Review Summary: 'cause da boys in da hood are always hard.
Accommodated by his fastest G-funk beats ever, Eazy-E provides yet another great album full of street anthems. His unapologetically hood lyrics, his recognizable nasally voice, and his uptempo flow makes
Str8 Off Tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton a great record. Eazy went out with a bang, and surprisingly, it wasn’t the bang of a gun. AIDS took 48,371 American lives in 1995. One of those lives was gangsta rap star Eric Wright. He was only 32, and left seven children in the world… Recorded during his life, released posthumously after he died of AIDS in the Spring of '95, Eazy-E left us with one we can appreciate.
Always one to be different, Eazy-E stood out in the rap crowd, well, not in a real crowd, because he was like 5-foot-3, but his rapping style was particularly unique, especially differentiating from other west coast rappers. His whiny, teenage voice; uptempo beats; and fast paced flow varied from that of the usual smoky, husky voice; slow-going funky beats with relaxed flows of most west coast gangsta rappers. Of course, nothing changes on this album. With possibly his fastest G-funk beats ever like Nutz on Ya Chin, Eazy showcases what he’s capable of as an MC. Usually relying on his gangsta poems and his signature voice, Eazy-E is consistently exhibiting a fast flowed assault. But on songs like Wut Would U Do and Tha Muthaphukkin Real which he slows it down a bit to provide contrast to his speed.
Because he flowed faster than your typical Cali gangster rapper, Eazy-E selected a crop of high-paced beats. Taking the elements of your typical G-funk beats such as creeping bass; rattles; deep, slow-rolling synths; frequent kicks and snares; and your occasional drum undertones, Eazy hyperizes the average West coast, gangsta rap instrumental to match his upbeat flow. With only the occasional sluggish beat, the production is mainly comprised of fast, energetic beats that are the perfect compliment to Eazy’s rapping.
Eazy-E is the same “badmouth nigga on the violent tip” “from the C.P.T.” he’s always been. Sticking to the same lyrical formula that brought him his fame, Eazy-E paints vivid ghetto portraits varying from paying child support to drinking to jumping someone to murderous revenge to domestic violence with the occasional ode-to-sex thrown in. Whether Eazy-E is being blindly violent (Sorry Louie, Wut Would U Do) or preaching the atrocities of hood life (Eternal E), he’s always speaking of the hood.
Seeing as this album was his last that wasn’t a compilation, who better to conclude it than Eric Wright himself. Following is his farewell speech…
“I may not seem like a guy that you'd pick to preach a sermon, but I feel it's now time to `testify' because I do have folks that care about me hearing all kinds of stories about what's up. Yeah, I was a brother on the streets of Compton doing a lot of things most people look down on, but it did pay off. Then, we started rapping about real stuff that shook up the LAPD and the F.B.I., but we got our message across big-time and everyone in America started paying attention to the boys in the hood. Soon, our anger and hopes got everyone riled up. There were great rewards for me personally like fancy cars, gorgeous women and good livin.' Like real nonstop excitement. I'm not religious but wrong or right, that's me. I'm not saying this because I'm looking for a soft cushion wherever I'm heading, I just feel that I've got thousands and thousands of young fans that have to learn about what's real when it comes to AIDS. Like something good that will reach out to all my homeboys and their kin because I want to save their asses before it's too late. I'm not looking to blame anyone except myself. I've learned in the last week that this thing is real and it doesn't discriminate. It affects everyone. My girl, Tomika, and I have been together for four years, and we recently got married. She's good, she's kind and a wonderful mother. We have a little boy who's a year old. Before Tomika, I had other women. I have seven children by six different mothers. Maybe success was too good to me. I love all my kids. And I always took care of them. Now I'm in the biggest fight of my life and it ain't easy. But I want to say much love to those who have been down with me and thanks for all your support.”
R.I.P Eric Lynn Wright (September 7th, 1993 – March 26th, 1995)
