Line #10 Creator/RuthlessRecords


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ruthless.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The World's Most Dangerous Record Label.]]
3
4	->''"This is a gang and I'm in it\
5	My man Dre'll fuck you up in a minute\
6	With a right left, right left, you toothless\
7	And then you say: 'Goddamn, they Ruthless!'"''
8
9	->-- N.W.A., "Gangsta Gangsta"
10
11	Widely known as the home and foundation of the Music/{{NWA}} collective, Ruthless Records is a record label founded in 1986, based out of Compton, California. Founded by former drug dealer-turned-rapper/executive Music/EazyE and manager Jerry Heller, It's cited as the main label that shot west coast hip hop into international prominence, and laid the groundwork for the careers of Music/IceCube, Music/DrDre, and Music/BoneThugsNHarmony.
12
13	Originally distributed by Macola Records, and later Priority and Relativity Records, the label first started by releasing singles by N.W.A. and other underground west coast rappers, before hitting the ground running with N.W.A.'s debut LP, ''Music/StraightOuttaCompton''; which was followed up almost two months later with Eazy's solo debut ''Eazy-Duz-It'' in 1988. Despite the lack of radio airplay and pressure from MoralGuardians (culminating in a threatening letter from the FBI), both albums were extremely successful, going 2x Platinum. Other successful releases from this early period were The D.O.C.'s ''No One Can Do It Better'', Michel'le's self-titled debut, and J.J. Fad's ''Supersonic''. Ruthless had also signed Tarrie B, widely cited as the first white female rapper, to the label.
14
15	However, as the 1990s approached, the first signs of dissent within N.W.A., and by extension, Ruthless, began to show. Many of the group's members were voicing their displeasure with both Ruthless' financial situation, and manager Jerry Heller. In particular, Ice Cube, having been the principal writer of ''Straight Outta Compton'' and several other songs by various Ruthless acts, felt he wasn't getting his fair share of royalties. Not helping things was D.O.C.'s car accident around the same time, which nearly destroyed his vocal chords, and Dr. Dre beating up Tarrie B at the 1990 Grammys. Despite Heller maintaining that everything was in order, Ice Cube jumped ship at the end of 1989, and signed a solo deal with Priority. Ice Cube soon linked up with Music/PublicEnemy on the east coast, and released both ''[=AmeriKKKa's=] Most Wanted'' and ''Kill At Will'' the next year to critical acclaim.
16
17	Despite losing their main writer, Ruthless continued to see success in 1990. N.W.A.'s 1990 anti-Ice Cube EP ''100 Miles And Running'' went Platinum, and Music/AboveTheLaw made their debut with ''Livin' Like Hustlers'' that same year. However, things began to go sideways in 1991. In January that year, Dr. Dre's reputation as a woman beater became widely publicized after he was caught [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beating the ever-loving crap]] out of Dee Barnes after he felt she skewed the perception of N.W.A.'s beef with Ice Cube on her show ''Pump It Up!''. Later that year, after more verbal attacks from N.W.A. on ''Niggas 4 Life'', Ice Cube finally unleashed his scathing response to the group: "No Vaseline," on which he publicly aired his grievances with Jerry Heller and Eazy, and accused them of robbing the group. Dr. Dre, under the advice of Suge Knight, left N.W.A., citing a lack of monetary compensation, and formed rival record label Creator/DeathRowRecords, with Michel'le and D.O.C. following him.
18
19	While Ruthless was kept afloat from successful releases from MC Ren and Eazy, N.W.A. dissolved after "No Vaseline", 3 of it's most successful artists formed a rival company, and even Ren himself made it clear [[TeethClenchedTeamwork He lost all his love for Eazy, and was only staying on Ruthless to honor his contract]]. Eazy himself became embroiled in a bitter feud with Dr. Dre and Suge Knight over the former's contract, and eventually won a lawsuit that would give Ruthless 20% of anything Dre produced for the next six years. Dre and Eazy would verbally spar over their acrimonious split with the respective albums ''The Chronic'' and ''It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa''.
20
21	The mid-90s saw a revival of sorts for Ruthless in the form of Music/BoneThugsNHarmony, who released their debut EP ''Creepin on ah Come Up'' in 1994, and their sophomore LP ''E. 1999 Eternal'' to multi-platinum success. These two releases were the last Eazy-E oversaw as an executive producer, having died from AIDS 4 months before ''E. 1999 Eternal'' hit the shelves. Eazy's first posthumous album, ''[=Str8=] Off Tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin' Compton'' was released in late 1995.
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23	Come the 2000s, Ruthless would be folded into Creator/SonyMusic, and more or less became relegated to reissuing past albums. Bone stayed with Ruthless until 2001's ''Thug World Order'', while two latter-day attempts at releasing new material with Stevie Stone and Music/{{Hopsin}}, both in 2009, were severely mishandled.
24	----
25	!!Artists with their own TV Tropes pages:
26	[[index]]
27	* Music/BoneThugsNHarmony
28	* Music/{{Hopsin}}
29	* Music/{{NWA}}
30	** Music/DrDre
31	** Music/EazyE
32	** Music/IceCube
33	[[/index]]

Context Creator / RuthlessRecords