MC Eiht

“You don’t have to go to L.A. to get your MC Eiht,” Lloyd Banks contended on his debut album, Hunger For More, which entered the Billboard pop chart at Number One. Banks’ assertion on his madly successful album keenly demonstrates how deeply it is ingrained within hip-hop consciousness that MC Eiht is known as being the streets’ ultimate spokesperson for the West Coast. Period.

As signified by the title of Eiht’s new album, Veterans Day, Eiht is one of the true O.G.’s of L.A. hiphop, a true veteran of the ghetto, emerging in 1989, with the debut release from Compton's Most Wanted, It’s A Compton Thang. Coming into the game, Eiht rolled along side Tha Chill, their luminary scratcher DJ Mike T and producers Slip and DJ Unknown. Cited as a select musical inspiration for producer/director John Singleton’s classic film, Boyz In The Hood, the group’s single, “Growin’ Up In The Hood” was picked as the single for the film. Eiht’s releases with CMW, Straight Check’n Em and Music To Driveby, quickly became West Coast underground classics. Eiht, who has graced the cover of the Source Magazine twice, appeared in the Hughes Brothers’ feature film Menace II Society, and also achieved critical acclaim for his indelible single, “Streiht Up Menace,” which appeared on the film’s multi-platinum selling soundtrack, which held the Number One spot on the Billboard Top 100 R&B Albums Chart for eight weeks. We Come Strapped, which quickly achieved gold status, created controversy for its no holds barred attack on racist police officers, and was eventually attacked in a speech by then-Presidential candidate Bob Dole. Rolling Stone Magazine was among the media outlets that joined in the frenzy to address the fact that Eiht’s record label, Epic Records, felt compelled to issue an extra warning sticker on the disc, which stated that Eiht’s lyrics were not necessarily the opinions of the Sony label.

Eiht released Death Threatz and Last Man Standing, officially ending his time with Epic, and then he signed with Priority, releasing Underground Hero, Section 8 and N My Neighborhood. Always in demand, he has accepted numerous offers to record duets on albums released by other artists, a few of which include Spice 1, Scarface and Pete Rock, but now he’s back on the solo tip with a new album, Veterans Day.

Again, as noted by the album’s title, Eiht is reveling in the light of a long career that has garnered him sheer respect from the streets, as well as countless props from other artists. On Tupac Shakur’s birthday this year, L.A.’s KWPR 106 FM re-broadcast the interview during which Pac stated that when he was in prison at Dannemora, he fervently listened to MC Eiht’s music. When Ludicris broadcast his video countdown on MTV, he opened it up with Eiht’s “Streiht Up Menace.” To Eiht, these were not just props - they were omens. “All of this just told me I needed to be working on putting an album out, to keep going. I had done some projects that were just to keep my name out there, but I realized this year that I really wanted to do a significant album, which will actually be my very first since being in the Priority situation.” Despite his heavy reputation in the hip-hop world, Eiht acknowledges, “To some people, this will be my first solo album, because they weren’t around for my prior releases, and to them, this will be my first album.”

The production on Veterans Day was done by Tha Chill, who has also recently recorded tracks for Snoop Dogg’s 213. There is one exception, and that is the track, “Some Of These Thugs,” produced by Prodeje of South Central Cartel.

“I speak for the people on the streets and the underground,” notes Eiht. “I try to keep my music on that level. I don’t deal with how much money there is, or how much it’s going to cost to get a chick that is a celebrity. I can’t talk about people in Compton riding around in Bentleys and going to the clubs, messing with models. We don’t even have any clubs in Compton. My music is about being in the neighborhood, being around real people, who are stuck in the struggle of doing whatever they be doing, every day jobs, dope dealing, trying to take care of their families.”

He adds, “A lot of guys never get a chance to do what I’ve been doing, but I still stay true to where I started, still being able to connect with folks. That’s why I feel I can touch a lot of people.”

You don’t have to go to L.A. to get your MC Eiht, because instead, you can go to the nearest place where there’s a record store, and get a copy of Veterans’ Day. Geah.

Veteran West Coast gangsta rapper MC Eiht dedicated much of his life to rap, beginning his seminal career with Compton's Most Wanted (CMW) while only a teenager. Despite his youth, Eiht's contributions helped catapult CMW to national fame in 1990 with It's a Compton Thang. The group followed the lead of fellow Compton gangsta rappers N.W.A, but were a bit less controversial and, in turn, much less popular. CMW released two more albums -- Straight Checkn 'Em (1991) and Music to Driveby (1992) -- before Eiht began his solo career in 1993 with the group's producer, DJ Slip, in tow and "Steiht Up Menace" as his solo debut single. His debut solo album, We Come Strapped, topped Billboard's R&B album chart a year later. Eiht's sales numbers unfortunately went downhill from there, though he retained a cult audience over the years and remained loyal to longtime affiliates Slip and Mack 10.

Born Aaron Tyler in Los Angeles, Eiht began his career as part of CMW while still a teenager. After the song "Rhymes Too Funky" became a local hit, the group signed to Orpheus, who released three albums by the group: It's a Compton Thang (1990), Straight Checkn 'Em (1991), and Music to Driveby (1992). These albums offered several singles for the group, but none measured up to Eiht's solo debut, "Streiht Up Menace," in 1993. The Slip-produced ballad came from the Menace II Society soundtrack, a popular film Eiht had acted in. Following the success of this single, Eiht signed to Sony's Epic Street division and entered the studio with Slip to record his full-length solo debut, We Come Strapped. Billed as "MC Eiht Featuring CMW," the album didn't really feature anyone from CMW except the rapper and producer. Nonetheless, the album debuted atop Billboard's R&B album chart despite lacking an omnipresent lead single and reached the Top Five of the pop album chart. The album also garnered headlines for featuring not one, but two parental advisory stickers (Sony claimed no responsibility for the lyrical content).

None of Eiht's successive albums were as successful as We Come Strapped, though some were arguably better. Following his initial success in 1994, the rapper returned in 1996 with Death Threatz and 1997 with Last Man Standing. Both albums featured production by Slip and were arguably better albums than Eiht's chart-topping debut, yet Epic remained unimpressed and parted ways with the Compton gangsta rapper. It didn't take long for Eiht to return, though. He signed to Mack 10's Priority-distributed Hoo Bangin' label and recorded Section 8 (1999), his most diverse album to date, if not his best. In successive years, Eiht recorded albums on an annual basis: "N" My Neighborhood (2000), Tha8t'z Gangsta (2001), and Underground Hero (2002), all but Tha8t'z Gangsta for Hoo Bangin'. None of these albums topped the charts, but Eiht continued to move his career forward. For instance, he appeared alongside Ice Cube and Mack 10 in the 1999 film Thicker Than Water and even reunited with Compton's Most Wanted in 2000 for Represent. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide