Jerry Heller, the controversial former manager of N.W.A, passed away earlier this morning at the age of 75 from what TMZ is saying was catapulted by a medical emergency.
His death comes in the aftermath of last year’s box-office thriller, Straight Outta Compton, which chronicled the ascension of the pioneering rap group and didn’t exactly portray Heller in the best of heavenly glows (spoiler alert: he was accused of stealing money from the group). The alleged misrepresentation prompted Heller to file a $110 million lawsuit against Ice Cube and NBC Universal and that would go on to be his last impactful moment within Hip Hop culture.
Upon news of his death, reactions were mixed amongst those who didn’t know him personally. Thanks to the Straight Outta Compton biopic and real-life backlash from all the founding N.W.A members, his public perception has been indefinitely tarnished.
Just get a load of these Twitter reactions.
But then, there were those who felt despite the discrepancies with Heller’s management style, see him as a figure who not only propelled commercial success within Hip Hop but also ushered in the careers of a handful of legends.
Complex Editor-in-Chief Noah Callahan-Bever with a sly reference to Dr. Dre’s “Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Celebratin’)” music video where Heller was spoofed by Interscope Records exec, Steve Berman. (See the skits on nearly every Eminem album.)
But then again…
duck
Sad that people disrespect the dead, especially without even knowing the facts. But I def think this dude had something to do with Eazy’s death, Eazy and Jerry had the same doctor, when Eazy got sick that’s the doctor he went to see, he went in and never came out. A lot of people don’t know about a month before he went to see that doctor he went to see another doctor to get a dna test on a kid that end up being his, he had blood work done they didn’t find anything wrong with him. Jerry knew all the tricks, he was from that 60s and 70s era. I think he was trying to get eliminate Eazy to get full control of Ruthless especially after the success of Bone Thugs first album.
He helped n.w.a overall he had a lot of business connections r.I.p ruthless was making 10 million a month do you think he easy would of made it without him I think not
Saying Jerry Heller was a crooked ass dude BUT…..is fucking hilarious to me. That to me is the same as saying the 9/11 Hijackers were murdering pieces of shit, but without them we would’ve never known how open to attack we were blah blah blah. We’d all be foolish to believe that NWA wouldn’t have existed without Heller. A group of powerful as NWA became would’ve made it one way or the other.
That’s easy to say, But if all those guys were so powerful and dope why didn’t anything they did before jerry blow up, Ice cube was in a group why didn’t they blow up?, Dr dre was in a group why didnt they blow? Sometimes it takes multiple ingredients for something to work, They would have made it without Jerry really you sure?? Because Jerry was the main reason that the suits even let N.W.A in the door Nobody would have listen to them or gave them the time of the day if it wasnt for Jerry. Gotta give the man his credit stop trying to discredit him because you believe everything Ice Cube and Dr dre says 2 of the fakest ganster rappers ever.
First, my opinion isn’t based off of Dre and Cube. And damn near all gangster rappers are fake. The difference is that there was a social and political charge to what NWA’s message was, the same as Public Enemy and Chuck D wasn’t a gangster either. Yes Jerry Heller got them exposure but that doesn’t negate the snake shit that he did. Why didn’t they blow before Heller? They had just got started! You can’t sit here and say if Heller hadn’t come along that there wouldn’t be NWA. Jerry Heller was NOT NWA. They would’ve blown at some point because the buzz was growing hard. The assumption NWA would’ve never blown without him is ignorant. Clearly Dre and Cube had vision(look where they are today) and a keen sense of business, which is why Heller got exposed in the first place. The correct statement is without Dre’s production, Cube’s rhymes, and Eazy’s swag and financing, there wouldn’t have been an NWA. But trust, NWA existed before Heller got there.
You make some great points,, I just think Jerry deserves some credit for the success. Majority of all business people are snakes why do people only point out Jerry, they don’t think Jimmy Iovine is a snake, Russell Simmons, Birdman, Def Jam, Warner Brothers, Universal, Atlantic. I just think Jerry’s connections and Eazy’s money was the biggest key in upstarting N.W.A. The assumption of them not blowing up without Jerry is not ignorant, Jerry had major connection in the Industry, it’s very well possible that without Jerry N.W.A could have just been a popular local group. It’s easier to replace what Cube and Dre brought to the table vs what Eazy and Jerry brought. Dre and Cube or just as much snakes as Jerry but nobody want to talk about that, Cube ripped off his artist, Dre stole Eazy’s idea with the headphones etc
RIP Jerry Heller
You definitely played a major part in hip-hop history even though you was portrayed as the bad guy in straight outta Compton without you they would not have been no nwa, no dre & snoop, no death row records, no g-funk era, no Eminem, no 50 cent, no Friday movies, no bone thugs and definitely from my favorite rapper on Life After Death no Notorious Thugs. Hopefully you and easy will make amends an realise how much u both changed hip-hop forever. Thank you..
I can go to any good today wave a pair of Lexus keys and cats would still sign they life away. It’s the music biz Pimps & hoes pretty much everyone gets fuuukked their first contract than instead of passing the game along fuuukked the artists they signed. Snoop didn’t even own a car in 98 long after the chronic & doggy style so dre did the same, cube did the same Mack 10 shirt chop, easy Pimped bone it happens. Most likely without him NWA would have still popped but it’s possible they might have not. Much of life is who you know not what & to get what NWA was rapping bout in the 80s, the tours took experience. Cats acting like dude was out here killing babies and cuz they can’t understand a contract.
RIP Jerry Heller
You definitely played a major part in hip-hop history even though you was portrayed as the bad guy in straight outta Compton without you they would not have been no nwa, no dre & snoop, no death row records, no g-funk era, no Eminem, no 50 cent, no Friday movies, no bone thugs and definitely from my favorite rapper on Life After Death no Notorious Thugs. Hopefully you and easy will make amends an realise how much u both changed hip-hop forever. Thank you.
Jerry Heller was a sleazy music industry asshole, but then again most people who view art as a commodity are just as shitty. By the Way, Eazy E aint waiting on Jerry because Heaven doesnt exist
Just curious as to how you now Heaven doesn’t exist?
Peace to all. I remember back in 89 when rap wasn’t that popular. Radio stations would only play rap music on Fridays and Saturdays mixes for only three hours 9pm-12midnight. As it got popular if went weekdays 6pm-9pm. Jerry was apart of putting NWA on the map. Remember he signed the group and not really as individual solo artists contracts. Easy E signed it as a groups. Dr. Dre signed to be paid as the producer. You see back in those days the majority of artists did know about or couldn’t afford any legal representation. If you look at the history after NWA, came out, Wu-tang Clan Signed with Loud Records and all the nine members got their own solo contracts with other record labels not having to worry about them getting paid of a Wutang Album. With Loud Records, Rza was the leader providing the product to Loud records, getting the checks and paying everyone their share on that album. No matter what way Jerry if being portrayed, he still is apart of history putting NWA on the map. things happen at the right time falling into place.
People sure are quick to express such strong opinions about things they really know little/nothing about. I came up with NWA and I’ve done a *lot* of reading over the years from all sides of this argument and it’s still not clear to me where the “blame” should be aimed most. Heller had good and bad points, but if you don’t believe that’s true of nearly everyone in that whole situation then you’re just straight up naïve. One thing’s for sure and that’s that Jerry had a major influence in the genre of music I love the most. And one other thing we can be sure of is that because of Jerry we got to enjoy one of the most brutal and well known diss tracks in rap history. God damn I’m glad he set it off.
Calling the twitter generation ‘hip hop heads’ – come on, HHDX. These lames listen to Migos and Lil Yachty and only know anything about NWA because of the movie Straight Outta Compton; I’ll pass on caring what they think.
“fuck jerry heller and the white super power” i’m sorry but the person who tweeted this (@DamnItHuey91) clearly doesn’t understand that Heller’s tribe does not represent white people.
Thats Ice cube quote went WAY over your head, you fucking idiot LMAOOOO.
Ok can you explain what does Jerry Heller have to do with ‘white super power’? Thanks.
Lol @ you not knowing that was an Ice Cube quote and thinking that was something some dude came up with and tweeted. “i’m sorry but the person who tweeted this (@DamnItHuey91) clearly doesn’t understand that Heller’s tribe does not represent white people”……Smfh. Shows how much you know about NWA/Ice Cube.
“fuck jerry heller and the white super power” i’m sorry but Ice Cube clearly doesn’t understand that Heller’s tribe does not represent white people. There i corrected it. Can you now explain how my argument is wrong about Ice Cube being wrong?
Yes he ripped of NWA but Puffy. Suge, jay-Z, Fat Joe, Defjam etcc. did the same.
Wasn’t meant for you fam
Yeah but they all not white so its okay for them to do it. Its only wrong when white people do it. #BlackLivesMatter
Fun Fact: Black people hate on Jerry because he’s white and he did what every manager did and still do. Racists.