Eazy-E death conspiracy. Was the N.W.A. rapper actually infected with HIV?
It is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries. N.W.A. founding partner Eazy-E died forAids, but his death came out of nowhere, in fact, none of his relatives are HIV-positive.
Straight Outta Compton was one of the biggest movies of the summer, making headlines and prompting rumors of nationwide riots throughout the country. First, the hip-hop autobiography stirred controversy over Dr. Dre’s history of abusing women. Now, the movie’s impact has shined light on the conspiracy theories over the founding partner Eazy-E’s tragic death in 1995. Anyone that follows hip-hop knows that the Compton rapper allegedly died to AIDS-related complications just one month after he was diagnosed with the disease. Straight Outta Compton offers an emotional rendering of what occurred to Eazy-E. But after the movie was released, controversy and rumors hit the Internet like wild fire and that Eazy-E’s death was actually foul play.
Like all good conspiracies, this theory comes from various problematic inconsistencies that cannot be easily explained away. In a 2015 interview with VLADTV, the Eazy-E signed hip-hop group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony pointed out the various problems and questions that existed after Eazy-E’s death. For instance, none of Eazy-E’s sexual partners or children has tested positive for HIV. Rapper Wish Bone argued that the death was “real sudden”. Krayzie Bone added, “I know people can live with HIV for years and look normal and look healthy, but when you’re about to die from AIDS, full-blown AIDS, you’re gonna look like you’re gonna die from AIDS.” The rappers alluded that Eazy-E’s final days came on too soon to fit a natural timeline of death for a person infected with HIV. Instead, Eazy-E suffered a deadly injection, which ultimately killed him.
Most conspiracy theories are pretty far-fetched, but this theory is not that crazy. In a recently discovered Jimmy Kimmel Live! interview, Suge Knight casually discussed the possibility of taking someone down with a contaminated blood injection: “If you shoot somebody you go to jail forever … So they got this new thing out … they get blood from somebody with AIDs and then they shoot you with it. So that’s a slow death, an Eazy-E thing, ya know what I’m saying?” It is far from a confession from a man that loves controversy, but Eazy-E’s daughter E.B. Wright argues the relationship between Eazy-E and Suge Knight was a lot worse than what Straight Outta Compton depicted. For instance, while the movie features a scene where Suge Knight beats up Eazy-E, Wright says that “he actually pulled a gun on him.” Eazy-E’s son Yung Eazy took it a step further, arguing Suge Knight had something to do with Suge Knight’s death in an Instagram post, and sharing the clip of Suge Knight’s Jimmy Kimmel “If I Did It” moment.
In 2011, former Eazy-E gangsta rap rap protégé B.G. Knocc Out released a single “N My Prime,” rapping that “The way my big homie went out, he didn’t deserve it / Try to say he died of AIDS, but Eazy was cold murdered.” In an interview, the rapper elaborated, “I believe in my heart somebody did something to Eric. Whether it was Jerry [Heller, Eazy’s partner at Ruthless Records], whether it was [his widow] Tomica [Woods-Wright], I have yet to really know the truth about it …My little brother, his father died from full-blown AIDS … from sharing a needle [‘cause] he was [an addict]. Now, I seen this man go through these stages, from HIV to full-blown AIDS. And, when you get a cold, any little thing like that, your whole immune system shut down…Now, to be around Eric for the last three years of his life and he never had an episode like this — never ever — something is strange.”
Former N.W.A manager Jerry Heller voiced his own frustrations with the Suge Knight lethal injection conspiracy, bemoaning, “I can’t believe that the F.B.I. or somebody—I mean that show is all over YouTube. He said ‘Ya kill ‘em. You inject ‘em. Eazy-E style.’ I mean, come on. Do they not care when an African American kills another African American? Do they not care? I don’t know, man. I mean, why haven’t they solved Biggie’s murder? Why haven’t they solved Tupac’s murder? If Eazy was murdered, if he was injected, why haven’t they solved it?”
One the one hand, this conspiracy sounds like a way to drum up more publicity for Eazy-E and his rap career, but on the other hand it suggests that people can easily become murder victims via HIV/AIDS injections.
Suge Knight would joke about how he could have killed Eazy-E. according to The Boom Box, a person would “get a vial of blood from someone with the AIDS virus and inject a person in good health,” leading to that person’s death. However, 2010 report in the British Medical Journal offers further insight, claiming that, “Although no clear evidence exists to support a link between acupuncture and HIV infection, there are reports of patients with HIV who had no risk factors other than acupuncture.”
We may never know what truly caused Eazy-E’s death whether it was acupuncture, or tainted blood vials. But, Straight Outta Compton has inspired rappers, families, and fans alike to share their theories on one of the world’s biggest and influential rappers and his unfortunate untimely death.
