Just weeks after Tupac Shakur had a street named after him in Oakland, California, N.W.A founder Eazy-E was bestowed the same honor by his hometown. On Wednesday (November 22), the city of Compton, California renamed the 100 block of Auto Drive South to Eazy Street, commemorating the late MC.
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At the ceremony, Eazy’s mother Kathie Wright gave a compelling speech about the honor’s significance.
“I’m so proud of everybody that’s here today,” she said. “And say I love you all and thanks so much for showing up at this presentation. Thank you very much, the city of Compton. … I would like to thank everybody that had a part in this and I love you and God bless, and he is watching from a distance. Thank you very much. Everybody have a nice day and have a Happy Thanksgiving.”
Additionally, Eazy’s son Eric Darnell Wright, who also goes by Lil Eazy, shared a similar sentiment.
“My father finally got what he deserves,” he added. “A monumental street in the city he put on the map. … It’s a long time coming, but again, I always say it’s God’s timing.”
Author and hip-hop historian Alonzo Williams, who also serves as president of the Compton Entertainment Chamber of Commerce, was instrumental in getting Eazy Street dedicated, and spoke about it with Los Angeles TV station KABC.
“Compton has a lot of history, but nobody knows about it. I figured the most recent history is hip-hop history,” he said. “Being this is the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, I thought it’d be a great idea to approach the City Council, talk about possibly doing this and they loved the idea.”
[RELATED: Remember When: Eazy-E and Dr. Dre’s NWA-Ending Feud]
This recognition of Eazy-E’s accomplishments as a rapper came just a few days after he was name-dropped in Suge Knight’s new podcast Collect Call. During the episode, Knight suggested that Eazy’s wife Tomica Woods cost Eazy’s kids millions in royalty money from negotiations over Dr. Dre’s record contract.
“I did a deal for [Eazy],” Knight told Collect Call co-host Dave Mays. “He gets a dollar off of anything that Dre does. In other words, [that’s] if he do a movie, if he do a beat, [or] if he promote some type of merchandise. If he do a commercial, if he produce. … Off of his part, [Eazy] gets a dollar … [but] Interscope said [to Tomica], ‘Hey, why you want to get a dollar off of everything Dre does? Me and you could do business later on. Sign off and just let Dre out of it. We’re gonna do business later.’ She signed off. They ain’t did no business with that b***h later. And guess what? That f***ed Eazy’s kids, his momma, at the time his father was still living. It’s f***ed his family.”
Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
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