Back in the ’90s, the respective camps at Ruthless Records and Death Row Records weren’t exactly on good terms with each other.
Aside from the rumors of Dr. Dre and Suge Knight used physical violence to get Dre out of his Ruthless contract, there were high-profile diss records in the form of “Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Celebratin’)” and “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s.” The animosity trickled down to each label’s respective camps, with Tha Dogg Pound calling Bone Thugs-n-Harmony “hoes in harmony” on “Dogg Pound Gangstaz” and Layzie Bone retaliating by calling Daz and Kurupt “Dogg Pound hoes” on “Shotz to the Double Glock.”
With the passing of Eazy-E and several original N.W.A members putting past differences aside, the respective crews have since reconciled and collaborated multiple times. A current tour may illustrate the nature of how things have come full circle.
With onetime Dr. Dre protégé Snoop Dogg inviting one of Eazy-E’s greatest Ruthless findings in Bone Thugs-n-Harmony to the latest version of his Puff Puff Pass Tour, two branches from the proverbial extended N.W.A family tree share the same bill.
“We came up with Snoop and all them dudes,” Wish Bone said in an interview with Kyle Eustice for HipHopDX. “It feel real good to be a part of this legendary thing because we all came up under the same umbrella: Eazy-E. Without him, none of us would have nothing right now. It feels real good to part of this movement.”
According to the interview, which you can read in full here, members of Snoop’s camp reached out to booking agent and manager Jamie Adler to make things happen. With Kurupt and Krayzie Bone having previously floated the idea of a collaborative Thug Pound album, any lingering resentment from the Death Row versus Ruthless days would appear to have been left back in ’90s.
