DJ Yella breaks down his 30-plus years in the rap game.
N.W.A (L-to-R: Ice Cube, Dr Dre, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, MC Ren) Photo: Supplied
The story of N.W.A - the pioneering LA gangsta rap group made up of Dr Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella - was told this year in Straight Outta Compton, the F. Gary Gray-directed biopic that did big numbers at the US box office.
For the most part, the film chose not to gloss over the controversial details of the group’s short-lived, incendiary career, seeing their narrative through to the death of Eazy-E, the charismatic ex-drug dealer who funded their early recordings.
DJ Yella first partnered with Dr Dre in electro outfit World Class Wreckin’ Cru, and the two Compton, California natives went on to share production credits on Eazy-E’s 1988 solo debut, Eazy-Duz-It.
And while Dre and Eazy would later wage a very public war of words following Dre’s exit from N.W.A in 1991, Yella remained the neutral party, producing two cuts on Eazy’s ’93 EP It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa, while keeping on good terms with the rest of his ex-bandmates.
The success of Straight Outta Compton has given Yella a new lease on professional life, and a touring schedule that brought him to New Zealand last week for the first time. And with chatter around the possibility of a N.W.A reunion rising, Yella believes the smart money’s on the four surviving members regrouping – possibly with Lil Eazy-E, Eazy’s eldest, stepping into his late father’s shoes.
“This time would be like the Rolling Stones originally coming out or the Beatles or something,” says Yella. “If we do it, it’d just be ridiculous. We’d have to do coliseums, probably; arenas are not big enough.
“And we would bring heavyweight people to be on the bill – Eminem, Snoop and Kendrick; you know, all the heavy weights.”
In New Zealand for a recent show, Yella talks to Music 101's Sam Wicks about the chance of a reformation and his tenure in the “World’s Most Dangerous Group”.