J. Fad to his Ruthless Records imprint.
The fledgling label would make headway with the single, organizing distribution with Atco. A Supersonic album followed in 1988. However, despite a hit song and album on its way to gold plaques and a historic Grammy nomination, Arabian Prince was soon out the door. The move would forever change the personnel of N.W.A. at an inflection point for the group and Gangsta Rap as a sub-genre.
“Jerry Heller is what changed financially for [N.W.A.], to be honest about it,” says Arabian Prince of N.W.A.’s manager and Eazy’s would-be business partner ahead of 9:00. “And that’s why I left because I had this big record [in ‘Supersonic’] and my homeboy Rudy Pardee [of The L.A. Dream Team] wasn’t the best businessman with me when I put it on his label, so I had to take the record back. We had just started Ruthless Records, and I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ll bring that over here and help that finance what we’re doing as a production team, and as N.W.A. and everything else you wanna do.’ I ain’t never been that cat to say ‘This is all mine,’ and hoard it. I’m about the family. We [were a] family, ‘let’s build this into what we want to do.’ And that’s what I had done, and then when Jerry Heller got involved that all changed.”
Arabian Prince was heavily involved in 1987’s N.W.A. & Posse, a compilation on Macola Records, a label were Jerry Heller worked before partnering with Eazy. In those days, Arabian Prince recalls the member of N.W.A. selling early singles such as “Panic Zone” b/w “Dope Man” and “8 Ball” independently. He says group members divided copies records and each kept the resulting dollars from sales.
That loose business model changed as Ruthless had a new leader. “When Jerry Heller got involved, the money wasn’t coming to you direct no more,” he said. “You had to go ask for money. And I’m like, ‘This is my money. Why am I asking you for my money?’ And with ‘Supersonic,’ this is a big hit. It’s selling major records and it’s my record, and the girls’ records, and we can’t get paid? I’m out. So I did my little deal, and I got out because I don’t trust you, and I’m not gonna stay here regardless of the fame of N.W.A. or ‘Supersonic’ and deal with this. I just need to get paid and move on and do my own thing.”
Notably, Arabian Prince got his royalties in the 2000s, when Fergie sampled “Supersonic” for “Fergalicious.” That track was produced by another former Ruthless artist, will.i.am.
Also during the interview, Arabian Prince was asked why “Something 2 Dance 2” was removed from the later pressings of Straight Outta Compton. “[There’s] a couple reasons why,” he notes. “One, an unnamed person who I’m not going to say—who ran the label and didn’t want to pay me [made the decision]. Two, they probably felt like ‘oh, it doesn’t fit the album.’” Arabian Prince alleges that the song was made to deliver something to radio, especially given his background, as well as Dr. Dre and DJ Yella’s mid-’80s success with World Class Wreckin’ Cru. N.W.A. was hoping for radio support, which would come later on harder Gangsta Rap songs.
In the mid-1980s, gangster rap didn’t have a name; but virtually everyone who heard it realized its potency. Artists like Schoolly D, Ice-T, Boogie Down Productions, Eazy-E, and N.W.A had created a new style of rap, one that contained graphic, X-rated stories of violence, drugs, and sex and served as first-person street reporting that recounted the violence ravaging black, urban America at the time.
From still-swirling conspiracy theories about the murders of Biggie and Tupac to the release of the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton, this era of gangster rap continues to fascinate music junkies and remain at the forefront of pop culture. The History of Gangster Rap is a deep dive into this compelling phenomenon from one of its most noted documenters, journalist Soren Baker.
Sixteen detailed chapters, organized chronologically, examine the evolution of gangster rap, its main players, and the culture that created this revolutionary music. With a critical eye and insider’s perspective, Baker covers all the most important singles, albums, and projects, and reveals how their music led to the next generation of artists and the evolution of the genre.
Filled with interviews with key players such as Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, and dozens more, as well as sidebars, breakout bios of notorious characters, lists, charts, and more, the book hones in on the story of the music itself. The History of Gangster Rap is the essential book that contextualizes the importance of gangster rap as a cultural phenomenon.
