On this day in Hip Hop history, West Coast legend MC Eiht released his debut LP, We Come Strapped. Featuring his group Compton’s Most Wanted, this gangsta rap classic is one of California’s pre-G Funk hits. Riding the popularity that came from his breakthrough single “Straight Up Menace” featured in the film Menace II Society, this album took the rap game by storm creating a new star on the West Coast.
Coming off group success, MC Eiht was no rookie and knew exactly what putting out a good album entailed. We Come Strapped followed a simple yet effective formula resulting in its success. This project is straight and to the point; no drawn out skits, no filler, and no big name features. Aside from a cameo from Spice-1, Redman, and his fellow Compton’s Most Wanted members, the album is entirely MC Eiht spiting cold gangsta rhymes over DJ Slip’s jazzy, keyboard heavy production.
Commercially the project was quite a success, peaking at #5 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop chart. The album was certified gold shortly after its release and continues to sell copies today. This album serves as MC Eiht’s most successful project to date.
Today (May 22) marks the 57th birthday of Compton-born gangster rapper MC Eiht. Known for his role in the 1993 cult classic film, Menace II Society, MC Eiht created an entire body of work out of his experiences growing up in Compton.
His name was inspired by the numeral element in KRS-One’s moniker, but he chose the number “8” because of its significance in “hood culture,” including 8-balls, Olde English 800, and .38 caliber handguns.
As the de facto leader of West Coast Hip Hop group Compton’s Most Wanted(CMW), he helped introduce the world to fellow Compton-based rappers Boom Bam, Tha Chill, DJ Mike T, DJ Slip, and Ant Capone.
He’s released an astonishing 16 albums, culminating with the yet-to-be-released Which Way Iz West. Often mentioned in the same breath as DJ Quik, the two previously had problems, but have since worked them out.
Legendary Long Beach emcee, RBX, has teamed up with legendary Compton emcee, MC Eiht, to release a brand new single & music video featuring up-and-coming emcee/producer, Sccit, titled “Midnight Drive” The hard hitting single off of RBX’s new album, Hibernation Shivers, is produced by Sccit & Siavash The Grouch and co-produced by Eligh (of Living Legends fame).
The accompanying music video takes you on a visual journey to the west coast via a captivating nocturnal melody that captures the essence of cruising down the streets of Los Angeles at the stroke of midnight. “Compton & Long Beach together .. now you know you in trouble..The 2024 version, ya dig?” Said RBX. “Geah! Live & die in LA.. He wrote The Chronic so when he hits me up I show up. Eyes on the prize,” added MC Eiht.
Producers Sccit & Siavash chimed in on the joint. “We talkin about the 2 biggest west coast regions in hip-hop history.. Any time Long Beach hooks up wit Compton you know thats going to be a classic off top. No way I couldn’t bring my A-Game for a historic collaboration of this magnitude. This is the hip-hop equivalent of Sublime collaborating with The Red Hot Chili Peppers.. It’s about time to show our hip-hop legends that same respect!” Siavash added, “one of my favorites from the album. X and Eiht go together like peanut butter and jelly.”
Delving into the chronicles of West Coast hip-hop, the name MC Eiht resonates with the gritty authenticity of Compton’s streets. As a lead member of the pioneering group Compton’s Most Wanted, his lyrical prowess has etched a permanent mark on the genre. Beyond the rhymes, his forays into acting have showcased a versatility that transcends music. With a career spanning over three decades, MC Eiht has amassed a fortune. It’s reflective of his enduring presence in the industry, with a reported net worth of $400,000 as of 2023, according to Fresherslive.
The Rhythmic Rise: Beats, Bars, & Breakthroughs
Rap group Compton’s Most Wanted (MC Eiht aka Aaron Tyler; Tha Chill aka Vernon Johnson). Appear in a portrait taken on September 20, 1990 in New York City. (Photo by Al Pereira/Getty Images/Michael Ochs Archives)
MC Eiht’s journey to notoriety began with Compton’s Most Wanted. It was a group that became synonymous with the emergence of gangsta rap. Their seminal album, It’s a Compton Thang, laid the groundwork for a new era of storytelling in hip-hop. Eiht’s solo debut, We Come Strapped, further solidified his status, featuring tracks that were stark narratives of urban life. His contributions to soundtracks like Menace II Society broadened his reach and introduced his signature sound to a wider audience, bolstering his career trajectory.
Beyond The Booth: A Glimpse Into The Personal & Philanthropic
ATLANTA – AUGUST 1991: Rap groups A Tr-be Called Quest, Brand Nubian and Cypress Hill. As well as solo rappers Nikki D., MC EIHT of Compton’s Most Wanted and DJ Mike T. Poses for photos during the ‘Jack The Rapper’ music convention at the Atlanta Hilton hotel in Atlanta, Georgia in August 1991. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
Behind the microphone, MC Eiht has been a figure whose life mirrors the complexities of his lyrics. While details of his endeavors are closely guarded, his public gestures towards community upliftment reflect a commitment to the betterment of his Compton roots. His voice has been a beacon of experience, guiding young artists navigating the treacherous tides of the music industry, proving his influence extends beyond the studio.
Legacy & Loot: A Conclusion
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 30: Mc Eiht attends the City Parks Foundation SummerStage Presents Rock Steady Crew 40th Anniversary. At SummerStage at Rumsey Playfield, Central Park on July 30, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images)
MC Eiht’s narrative is not just one of artistic acclaim but also financial acumen. His ability to navigate the ebbs and flows of the music industry has ensured that his literal and metaphorical voice remains a staple in the realm of hip-hop. As of 2023, MC Eiht’s net worth is a testament to his impact and longevity.
On this day in Hip Hop history, West Coast legend MC Eiht released his debut LP, We Come Strapped. Featuring his group Compton’s Most Wanted, this gangsta rap classic is one of California’s pre-G Funk hits. Riding the popularity that came from his breakthrough single “Straight Up Menace” featured in the film Menace II Society, this album took the rap game by storm creating a new star on the West Coast.
Coming off group success, MC Eiht was no rookie and knew exactly what putting out a good album entailed. We Come Strapped followed a simple yet effective formula resulting in its success. This project is straight and to the point; no drawn out skits, no filler, and no big name features. Aside from a cameo from Spice-1, Redman, and his fellow Compton’s Most Wanted members, the album is entirely MC Eiht spiting cold gangsta rhymes over DJ Slip’s jazzy, keyboard heavy production.
Commercially the project was quite a success, peaking at #5 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop chart. The album was certified gold shortly after its release and continues to sell copies today. This album serves as MC Eiht’s most successful project to date.
Driving through Compton in 2023 still isn’t exactly a pretty sight. Rampant unemployment, poverty, and violence still exist with the city’s infrastructure. However, the prospect of being in Compton is nowhere near as damning as it was throughout the ’80s and ’90s. The city had been overgrown with weeds for nearly a decade, with auto dealerships becoming safe havens for homeless people. Three decades later, there are signs of middle-class purpose in Compton. People worldwide now tour the childhood homes of Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E. However, albums from rappers such as MC Eiht brought the rampant issues of what was once considered the murder capital of the U.S. to light.
MC Eiht was born and raised in the city. He was subject to rampant drug dealing and violence by the time he was five years old. At 18 years old, he worked on It’s a Compton Thang! through writing raps and recording demo tapes with Tha Chill. They later partnered with producers DJ Slip and The Unknown DJ. Soon, they formed Compton’s Most Wanted, although still very much engrained in street culture. It wasn’t until they experienced the success of MC contemporaries in the form of N.W.A. that they ditched street life. By 1988, the group was fully focused on recording. This process would eventually crescendo into 1990’s It’s a Compton Thang!
MC Eiht Embodies Compton Hip-Hop
INGLEWOOD, CA – APRIL 22: Rapper MC Eiht performs onstage during the 93.5 KDAY Krush Groove 2017 concert at The Forum on April 22, 2017 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
If any rapper embodies Compton’s aggressiveness and creative output, it’s MC Eiht. Emerging as a member of Compton’s Most Wanted in the early 1990s, MC Eiht quickly developed into one of the featured spokespersons for the Westside. The legend is more than just a rapper; he’s expressed his connectivity with his city through a variety of mediums, even becoming the representation of West Coast gang life as Lance “Ryder” Wilson in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. He even played the role of A-Wax in the 1993 film Menace II Society.
Eiht’s establishment of Compton’s Most Wanted proved that the city was more than a one-trick pony spearheaded by N.W.A. Rather, Compton was a breeding ground for talented and motivated MCs. “Late Night Hype” was the first hit for the group, a smooth blend of R&B and hip-hop. By 1991, MC Eiht had established himself as a household name in Southern California. However, Compton’s Most Wanted wasn’t doing it through copy and pasting the sound of N.W.A. Noticeably more mellow, sensual guitar strings and smooth drums filled albums Straight Checkn ‘Em and Music to Driveby from MC Eiht’s Compton’s Most Wanted. The group would become the soundtrack for lazy days at the pool. Their rich sound contrasted with their revealing lyricism, picturing their violent environment.
However, a generation-defining beef was rumbling under the surface during MC Eiht’s rise with Compton’s Most Wanted. Surprisingly, this battle wasn’t aimed at an East Coast MC. Instead, the half-decade-long beef would occur between two household names within Compton. However, the beef between MC Eiht and DJ Quik was ultimately a beneficial commercial endeavor for the two. The two dissed each other continuously throughout the 1990s, with it ending in the summer of 1998 when Snoop Dogg and other West Coast MCs helped the two reconcile.
Even if the beef wasn’t real, the two’s many diss tracks thrown at each other would cement their commercial success. DJ Quik’s “Dollaz + Sense” is commonly held as one of the greatest hip-hop diss tracks of all time. Eiht conceded in an interview with Unique Access, “I think I’ve learned that sometimes beef is good in hip-hop… it sells records.”
Later explaining the nature of their beef, he stated, “So for me to be sayin’ I was Crip, and him to be sayin’ he was a Blood, even though we were using our music as our outlets, it was still people around us who took it seriously to where it’s not about the records.” The two’s beef was largely because they were in different gangs in the Compton area. Back in 2017, MC Eiht was featured on DJ Quik’s “Central Ave,” with the two now being on good terms.
At his core, MC Eiht is complex and multi-faceted. He’s a father but also an OG Crip. He may be associated with gangsta rap and violent lyricism, but he’s also a huge jazz nerd. Coming onto the scene with defining tracks such as “This is Compton,” MC Eiht stated, “Fresh off the streets from the underground / Nick-named MC Eiht, black brother gets down.”
That same sentiment holds true today, as his persona permeates through the influences of hip-hop. A true OG of the West Coast hip-hop scene, he sits with Ice Cube and DJ Quik amidst the golden era of Los Angeles rap. That reputation is precisely why he delivered the interlude on Kendrick Lamar’s “m.A.A.D city.”
On this date in 1993, Jive Records released the soundtrack to the blockbuster hood classic Menace II Society featuring various artists. The sixteen-track Hip Hop assortment peaked at the pole position on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip Hop albums. Along with singles, music videos were produced for the songs: “Straight Up Menace” by MC Eiht, and “Trigga Gots No Heart” by Spice 1. It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA since October 11, 1994.
Classic tracks include Spice 1’s “Trigga Gots No Heart”, Too Short’s “Only The Strong Survive” as well as some East Coast flavor from Brand Nubian(“Lick Dem Muthafuckas”), Boogie Down Productions(“The P Is Still Free”) and Pete Rock and CL Smooth’s “Death Becomes You”.
Just as timeless as the movie during the era when soundtracks were everything, the MIIS soundtrack is sure to bring back that bi-coastal Hip Hop nostalgia.
Which Compton rap group had the most significant impact on the sound of West Coast hip-hop? The default answer is N.W.A. Featuring Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, MC Ren, and several others, their high-octane raps took over the hip-hop world behind tracks such as “F**k Da Police.” However, N.W.A. wasn’t the only group stamping a lasting impact on the West Coast hip hop scene. Adjacent to N.W.A., you had the MC Eiht-led Compton’s Most Wanted. While many claim that Compton’s Most Wanted was impersonating the commercially recognized N.W.A., MC Eiht, Boom Bam, DJ Mike, DJ Slip, and Tha Chill were actually recording demos before N.W.A. had released their debut album.
It’s 1985, and crime is running rampant through Compton. During that time, a 15-year-old MC Eiht was brainstorming ways to let loose the violent emotions of his chaotic childhood. He formed a duo with Tha Chill, embarking on a journey that began with writing raps and recording demo tapes when the two weren’t immersed in street culture. However, the duo’s full-time job remained on the violent streets of Compton. Selling crack to survive, Compton’s Most Wanted was forced to grow up fast.
Compton’s Most Wanted Didn’t Replicate N.W.A
MC Eiht and Tha Chill had begun dabbling with scratched hip-hop beats. However, it would take the two taking notice of N.W.A’s financial success to be inspired to pursue rap seriously. After recording music for a few years, the two garnered attention from The Unknown DJ. He was immediately intrigued by the duo’s unique chemistry and laid-back flow. Their momentum would continue to build over the next three years, leading to their debut project, It’s a Compton Thang! Feeling a need to prove themselves as rappers, the group primarily boasted about their skills on the mic throughout the album.
Even if they were following in the footsteps of N.W.A., Compton’s Most Wanted’s sound was very much distinctive. The unique screams or growls from other West Coast MCs weren’t heard in their sound. Instead, producers DJ Slip and The Unknown DJ were focused on curating a smooth collection of funk jams. The project’s highlight was “Late Night Hype,” solidifying the group plenty of recognition throughout the West Coast scene. The group would follow up their debut with Straight Checkn ‘Em and Music to Driveby, with “Hood Took Me Under” becoming one of their most successful tracks to date.
They Intricately Rapped Over Funk-Based Beats
However, Compton Most Wanted’s influence went beyond their numbers. Their most successful project peaked at No. 66 on the U.S. Charts. In essence, MC Eiht and Tha Chill walked so that future Compton MCs could run. Implementing a more relaxed style into the West Coast scene helped solidify the sentiment that West Coast hip-hop was more than the sound of N.W.A. Rather than Compton raps being a sub-genre of hip-hop, Compton Most Wanted helped make Southern Los Angeles the crown jewel of experimentation and creative expression in the hip-hop world.
This isn’t to say that Compton Most Wanted was creating blissful music in a time of violence and chaos. MC Eiht was still painfully in-tune with the world around him, telling bloody tales of blacktop warfare. On No Jumper, he stated, “It basically gave a way of expressing what I saw on the daily. Now, did I think it was going to transform me to star status? I never looked at it like that.” He approached topics such as redlining and the militarization of police with a sense of intimate sorry rather than utter outrage. While he was still a self-described menace to society through his lyricism, executing that narrative on an Isaac Hayes sample opened up the future of hip-hop in the area. That contrast would later appear in projects such as Compton’s modern-day star Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, m.A.A.d City.
They Released Their Last Album Gangsta Bizness In 2019
Compton’s Most Wanted are the unsung heroes of West Coast hip-hop. With MC Eiht as their frontman and star, the overall proved that potent messaging could exist without aggressiveness. While N.W.A. were screaming out their rage at the corporations and establishments around them, Compton’s Most Wanted had a potent storytelling impact without all of the rage.
As a result, future generations of West Coast MCs were approaching their sonic direction in a more broad-minded manner. Ultimately, Compton’s Most Wanted’s success would propel frontman MC Eiht into a successful solo career. While Tha Chill was in prison for two years during the group’s run, he would eventually return while developing his solo career. By the early 2000s, the group was no longer consistently creating music. However, they reunited for 2019’s Gangsta Bizness.
MC Eiht says that he only met Suge Knight one time and it was during his feud with DJ Quik. Eiht recalled meeting the infamous former Death Row Records CEO during a recent interview with The Art of Dialogue.
Eiht explained that the two only ever had one interaction with one another.
(Photo by Chad Buchanan/Getty Images for Moet USA)
“I wouldn’t say it was on a negative — back in the days, when I was having my little spat with Quik — this is way before we got cool […] Back in my heyday, I was a Crip; he was a Blood. Suge and them was Bloods. That was just the nature of Compton.”
From there, he explained that his mother and Suge’s mother both lived across the street from one another. One day, while Eiht was visiting his family, Suge pulled up on him.
“He told me to pull over and a couple of dudes walked up on my car, and he just wanted to tell me as far as the situation that was going down with me and Quik, the affiliations, it wouldn’t be trickled over into my mom’s place of residence.”
He added: “That was just the clarification I got from him that I didn’t have to worry about anything going down while my mom was living in their neighborhood.”
Eiht went on to explain that his feud with Quik essentially boiled down to their respective gang affiliations.
Check out Eiht’s conversation with The Art of Dialogue below.
On this day in Hip Hop history, West Coast legend MC Eiht released his debut LP, We Come Strapped. Featuring his group Compton’s Most Wanted, this gangsta rap classic is one of California’s pre-G Funk hits. Riding the popularity that came from his breakthrough single “Straight Up Menace” featured in the film Menace II Society, this album took the rap game by storm creating a new star on the West Coast.
Coming off group success, MC Eiht was no rookie and knew exactly what putting out a good album entailed. We Come Strapped followed a simple yet effective formula resulting in its success. This project is straight and to the point; no drawn out skits, no filler, and no big name features. Aside from a cameo from Spice-1, Redman, and his fellow Compton’s Most Wanted members, the album is entirely MC Eiht spiting cold gangsta rhymes over DJ Slip’s jazzy, keyboard heavy production.
Commercially the project was quite a success, peaking at #5 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop chart. The album was certified gold shortly after its release and continues to sell copies today. This album serves as MC Eiht’s most successful project to date.
