Prior to Eazy-E’s own admission, the West Coast rap world was being dominated by the push and pull between N.W.A’s former home, Ruthless Records, and the upstart label, Death Row, which had been formed by Suge Knight – who was intent on launching Dr. Dre as his flagship artist.
According to former N.W.A manager and Ruthless Records co-founder, Jerry Heller, Knight got Dre out of his contract by threatening him with baseball bats and lead pipes.
“I think, even more so now, that Suge Knight is an evil human being,” Jerry Heller told the Murder Master Music Show.
“Eazy said, ‘You know this guy Suge Knight?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He says, ‘Well, I’m gonna kill him.’ He said, ‘This guy is gonna be a problem and I think I should kill him.’ I said, ‘Let me think this thing through. I said, ‘First of all, we’re doing $10 million a month with six employees. We don’t even have a typewriter in the office.’ I said, ‘We’re the most successful start-up record company in the history of the music business and you want to kill this guy?’ I said, ‘That just doesn’t make any sense to me.’ You know something?
I should have let him kill him. I would have done the world a favor. He would have done it, for sure, by himself. He always rolled by himself and he was fearless… I think that he was gonna go do it. I shouldn’t have talked him out of it. Ruthless would probably still be around. Dr. Dre. and Ice Cube would probably still be with Ruthless. It would have been an empire.”