N.W.A.’s Legacy: Compton to AI | DJ Yella & Lil Eazy-E with Marc Beckman
Marc Beckman: [00:01:00] [00:02:00] This is an awesome, awesome episode of some future day. It is my distinct honor to welcome from N W's ecosystem Eazy and Yella. How you guys doing today?
DJ Yella: I am pretty good.
Eric Lil Eazy: I'm pretty, pretty good, pretty good today.
Marc Beckman: Good. It's good
Eric Lil Eazy: Had a long night.
Marc Beckman: A long night. Where were you?
Eric Lil Eazy: I did Xzibits at album release party, so I just went to show some purport, uh, down in Hollywood. So that kind of ran over the night, you know, I mean, all the festivities comes with it.
Marc Beckman: You think that nightlife is still like a thing like, like here in New York, I'm in New York City, I know you're in la but like here in New York it feels like it's like slowed down from like when we were younger. Is is LA still happening? Is there like still a scene that goes late [00:03:00] night? I.
Eric Lil Eazy: Um, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, they try to, and especially in Hollywood, they try to keep it going and, you know what I mean? I just seems like I don't do nightlife in California more so I, you catch me at, uh, Vegas doing that a lot more. You know what I mean? Um, but of course with the, the entertainers that are living out here, you know, touching on this market, doing some marketing promotions or, you know, if they have the GR Grammys or the award shows and all that, and the other, it kind of sparks it back up.
You feel what I'm saying? But on the average it does. 'cause I get a lot of, you know, texts like, Hey, come out, out with me, come to this club. I just like, it's like, it just doesn't feel the same as Vegas. I'm sorry. You know what I mean? In Vegas, it seems like they turned into entertainment capital.
Marc Beckman: Yeah. I think you're right. I think you're right. Is Xzibits new music Good. Does it sound
Eric Lil Eazy: Very good. I'm not gonna,
Marc Beckman: that
Eric Lil Eazy: yes. Yeah, check it out. King Maker. It is very good. I'm not gonna lie to you. He has, uh, he got Dr. Dre on there. He has, uh, ice Cube. [00:04:00] He has some, uh, young artists, uh, Simba Compton av, John Martin, which is, you know, formerly known as problem. Um, Ty Dolla sign. He ha is, it's, it's, he has his own son on the track with him, which is real great. it's at, on the last track. So, yeah, it's, it, it really was special. It really was good.
Marc Beckman: Huh?
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah. He used a, well, he used some up and comers. You feel what I'm saying? Individuals who have a, a, good name, you know what I mean? Minus might be too much reputation as others. Uh, and he created something great.
Marc Beckman: Who do you think, in your opinion right now, when you talk about like up and comers, other than, um, your own career, which seems to be going in a meteoric way, uh, who do, like, who do you like right now? If you were to say like, here's I. Keep your eye on this next fresh batch of people in the industry. Who, who do you like on both the, um, both sides?
Like I, I like to talk about producers too, because I think it's such a big part of everything that is going on in hip hop. So who do you guys like, I.
Eric Lil Eazy: [00:05:00] I'll let yell, yell can answer one of his questions
DJ Yella: I don't know nothing about no producers. I don't, I don't listen to today's music, so
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah. Today's music,
DJ Yella: I couldn't tell you who, who, nobody.
Eric Lil Eazy: who's what, which is true. Yeah. I, I know, uh, I'm, I'm going into that zone as well myself. So really, um, of course, Kendrick, you know what I mean? Him just being from Compton and what he's doing, uh, anything up and coming hot. Um, there are some individual rappers that you'd be like, Hey, this individual has talent.
You know what I mean? But are just kinda like, I. In the sea, you know what I'm saying? With, with, with plenty of fish.
DJ Yella: It is saturated. That's the problem. It's too, it's too many rappers now. I mean, everybody's a rapper. I mean everybody you know, and it's so easy to be a rapper. You know, you can do everything on your phone. Now they got all this ai and it ain't the same. I ain't gonna talk about it, but it's different. It's way different [00:06:00] than old days.
Marc Beckman: What about like the delivery of music? Like for me, and I'm sure for you too, like we would listen to an album from start to finish and each song told a story, but the album, like the full album told a story too. The delivery of music now is more transactional, right? It's like kind of like, here's a song and then live with it.
I think that's very much the case in every genre of music. Do you feel that that's transformed the talent level as well?
DJ Yella: Mm. I mean, it's just a different era. It's a different, different ears of listening to the music. Now, back then, you know, people would go to the record store the look at the covers, and read it front to back, listen to every song on, but now they don't even make albums hardly. You know, singles here, singles there.
They come out so much. You don't know what's on the album to tell you the truth.
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah. You, you're a hundred percent right, Marc. You're a hundred percent right what you just said. It's, it's just like to, to, and Yella [00:07:00] just basically said that too. You've got a whole lot of singles, not a, uh, album format You feel what I'm saying? You just have like, Hey, this is a good song.
Put it on there. Hey, this is a good song. Put it on. There has no contents to flow with your whole album and the content of your, your title of your album. You know what I mean? Like, I, I, I've, you know, I have a situation I'm working on, uh, uh, um, something, you feel me? And we'll come back and we'll sit here and, and once I sit here and get knee deep foot in it, we'll, uh, we'll highlight that.
But the project is. Going with the life story. So it has substance to each song. It's not just, oh, here goes a single, here goes a single here goes a single. You feel what I'm saying? And it's like, oh, okay, cool. I created a good album. Which you are right, Marc is what they're doing. So, like Yella said, it's just single, single, single, single, single, single, after single.
And it has no context to a real, full album of which is reflects on your title your album.
Marc Beckman: I, I
DJ Yella: it used to be titles of the [00:08:00] songs used to mean something. Now they just make stuff. They just make, they don't talk about nothing. No more on songs. There's not stories to the songs. It's just this, this, this, this, that, that, that. Who I am it. It is just
Marc Beckman: that's what I was gonna ask about. Like back, like back in the eighties, music played such a significant role regardless of the genre, in, in moving society,
DJ Yella: I'm the wrong door.
Marc Beckman: that were rich. didn't have like the, it was the music industry that served as an outlet where the media couldn't cover it.
And NWA did that a lot, right? Like when, when I was, when I was first listening to NWA, like, you know, the white Jewish guy from Long Island, I didn't know about like the police brutality and the, you know, systematic racism that came through your lyric, you know, nwas lyrics, that's not so important anymore, in my opinion.
Like, we don't see the lyrics that were coming, you know, through Public Enemy teaching about black [00:09:00] culture. We didn't, there was no media outlet to provide that, um, that, that storyline for NWA for Public Enemy except through music. And now I feel like that richness in stories telling isn't really there anymore.
Do you
DJ Yella: It's not. It is just people making songs. That's it. They just matching words to me, you know? Oh, this rhyme with that, this rhyme with that. No meaning. We used to get a title and make the song to the title and stuff. You know, A meaning just like that title of the album. It's a meaning to the whole thing.
Now, they just labeled whatever the album is. Whatever the song's title it's. No, I put a, it is no Heart in the Music no more. It's just. And now you letting AI mix down your records. What happened to the ears that used to do that? So it's just, I just talked to this [00:10:00] yesterday to somebody. I said, you know something, music is fake now.
If you got AI writing your lyrics? AI can create voices and this, and I'm just like, what is the world of music coming to? I mean, music gonna always be there. Hip hop gonna always be there. It's gonna make money forever, but it's just no originality to it. No more. Not right now. It's not.
Marc Beckman: You think, you think that AI and technology is making hip hop or like storytelling in hip hop, soulless.
DJ Yella: people don't understand. AI is gonna mess up everything. They just, you know, you letting it drive your car, you're letting it answer, oh, make me a film about this and it, and it makes it, I'm just like. Oh my gosh. No more talent, no more. It just, you could just say a couple of words and it'll figure it all out.
Do the music, do everything. I mean, it's just like, I mean, I guess it's cool. People can make money that way, but the soul of music, I, well [00:11:00] hip hop basically, it is not there.
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah, that's where we go back. It will go back and forth. 'cause you know, he just come from that era in a time to where it's not understanding it. then you have somebody like this little one behind that's in the house with me. know what I mean? And, and they feel like it's very creative and it's a cool object of thing. It's just a proper way that you use AI to where it could sit here go, because that's just pure point blanket's where it's going. Yella just said it's where it's going. You know what I mean? It's where it's lead to, you know what I mean? It just takes, you know, I mean, the proper way to sit here and introduce it and transform it into the best ability for you, you know what I mean?
Um, you know, Yella comes YYella's, like look at it, YYella's like the last of the, of the breed of, you know, the,
DJ Yella: The last of the dinosaurs said
Eric Lil Eazy: You, you not, I mean, it ain't the dinosaurs, but you just really, you really, know what I
DJ Yella: that Era's G. Yeah, that era's gone. I mean, it was a great era. 90 nineties, eighties was the [00:12:00] best hip hop era ever.
Eric Lil Eazy: you know what I mean? So he, he ca he came from that. You feel what I'm saying? Even before was doing NWA, you know what I mean? You know, I mean, go look at your history on the wrecking crew. You feel what I'm saying? He come from Just, just think about it. He was the original, you know, teaching the greats how to scratch, how to dj, and now look at it now where he could tell you himself, which it got easier for him and us on the roll, where you could do, do, do push
DJ Yella: Yeah, it was simple.
Eric Lil Eazy: You feel what I'm saying? And he transitioned. He picked up on some of it, but. It's just coming from an individual, just, you know what I mean? To, to, to sum it up. It's coming from an individual who started this Yella, came from the group, who all the way fully to the teeth started it.
You know what I mean? Um, as well as, you know, from the same era of individuals on the, not just the west coast, but the east coast. So it's hard for them to sit here and look at the transition of that. You know what I mean? Having him, uh, be a part of my life. And then me being from a, a younger [00:13:00] generation, um, you see where it, it can help and it where it is going to transition and where you can sit here and just use it to your advantage,
Marc Beckman: But,
Eric Lil Eazy: which is ai.
Marc Beckman: but if we look at ai, let, let me take this like machine versus man issue. Okay. Do you think like, like when I referenced the, the. The, uh, context of the songs that NWA sang about, like there was a level of like real importance to it, and that was because they had like, Yella. You guys had this, the, your finger on the soul of the people, your finger was in the pulse of the streets. Do you think Eazy that artificial intelligence can capture humanity in the way that NWA was able to do so with their lyrics at that important
DJ Yella: Well, before you answer that, you gotta think about what you just said. We had the soul of the people because we was from the streets. We lived there. [00:14:00] Now the new generation is into ai, so it's gonna get to their souls. This new soul they got, it ain't the same old, original soul, but now you know, it's just a, it is just a totally, it is different ears listening to the music and it's different people making the music.
It's a night and day difference. I couldn't survive in this new generation at all.
Eric Lil Eazy: yeah, you could.
DJ Yella: No, not at all.
Eric Lil Eazy: we know that. Um, and no, it cannot give you the soul of it, but. It's just, to be honest with you, it's like it is so tripped out to where, and it, and it's, it's crazy that it does that. It's so tripped out. Then I'm gonna give you my, my preference of what, where I see it can coincide. It'll trip you out because you can sit here at some point in some aspects. You could give them who you are, the age you are or what you've been through, and it could create a story in that instance. Is that from the soul? No. But [00:15:00] when you have somebody still here that can sit here and give you what he has from the soul, 'cause I'm born and raised from Compton, I live it.
Then I sit here and I say, okay, cool. Well then I'm gonna take that AI in a sense, not to create another rapper, but maybe to sit here and bring back the, the old voice or the, our. A voice of a deceased or a rapper who has retired and say, Hey, cool. Do you approve of this? For example, let me, let me take yell's voice.
Not even sit there thinking of my father and have Yella's voice sound like he was when he was younger and say, Hey, okay, cool. Well, I'm just gonna have you come in here on a DJ style rapping style, any style, and would this be what you say? Yeah. Okay, cool. Well then I just made it hot of having something that you could relate to from the old school. Now, my father's aspect is what if you could make him do a verse that nobody has heard? You know what I mean? [00:16:00] And you can't question it that, oh, it doesn't sound like the old school. It sounds like his voice. And you knew he's from the old school and you knew he's from the streets. You feel what I'm saying?
So, hey, why can't I make that creating happen with, Hey, even if my son wanted to rap in there, you know what I mean? Like what if he became a, a big YouTuber or something like that and it's like, okay, cool, we're gonna have his grandfather, you know what I mean? Say some things for him or, you know, do a, a course with him that still can work on a behalf of individuals that know real, real music.
But to say that it could create a new artist or a new artist could see or pick up his lyrics from artificial intelligence. Now that right there I don't stand for, you know what I'm saying? That's why I said it's just, it's just a thin line of what I feel like. It's great for what it's okay for, what it can be
DJ Yella: Man. Now, don't get me wrong, the technology nowadays is remarkable. It's just incredible. I mean, especially me coming from being a dj, when you could take the vocals outta instrumentals that we wanted to [00:17:00] do 30 years ago, they could take the, in instru, the words out. They could take the music out, they could take the dr, the drums out.
I mean, the technology is way up here. It's by far more than our technology, but. It's not real. It's fake. You know? A lot of it, it is. It is just the way the world is. It is the whole world. You know, your car puts you in the dress and it drives you there. I mean, I mean, that's great.
Marc Beckman: tell Yella, I gotta tell you, I'm, I'm with you on this one. Like, I am a, a big advocate of ai. I wrote a
DJ Yella: Mm-hmm.
Marc Beckman: became number one ai, number one bestseller on Amazon for artificial intelligence.
DJ Yella: Mm-hmm.
Marc Beckman: in my book, I address this topic and I believe that it's the human, it's you, Yella.
DJ Yella: Yeah.
Marc Beckman: it's, you know, the human that understands, um, the passions, the needs, the desires of humanity, more so than the machine.
But, you know, Eazy. You, you mentioned [00:18:00] something about your dad's voice, about Eazy-Eazy-E's voice. Like, have you created a synthetic replica of Eazy-E's voice using ai?
Eric Lil Eazy: work, work with working, working with Ace. Uh, he has gave me some samples of it. That, that was chilling. It was very chilling, and me idea. Yeah, it gave me ideas, that I feel I could be successful, you know what I mean? And, and back to, uh, uh, object or topic that I'm speaking on is like, I have thoughts of wanting to do, you know, a biopic, you know what I mean?
Even working with Yella, with his book, and him having a part in this biopic of not a series, you know what I mean? And I would use, mean? Knowing Yella's story and being what yella and knowing what Yella's wrote, parts of his story, that that will be, you know, maybe a series, you know. One, two. You feel what I'm saying coincided with the stories that I have and in that, you know what I mean? [00:19:00] Um, and the transition of it is gonna be my life story or story of my father, that you take voice and I can be, I could be in a down spot, you know what I mean? I could be off the road with yell and something like that, and you hear this voice speak to you to influence you.
Just, I'm just giving you an example of what an episode could look like saying something to you, you know what I mean? To his own son, uh, as in encouragement to sit here and keep going. And on the, on the route he is, or, or, or appreciation for the legacy alive. Those were ideas that popped in my head when I heard this, this voice, you know what I mean?
Now, if you're looking at, uh, another thing that Ace has brought to my attention is replicating the look. you know, having a movie to where have a dream. And that individual comes in his dream and you're able to sit here, replicate him in a, you know, in real life standing there. That's, that right there screams [00:20:00] magic success to me.
You feel what I'm saying? And that magic in no fake way as far as in just using a fake way to sit here, create illusion, which happens in movies, you know what I mean? It's only, it's entertainment. You feel what I'm saying? So I think that works in that aspect of when I speak on how it can, it can be successful and a lot of things that you have ideas for.
Marc Beckman: are ethical concerns too, like yah. People, um, have argued for years that you were, you remain the most loyal member of NWA to Eazy-E And I'm curious, like, what would be your opinion if, if, if, um, back his father in video and in synthetic voice audio and wanted to create, uh, let's say an album, a video, a movie. Do you feel like that's an ethical way, uh, for your, your, um, friend to come back?
DJ Yella: I mean,
Marc Beckman: Ethically.
DJ Yella: no, I mean it's just [00:21:00] technology. It's just the latest thing. I mean, if they can do it, it'd be something to see. That's for sure. You know, like the holograms was something to see, you know, when they started them, but, oh, I can imagine what holograms they can do now. It could be just amazing. You don't need a whole stage just for that one hologram, you know?
They could just walk out. You know, it, it, it's, it's just the way the world is. It is technology. It's great people making money off of this stuff, so it's nothing bad. It just ain't my cup of tea. But the technology, the way how they got this far is, is amazing how they got this far with computers and this, everything in your phone, you know, you can do everything from the phone.
I mean, that's technology that we didn't have. And it's, it's great scary. When it takes on, they better start watching Terminator.
Marc Beckman: [00:22:00] Yeah, Yella. You know, another, another way the world changed between, let's say our generation and Eazy's generation. With politics like Eazy, you mentioned Kendrick Lamar a minute ago and it's funny, like Kendrick's image is showcased for performing in Washington DC's Kennedy Center then he performed.
I thought it was an incredibly moving and important halftime show. I thought it was a really important moment, but then it seems like politics inserted itself into that performance at this Super Bowl. And it's kind of funny 'cause here you are, you got him like sitting in our nation capital, like the Gemstone for America in the Kennedy Center. But then when he performed just, you know, a few months back, people got like real political. And then if you go back all the way in time, and this is where I see like something different, like the lyrics for NWA were so important again to propel [00:23:00] humankind and black culture forward. Um, and, and government got involved like you guys. Stretch the boundaries. Like I, I remember, I thought like when, when the, with I, I think we like fuck the police, the FBII could be mistaken, but I think it was like the FBI who wrote some kind of a formal warning letter. Like some weird thing happened
DJ Yella: Yeah, it was the F. It is the FB. What? It was the FB. I sent a letter to another FBI, you know, just. You know, talking about our rights, we could save, you know, we could save what we want. But they were trying to stop our rights. So another FBI agency sent to them, told 'em they couldn't do that. So it just,
Marc Beckman: But was
DJ Yella: you know,
Marc Beckman: or was that just racist? Like I, I think that was more political, right? I mean more
DJ Yella: it's probably both.
Marc Beckman: and now, yeah.
DJ Yella: It is probably both, I'm quite sure. You know, we can't say what we want to say, but we happen to be black, you know, and young and black and, yeah, I think it was political, racist and, you know, telling what else it [00:24:00] was, but it was just, our music was so far ahead to nowadays our music from back then.
I mean, how many hip hop groups, how many rock and roll, how many, how many groups was number one in their heyday? Then came number one, 30 years later, not very many on that podium.
Marc Beckman: That's for sure, and I congratulate you for that. It's well deserved. It's pretty amazing. But, you know, Eazy. Do you think Kendrick, this moment in time with Kendrick was both political and racist? I mean, the reaction was really polarized in this, in the country, and I thought it was like bizarre. I, I felt like it was politically motivated, but I'm curious what you think.
Eric Lil Eazy: Um, yeah. Yeah. Um, and, you know, just all the comments come back for us, probably just, again, the stigma of where he comes from. You feel what I'm saying? And, uh, and powerful probably it's possibly some of the [00:25:00] lyrics that he does, or the message that he was showing with Samuel Jackson per se, and the, in the, um, super Bowl, kind of straddle, you know, on both fences, you know what I'm saying?
Uh. Politically racist because of the fact of, hey, it's just, just like Yella said, just, Hey, if, if I guess if this was, is Drake doing this, it, it'd have been all right. Right. You know what I mean? And just 'cause he straddles a fence of, of, of being halfbreed. But, um, I, I actually kind of would say more, you know, a little, you know, both, you know what I mean?
Just and racist
Marc Beckman: Yeah. You think that the issue of like race, I mean you really pushed it with, you know, in the eighties
Eric Lil Eazy: here.
Marc Beckman: with NWA, do you think that, uh, the issue of racism is better in the country today, uh, than back then, or do you think it's the
DJ Yella: Do you want me to answer that for real?
Marc Beckman: Yeah, of course I do.
DJ Yella: It's a hundred times worse now. It's just in the face. Back then it was in the back doors, in the back [00:26:00] rooms. Now it's like right in your face. I mean, starting from the president showing this is who I am, so they vote. I don't like to go to politics that much, but we gonna go there.
I mean. I have never seen this much racism in this country. Yeah. The sixties, it was just them spots when they seen the police beating people, you know, that was, it was small. Now it's like right in your face. They telling you this is how we are, this is how we are. Make America great. This is how we are the good old boys.
They telling you they ain't embarrassed no more. They in your face. It's just, you know what's so crazy? When Trump came into the first term, the country split really split. Either you like him or you don't like him. Either you're racist or you're not a racist, you're black or you are white or you [00:27:00] Chinese, Mexican, all this on one side and then white.
So it is to me, I don't know if it's more racism. I think it is because it's more, it's the news and the social media. It is all over now. It's instant. Now it's around the world, but it's so much racism here. It, it is crazy. We haven't really, we haven't seen it in California. They don't play that here. You don't, you know, I just talked to the wife the other day.
We watched a movie and it was talking about sundown towns. I had never heard of that. Sundown is us Negroes don't come out at night and they got real towns like that. Now they smaller, but there's real towns where we can't come out at night. I mean, racism, I think it's just, it's out there full force. It's a shame, but it's out there for real.
Not just black and white. It's just so much different kind of racism. [00:28:00] This you Hebrew, you Indian, you, you know, all kind of so much. It is just, it's a mad, it is a mad world.
Marc Beckman: It's every group. I agree with you. I feel like, you know, every sliver like worse, more antisemitism, more, you know, more race racism against black people, more racism against Asian people. I feel like it's bizarre how every sliver is, um, you know, there's hatred in such a big way. Uh, Eazy. You think that we have a leader in, uh, at the grassroots level that is fighting effectively for the voice of black people today. You know,
Eric Lil Eazy: No, it's, yeah.
Marc Beckman: an MLK or a
Eric Lil Eazy: Nah, you, no, I was just gonna, I was just gonna tell you that no. Um. Nah. And, and to, to be honest with you, you have individuals who possibly have a powerful voice to sit here and speak up on that [00:29:00] behalf and to be real with you, Marc hip hop could be that if they didn't sit here and mess it up in the nature, you feel what I'm saying?
Hip hop couldn't be that. Like, you know, you have some that come from that era that, you know, Yella come from or maybe just a little bit after that have a powerful, you know what I'm saying? You know, following that could be that in a sense to speak up on that. But, you know, everybody's for themselves and everybody has their arms and hands and, you know, life stretched out on different angles.
So no, you don't have a voice.
DJ Yella: I mean, think about music. Could be the voice. Music is, music is powerful. Not, not just hip hop, Eric, all music. It's powerful. But you know, I put it like this. Music is one of the rarest thing that racism don't show up in. Because think about it, they got hip hop and rock and roll, heavy metal, country and Western, you know, it's all over the place.[00:30:00]
Racism really don't float around in music. Music is just. Something from the soul, deep in the soul, but it could have a powerful voice if people could get together. You know? And, and I don't know how it would work, but it's just music is powerful. Music is powerful.
Marc Beckman: Yeah, I was talking about Michael Jackson with a friend the other
DJ Yella: Mm-hmm.
Marc Beckman: and we were talking about how, uh, when he performed the stadium was filled. Like all the fans were from every race, every Ja, you know, like every, it was just mixed. Everybody loved Michael Jackson. And you'd go into the stadium, you'd sit next to. You know, whoever it was your neighbors from New York City, from Los Angeles, and you all came together in love for Michael Jackson, and then when you left the building, you start hating each
DJ Yella: Yeah.
Marc Beckman: It's the craziest thing, but music would bring them together, bring us together, [00:31:00] and then the second you walk out, boom,
DJ Yella: But I'm telling you, since the Stray Outta Compton movie in, in 2015, I've been around, me and Eric been around the world. I mean, we talking about a hundred times. I mean, countries, old school, hip hop is everywhere. No, I mean, all different flavors of colors, all different kind of people. You would be amazed that love hip hop.
It's crazy. Hip hop is strong. Not the today's hip hop, but the old school hip hop is stronger than today's hip hop, even though today's hip hop is, you know, it's just everywhere. But the old school, the true old school is, is strong. It's, it is very heavy. Uh, we've been around the world. I mean, Korea, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bali, places I had never heard of.
At all. All [00:32:00] over Asia? Yeah, we just got back from Singapore, Australia. I mean New Zealand, I mean everywhere. Mexico just it. It is. Hip hop is a strong culture. We just need to fix it.
Marc Beckman: when you, when you, I, so, so I agree with you. I, you know, again, like generationally, I'm with you on the, on the old stuff. And, um, I think a lot of it was very important too, like Eazy from your perspective. Uh, you know, obviously you're gonna, I would imagine you lean into NWA given the fact that your dad was Eazy.
E um, but you stand up, you know, on your own, your music is, you know, you're not like one of these individuals who's like, oh, I got this from my, my father, like nothing was handed to you. You've created your own music, you've created your own sound. You're very relevant to today, and you're very popular. What would you say is like the most important moment for bridging old school hip hop into this new generation?
[00:33:00] Right.
Eric Lil Eazy: Um, staying connected to him, you feel? I mean, um, not his respect that is due. So that comes with, as far as the, the, the problem that you hear now on the West Coast is, uh, it was just a topic yesterday is, you know, the, the, the OGs don't let the, the yns, what they call the young niggas in, into music.
And it's to bridge that is just, you know, having a relationship or connection to it. Because where we all started from, you know, listening to them, you feel what I'm saying? And that, you know, this is just a by coincidence that I come from that treat, like you said, and I have individuals like Yella, you know what I'm saying?
Or like last night being with Xzibit, do you feel what I'm saying? Or just connected to 'em, you know, pure point blank. because it is a gap. It's funny that you said that it's a gap between the, you know, the new generation and the older generation, and the music industry, and it conflicts, you know, conflict with them thinking that, hey, they're not passing a torch on to them.
DJ Yella: Eric, you just [00:34:00] said the main word. You just saying the main word that I was thinking of before when you start talking, then you said it. The new school need to learn how to respect the old school. The old school is where it all come from. They don't wanna, they think they just created it two years ago or three years or whatever it is.
They just, they gotta learn to res, they just gotta know how to respect your elders. That's all it is. We ain't saying you owe something, but hip, this hip hop came from the old school. It didn't come from the new school. It didn't start a week ago. Y'all didn't create this stuff. We created it. We created it.
When there was no way we had to create it from scratch. We can't just Google or ai, I need this sound like them or whoever. We had to create everything. And I'm talking about [00:35:00] all the groups. New York groups doesn't matter, but they just gotta learn to respect the elders. That's all it is. That's the main thing.
Marc Beckman: so Yella, let me ask you this then. If, if it's found, if you're talking about like, old school created the foundation for this next generation, who would you say which, like, other than n in, in addition to NWA. Who do you think were the most critical, um, like hip hop artists provide that bedrock foundation that we have today?
I mean, like hip hop is really, it's amazing. It's transcended all of culture. It's in fashion, it's in art, it's in sport, it's in everything. Movies, film. Who, who do you think, would you credit? Obviously n the NWA, but if you were gonna name 3, 4, 5 other hip hop artists from your generation, who do you think really paved the way?
DJ Yella: I mean, it's got, you gotta start with the East Coast. It started on the East coast. That's just point blank. We talking about the Curtis Blows [00:36:00] the run DMCs, the public enemies. Eric BI mean the heavyweights. You gotta go to the heavyweights. The Beastie Boy. I mean all this is, we started this stuff East Coast, started it first.
That's funny. We started the gangster stuff. But it started in the East. They just gotta, I don't know. They just gotta learn. They gotta learn the respect. That's all. That's all that basically, that's the fine print.
Marc Beckman: So is this thing that, um, Eazy's talking about where the, the yns are being blocked by the OGs, is that a true thing? Are they being blocked?
DJ Yella: I don't know. I have no idea. I mean, they making money. That's the one thing about it. Hip hop is still gonna make money. These artists still gonna make money. I mean, they just, you know something that's funny. I don't know if they know. They don't respect the old, it's just they don't know the [00:37:00] old, they just, some of these people born in the two thousands, you know, 10 years ago probably, or whatever.
Marc Beckman: it's hard to believe. It's like, I think back to like when my father would like, put music on in the car when I was a kid, and I'd be like, turn it off. Like, I can't imagine putting NWA or PE on the, you know, on the radio in a car and my kid saying like, turn it off. It's not good,
DJ Yella: Yeah, it is. They just, I mean, some get it because we've been around the world and the people are getting younger and younger. I'm like, how can you be a NWA fan? You wasn't even a thought to your daddy's eyes and, uh, you wasn't even a glean by the time you was born 13 years ago or something. It's funny. It is.
Yeah. They, I don't know if they, they don't know how to respect because they don't really know who is the old school. They, they, because they think they just created all this.
Marc Beckman: Yella. What [00:38:00] happened when I, I referenced earlier the fact that you were very loyal to Eazy-E, like when NWA started to, uh, have some cracks and, and, um, there was like a little bit of a feud internally. Uh, what happened during that moment in time? And then, and then how did you end up, uh, becoming the one that like sided with Eazy.
DJ Yella: You know something. I didn't decide that it came on me. 'cause Dre called me, he said, I'm leaving. Are you coming? And then there's Eric, which hadn't done nothing wrong to me, you know? So I'm caught in the middle of, ah, so I didn't pick a side. The side just chose me. That's all it was. I didn't answer. I gave Dre an answer to his question from 91.
I gave it to him in 2019. I told him I didn't have an answer. I didn't pick Eric's side. It [00:39:00] picked me. I just stayed. You know, like, okay. That's how I always been. You know, I always been, whatever I do, I'm loyal to it. I stay with it till the wheels fall off too. It burns away or whatever it is. That's how I was.
Everything I do, that's how I was
until I retired. Yeah,
Marc Beckman: Yella, you'll know this better than me, like I, I read that the first NWA album was financed by your father on about $12,000 from him dealing drugs back in the day.
I don't know if that's true or not. I'm, I'm asking you to
DJ Yella: he didn't deal it. He didn't deal it. He was gifted.
Marc Beckman: uh.
DJ Yella: He was gifted. He had to turn it over.
Marc Beckman: So 12 thou really, the My point was less about the drugs and more about like $12,000 to produce one of the most iconic albums in history of [00:40:00] the world. And AI could do that now, right? Like you could create, you could leverage the efficiencies of AI to create music on a shoestring budget.
DJ Yella: Yeah. Yeah. That's why, that's why, that's why I say about nowadays they could just make a, a, a song off the phone with the whatever they, you know, back then we had to go into a real studio, $40 an hour or whatever it was costing back then. Everybody couldn't do that. That's why it was separated back then.
Now you could just get on the computer. Bam. Okay, make me this song. Boom.
Marc Beckman: that, isn't that lifestyle, like going into the studio with your, with your, you know, with the whole band, like, isn't that part of what made NWA so great, like the fact that you guys were creating and collaborating, isn't that like something so special and important,
DJ Yella: Um, yeah, 'cause it was like, family was just different nowadays. You could just go in the corner and make [00:41:00] your whole album, you know, by yourself and have background singers and all this stuff. Back then you, we had to work for it. That's the, that's the difference. We had to work for it.
Marc Beckman: Uh, like, like what was the cre Can I ask you like, what was the creative process like? I mean, you had like such hugely talented individuals, so how did it come together? Like, can you walk me through like how a, how the creative process would work with NWA.
DJ Yella: Um, it depends on, I forgot what song. Some songs, the title came first. Or sometimes, you know, Dre in there, me and Dre in there, Dre make the beat and stuff. The beat come first, but a lot of time it's the title. The title. What made the words the, not the Beat, it's the, it's the title that Stre Outta Compton or the police song.
She swallowed it, whatever the title was, the, it was the heart of the song and they wrote to that. Once the track was [00:42:00] made, then they come in and just write, sit down on the floor, just all in the hallway, just write, 'cause the DOC was around, so DOC was writing a lot. So it was, it was simple because the album only took like three weeks to make.
It was, it wasn't very long and we didn't work very long. We only worked from 12 or like six o'clock at nighttime. Uh, that's it. Over nighttime was our time. So.
Marc Beckman: Who, who is the strongest writer in the in, in NWA.
DJ Yella: Well, in the beginning, RM Cube wrote, well, cube wrote The Boys in the Hood and a few other ones. But then RM was writing songs, writing for E. Also, I didn't really notice, but also the DOC was strong when he came around. So it is it, it is hard to say. Yeah, that was blessed.[00:43:00]
Marc Beckman: Eazy.
DJ Yella: But they're from the old school.
Marc Beckman: discover them?
DJ Yella: I, I, I, I, that's get it, right. Who met him first? I met him first.
Marc Beckman: how did this happen? Tell me. 'cause
DJ Yella: We was at a,
Marc Beckman: understand that Eazy, like the story is that Eazy-E discovered them. You discovered them. Get the records straight.
DJ Yella: no, no. I met 'em first. I met us. We was doing a show in Cleveland and these five guys came into the dressing room. I don't know how they got in there. I don't know where security was, but they got in there and Eric said, listen to them. Okay. I listened to 'em. They singing and doing all, I'm just, okay.
Then Eric, Eric came back. I said, you see that guy over there? Go talk to him. I didn't wanna have nothing to do with them. And then Eric, by the time we got home, they was in LA By the time we got home a few days later, we was, they was in la.
Marc Beckman: you know, if you look at how, again, going back to technology, um, 3D [00:44:00] printed guns are, you know, inexpensive to create. Law enforcement can't keep up with it. They shoot as hard as Iron Pistols and the government won't know how to regulate it. So that's, that's I think the next round of, of, of stuff with the next generation.
But, you know, it's interesting, like, I wonder also, like Yella, I think this would be a good, a, a good topic to, uh, open up from your perspective as like, you know, this wise, experienced individual, um, you know. Eazy's talking about like the cyclical nature, this generational issue in Compton, and there are so many cities across America that are similar to Compton Compton's, like kind of unique in that it's, it's produced best in class musicians, best in class athletes, but there is like a vicious type of cycle there as it relates to these types of topics.
Do you think that there's like a reason America ha, well, first of all, do you agree with me as it relates to Compton General, generationally we're seeing
DJ Yella: Well, Compton is just,
Marc Beckman: it's like, [00:45:00] uh, like something to blame on America or politics? Like what is it if it's there.
DJ Yella: well first of all, Compton is just the name. It's ghetto, and the ghetto is all around the world. So there's Compton's everywhere in the world, not just in Compton. And it's, it is, it's almost like a curse, to tell you the truth. It's almost like a curse on the ghetto, just because a lot of people from the ghetto, that's all they know is the ghetto.
They don't know how to get out. They don't know how to look across the street. They just keep looking at the same thing. The same thing. They grow up, they kids look at the same thing. Never been on a plane, never been to Disneyland. Never. You know it, it is a shame. So it is kind of like, like you said, we're stuck.
And then not just being stuck you from Compton, you people think you are just like this character, whatever it is. Say a AI generated [00:46:00] gangster, that's people from Compton, you know, or from the ghetto. That's how we look. But everybody ain't like that. Like you said, all kind of sports players, musicians, you know, all kind of stuff.
Even the president lived in Compton. Oh, Bush. So, you know, it is, it is it's, it is. It is a mentality. I think it's the thinking. I don't know if you could blame it on America. You gotta blame it on yourself. You know, because my brother is a eye surgeon, made it out of Compton
Marc Beckman: how
DJ Yella: school.
Marc Beckman: individuality.
DJ Yella: did was school, school, school.
No proms, no dances, no nothing. 24 years of school. Now he's one of the top eye surgeons, but he's from Compton. He's from. So everybody's not like that. It's just me. I got outta Compton. It just, you get, you just gotta learn to get out of that situation. You can't be stuck. A lot of people [00:47:00] are stuck. They don't know nothing but the ghetto.
That's it.
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah,
DJ Yella: They can't blame it on nobody blaming it on they theyself. Yeah, you could blame on jobs, you know, no hiring, no this, you could do that. But still some of us made it out. Some of us, Eric, he done did dirt and you know, I wouldn't say dirt, but some dirt crazy stuff. But we made it out.
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah.
DJ Yella: make it outta any ghetto.
Marc Beckman: there is, is it a mindset, like, you know, Eazy in getting to know you? You know, uh, I, I see you have like a very entrepreneurial mindset. You're, you're always willing to take risks, try new things, you know, grow. Right. Is there a mindset that Compton has built into it, or, or to your point, Yella, that like. All like this myriad of Comptons, right?
Like is it a mindset?
Eric Lil Eazy: Um, I would say
DJ Yella: It is kind of the [00:48:00] mind. It is kind of. It is. Well, it gets built into you, that's for sure.
Eric Lil Eazy: yeah, yeah. Living there. It does, definitely does living there. It does, it gets built inside of you. again, like you said, a lot of us did make it, you know what I mean? It's what you take above it to sit here and not keep yourself in this thing. You gotta get tired of it, you know?
You got some mothers who get tired of, of, of hearing shots or worrying about their child or, family, you know what I mean? Consistently losing individuals are killing you feel what I'm saying. And things don't stop. So they, they, you know, they kind stand up and wanna sit here and do better and, and see better for their family.
You know what I mean? Um, so yeah, like Yella said, it, it is just really, it's a mindset. It's. It's the ghetto. So it's like, you know what I mean? They going to keep the drug, they're gonna keep the guns, they're gonna keep the, going on. You know what I mean? If you don't clean it up, I can sit there and say as well that you could blame it on, you know, politics.
You know what I mean? If you don't want to clean it up because of the fact of where you want to just keep those individuals at. It's just the ones who make it [00:49:00] out. You feel what I'm saying? It's just, and then that's why I always use the aspect of like, you know, we, we, we are the modern day, uh, Tarzans 'wow.
We came out of the jungle, you know what I mean? We, we, we survived out of that and able to sit here and go sit in a business meeting, uh, you know what I mean? In any aspect and how you look at Tarzan, look at where he come from, and then he could sit here and come back. He puts on his suit, you know, I mean, he's able to sit here and go with society.
You know what I mean? And that's, that's the term I've been using all my life. Like we are in a modern Tarzan.
Marc Beckman: But you're creating your own opportunity. Like, you know, Yella, I didn't know that your brother's a prominent eye surgeon. You know, you, you're a rock and roll Hall of fame, you know, massive, massive success. Like the, one of the most important people ever in history of music, let alone hip hop, um, you know, Eazy, you're, you're very entrepreneurial too.
So you guys are creating all kinds of moments that are unique. Um, you know, so I, I, I think there's something that, that is, uh, ma that the, where the [00:50:00] individual is, uh, you know, ha has this strength, this courage, this curiosity, you know, Eazy. Like you work on a lot, right? You're traveling all over the world.
You're doing a lot like beyond music. What are some of the projects that you're working on?
Eric Lil Eazy: Oh, um, man. Um, speaking of which, with Yella here and as well, we, uh, we got into, uh, you know, we merchandising a product. So we have a hip hop hot sauce that we're doing, uh, soon to be launching. Um, outside of music, I, I've, I'm dead. I leave next week to do another movie. I did a, a movie maybe two months ago playing a detective, a cop, and a, uh, a true story biopic. that's a true story about an individual who actually grew up from gangs. And his, his reasonings of why he got into gangs is because would, he was assaulted, you know, sexually assaulted by an officer, and it turned him kind of sideways and, and he got a big old lawsuit for it. So it's a big [00:51:00] case that was out here in California. You wanna tell his life story on what his, what happened in his, his situation. outside of that, you know what I mean? Just. Just being a predominant individual that can be, um, a big advocate for aids. do AIDS walk, I do AIDS talks. Uh, we go talk to the youth. Me and Yella did that plenty of times while we were on the road as well, um, to inner cities.
Like he said, everybody's a Compton, you know, I mean, we just don't know that. And traveling the world, we found that out
Marc Beckman: so yella, you're, um, Eazy mentioned hip hop, hot sauce. What is hip hop Hot sauce.
DJ Yella: Um, hot sauce. I mean it just bringing a different culture to it. You know, making it see a culture. I mean because think about hip hop, how many videos was made during barbecues and all that stuff and hot sauces in most kitchens depends on what, if you like the hot, the spicy, the ghost pepper. And I mean [00:52:00] hot is everywhere, but why not bring put hip hop, you know, on?
It ain't like we creating a sauce, you know, we taste testing and all that, but it's just adding some character, like the original Hot sauce. He wouldn't know Red Rooster, that was the original hot sauce. You're a youngster, but it just add, add. Matter of fact, it just adding the face to hot sauce different.
Eric Lil Eazy: Can
Marc Beckman: Eazy. This, this guy is saying that. You're not creating the, uh, flavor of hip hop hot sauce. But if I understand correctly, I already saw video of your
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah.
Marc Beckman: working with
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah, we did.
Marc Beckman: So are you gonna,
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah.
Marc Beckman: I get a, I get to debate this issue
Eric Lil Eazy: Yes, I'm definitely gonna debate that. Yes. Yeah. What we didn't do is we didn't put the recipes together, but we, I created mines, you know what I mean? I, I taste [00:53:00] tested over 15 different hot sauces came with the, you know, the one that I sat here and felt like stick to what I wanted.
I like a garlic salt, uh, style. And then the one that me and you coincide with is the one grandma picked, know what I mean? The one that has me in
DJ Yella: Yeah.
Eric Lil Eazy: So grandma picked that by having, she actually cooked some chicken and we had maybe 10 individuals come over and try it. And I Marc, you probably see some of the videos.
They were like, I had one friend's like, oh yeah, this is child's play. So he is eating it. He's like, I like hot sauce. I said, okay, cool. My grandma's like, now have him try the other one. And he came up over there, man, in his face. She's going to the kitchen to get him in the refrigerator to get him some water.
'cause his face turned red and he's Hispanic. So, you know, Hispanics can take. Some flame behind him and he just start to up and he's like, that's what you want. And so that was the creation of, of what we came with. You know what I'm saying? As far as for me and him to come with the King Rooster. And yes, I do. If I want to, if I tell my son to go get, uh, go get the hot sauce in the thing. 'cause I ran outta mines. It, it is some [00:54:00] Red Rooster in there, some Louisiana hot sauce. You know what I mean? And was a flavor. So that's how I also picked mines because it was a significant flavor. It was hot, but it had that flavor, you know what I mean?
Of, of, of kind of like seasoning to it. You feel what I mean? So yes, I created mines, you know what I mean? I probably didn't mix the ingredients together, but I created mine.
Marc Beckman: well you, you know, it's interesting 'cause I know you have smoke and Ed Curry on your team and he's got two Guinness Book of World records for the
Eric Lil Eazy: Yes.
Marc Beckman: peppers, and he's incorporating that into your recipes. He's got Pepper X, which is the current hottest pepper in, in the world, period. And then he's got, um, the, the Carolina Reaper, which also is incorporated into, into your,
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah.
Marc Beckman: hip hop hot sauce.
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah. It is funny 'cause I asked him, I said, he said, E do you want some heat behind it? And I told him, my grandmother likes heat. And when she tell, oh my goodness. When we tasted it, I said, whoa. She is like, I haven't tasted nothing like this hot in, in, in Mississippi. So, [00:55:00] you know what I'm saying? It was, it was, it was, it was a beautiful experience and yeah, he, he knows what he's doing.
Ed knows what he's doing.
Marc Beckman: you think hip hop hot sauce is gonna sell out?
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah. I mean, just to speak on it. Yeah, I mean, just a little promotion that I've done, um, you have a lot of change. So, you know, in California you have Roscoe's chicken and waffles in New Mexico, you have Frank's chicken and waffles and he jumped on board. Want to sell it inside of the store. I have a butcher. One of my dentist, uh, is, has got into the business of doing a, a, a butcher shop. And this guy sells his whole meats. And sure enough, he wants to sit here and exclusively sell his, his hiphop hot sauce to be the only hot sauce he sells outside of his, his, his raw meats that he sells. You know what I mean?
So, You know what I mean? It's, there's no reason why it should not, you feel what I'm saying? Because it, food is food. Food gonna sell across the world. And when you want your food, you want some kind of seasoning sauce or spice to it, and you feel what I mean. Now you sit here and put one of the biggest things and [00:56:00] cultures in on it, you feel what I'm saying?
And now you got one of the biggest names of that Yella individual back there and myself. You feel me? Uh, it is a great idea. It is. It was a no brainer. You feel me? So, yes, I do, you know, have great faith that, uh, hip hop hot sauce. Can, can, yeah. We'll be, we'll be, we'll be having Ed, you know, mix up batches on batches on batches.
Marc Beckman: They could keep that smoking head working. He, his, it's interesting 'cause the whole thing is farm to table. So he's actually farming the peppers that are in hip hop, hot sauce and bringing them into, you know, people's kitchens all over the world. Are there gonna be more celebrity hip hop culture, uh, characters coming out with their own sauce, with hip hop hot sauce?
What's the plan with
Eric Lil Eazy: Oh,
Marc Beckman: gonna get
Eric Lil Eazy: most definitely.
Marc Beckman: get Xzibit to light it up?
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah, as soon as I, as soon as soon as I seen Ace, give me a, a thing and said, we'll be ready next week. So as soon as I have 'em in hand. And then just on top of that, you feel what I'm saying? You got families on top of families that got small mom and pop shops that want to have it in there.
They want to sit here, just keep it [00:57:00] in their kitchen. And once I, I, I pushed it out there and I had it promoted on my page here and there. I had a few, you know, from Lazy Bone, you know what I mean? And I'm with Xzibit in the studio probably once or twice a week. So
Marc Beckman: Wow.
Eric Lil Eazy: I'm walking in the studio, I'm gonna sit here 'cause we always order food and then I'm gonna prop it right there and sit there and say, Hey, try this out.
Tell me what you think of it. You feel what I'm saying? And once he start, and he's very intelligent, once he starts asking all the questions and, and, and, you know, technicalities to it and next thing you know, it's like, hey, you want, you want yours? know what I mean? So yes it does. We're gonna definitely have, uh, more celebrities.
I feel like I some, um, I believe there's some celebrities already in the process of working on theirs as well with us. Um, we're just gonna roll it out with me and Yella first and have 'em follow suit.
Marc Beckman: Eazy. When, um, when we were talking before, uh, I, I think you were mentioning that you're doing some charitable work for aids, but you got cut out. I couldn't hear you. Were
Eric Lil Eazy: Oh yeah, yeah. Yes, I did. Um, so yeah, I do charitable work for aids. I just came back from Arizona, um, for their AIDS walk. It's a, it's, it's [00:58:00] kind of up there. See, in Arizona I went four or five years ago, so the average age was between 25 and 35 that was contracted it. And so now this year the age is 15 to 25.
Marc Beckman: What
Eric Lil Eazy: You know what I mean? So it
Marc Beckman: thing was like kind of in the, in the rear view mirror. I think your dad died at 31. Am I right? Like,
Eric Lil Eazy: uhhuh
Marc Beckman: shocked to
Eric Lil Eazy: So now,
Marc Beckman: so
Eric Lil Eazy: yeah. So now it's younger.
Marc Beckman: Wow. I.
Eric Lil Eazy: A younger generation. That is, it's, it's, it's kind of crazy how you sit here and look at the statistics of it. You'll be like, Hey, cool, if I made it to the age of. In certain areas that you live in. If I made it to the age of 31 or 35, I kind of, I kind of, you know, went through that needle, which is crazy when you look at statistics like that.
Um, so yeah, they called me back 'cause I did this, like I say, years ago, I wanna say more than five. More than, yeah, more than five years ago. 'cause it was before the pandemic. Um, and now when I got called back to sit here, do it in South Phoenix, uh, which is kind of like this, you know, the Compton, Compton of [00:59:00] Phoenix, Arizona, um, it, it just kind of started attacking the youth and they're not educating themselves with it, you know what I mean?
A lot of having child at young age and a lot of, uh, contracting the virus. And, um, I go out there and I speak, I perform for them as well. I go get tested with them as well and kind of just hit the kids who wanna sit here, have somebody that they could sit here and listen to and follow to, and who else better than individual that kind of dealt with it in his life from quote unquote what they feel my father passed away with.
And. And just let them know, despite of my feelings on that, it's does not take away from this, you know, virus that's affecting African Americans and Hispanics you know, just getting out there to tell them to educate their selves on what their status is. You know what I mean? It's okay to go get tested because nowadays, just like you said, you'll save, like you nip it in the butt.
Yeah. There's people who can live a normal life with it now. You feel? I mean, yes, but are they not contracting it? No, it is going at a, a rapid pace. It's just a lot of individuals will [01:00:00] not know how they're living and then live with the unhealthy diet and then turn around and it's gonna sit there and expose itself to your, to your immune system to be more, you know, more deadly.
Marc Beckman: should people go if they wanna support your efforts with combating aids? Learn about aids. Is there like a website or a place where
Eric Lil Eazy: Um,
Marc Beckman: money?
Eric Lil Eazy: yeah. Yeah, matter of fact, actually you could go to a permanent voice on Instagram and I work hand in hand with her in Arizona. Uh, I have worked out the country, but, um, that was years ago. So just firsthand, I'm working with a permanent voice and therefore the youth, uh, not only just aids, but more so on, um, on, we just talked about that with gun violence as well. So this, uh, foundation works in all areas and aspects of that. And I actually go back, I'm gonna try to take yell and pull yell, which I know he doesn't play basketball, but the youth will love to hear him talk, uh, and, and, and, you know, give his story of where we just, like he, we just talked about now how we made it out, where we're from because gun violence is, [01:01:00] uh, is very, very bad.
I just got back from doing a Mother's Day event for them, for mothers who lost their children gun violence. Uh, and it's, again, it's a permanent voice on Instagram. Um, I believe that's the website as well. I. Just, you know, just doing that. Just like I said earlier, before I was cut out, uh, Yella quoted that there's a Compton everywhere.
Um, me and him, when we were in Australia, we went to a island, you know, the sixth largest island in the world. And believe it or not, you know, that was their, you know, their baby Compton. And they deal with a lot of things that we didn't deal with in Compton, you know what I mean? Compton, we have a lot of gun violence or drug use, you know what I mean?
Or incarcerations. They have a lot of suicides, you know what I mean? For kids that feel like the, you know, they're not just gonna make it outta where they're from. And we went over there to influence them, where we come from and what we did and, and how we made it. Of course, them being fans of ours and you know, just to keep God first and you know what I mean, and go head forward with their dreams, you know what I mean?
And anything's possible.
Marc Beckman: All [01:02:00] right guys. Look, I Yella could ask you a million more questions about NWA, but I don't wanna like keep your you here too long. Like you guys have been great with your time and I really appreciate it. Every episode of my show ends the same way. I start a sentence with the name of the show, some future day, and then I lead a question and I ask my guests to finish the sentence.
Are you guys both game with this?
DJ Yella: Yeah.
Eric Lil Eazy: On.
Marc Beckman: Alright. Unless Yella, you want me to keep firing away with NWA
DJ Yella: Nah, I'm good.
Marc Beckman: which I love? Alright, so first I'm gonna direct this one to Eazy and then I'm gonna give Yella the, um, respect to end this, uh, show with, uh, his perspective, if that's all right. So
Eric Lil Eazy: sir.
Marc Beckman: in some future day, AI is going to change the music industry through.
Eric Lil Eazy: through, through visuals of deceased rappers.
Marc Beckman: That's a big [01:03:00] thing. You got something brewing there. Your father is coming back to life in ai. I see it. I know it. Yella. In some future day music will bring Americans back together through.
DJ Yella: That's a good one. Music is a good source. Hopefully it'll bring 'em back together, you know, because right now it's like that opposites red and blue. Black and white, whatever the, you know, it just, hopefully, I think music can do that is strong enough. Just gotta know how to use the music. It can bring, it can bring people back together.
'cause people is not together. I mean, even in the own culture, they not together.
Marc Beckman: I was gonna say like even in NWA didn't ice, you said red and blue just now. Didn't Ice Cube support Trump in the last election?
DJ Yella: I don't know.[01:04:00]
Marc Beckman: Yeah. Yeah.
DJ Yella: I don't, I mean, I have no idea. I didn't, I don't support no politician because they all, politicians is all crooked. We know that. People don't understand that. They all crooked. It is all about the money. It ain't about nothing. It ain't about the people that need the help, that need the sources. It's about their agendas or whatever, bigger company's agendas.
That's what politics is. That's why I don't vote. I had never voted until maybe the last, not the last election or one before that. I just voted for Obama, but I still have never been in there. My wife marked it for me. I still have never been in the voting place at all. It just because you vote this law in, but they still do what they want to do.
They don't even do what the law says. So it is
Marc Beckman: the last, who's the last politician that inspired you?
DJ Yella: none of [01:05:00] 'em
Marc Beckman: Same.
DJ Yella: not one. Nah, I don't, I just can't get into politics because they, you know, it's like they got white shoes on. You can't trust them.
Eric Lil Eazy: Yeah. My head don't know why I should throw a ball at him.
Marc Beckman: you so
DJ Yella: Alright.
Marc Beckman: it,
Eric Lil Eazy: definitely, Marc, appreciate you.
[01:06:00]
