Jerry Heller is best known for managing West Coast

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

 rap group N.W.A.

N.W.A.

N.W.A was an American hip hop group from Compton, California, widely considered one of the seminal acts of the gangsta rap sub-genre....

 and rapper Eazy-E

Eazy-E

Eric Lynn Wright , better known by his stage name Eazy-E, was an American rapper who performed solo and in the hip hop group N.W.A. Wright was born to Richard and Kathie Wright in Compton, California...

. He is co-founder and CEO of Ruthless Records. Heller managed War

War (band)

War is an American funk band from California, known for the hit songs "Low Rider", "Spill the Wine", "The Cisco Kid" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?". Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae...

, Average White Band, Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....

, Michel'le

Michel'le

Michel'le Toussant better known as Michel'le, is an American R&B singer-songwriter known for her squeaky, child-like speaking voice, which is a startling contrast to her strong vocals.-Career:...

, A.L.T.

A.L.T.

A.L.T. is a Mexican-American rapper known for the 1992 hit song "Tequila" . He is of Mexican and French descent. A.L.T. joined the rap supergroup, Latin Alliance in 1991. After their first and only album, A.L.T. went solo and released his debut album, Another Latin Timebomb in 1992...

 and Frost, as well as Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....

, Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

, and Otis Redding

Otis Redding

Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...

.

Managing the rise of West Coast rap

In the 1980s, Heller began managing acts on the nascent Los Angeles hip hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 scene, many of whom recorded for Macola Records in Hollywood. He managed both C.I.A.

C.I.A. (group)

C.I.A. was a hip hop group, which consisted of K-Dee, Sir Jinx and Ice Cube.The group began playing at parties organized by Dr. Dre, a member of a popular local hip-hop group called World Class Wreckin' Cru. C.I.A. was credited for backing vocals on the WCWC song "Cabbage Patch". Ice Cube and Dr....

, which Ice Cube

Ice Cube

O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...

 was a member of, and the World Class Wreckin' Cru

World Class Wreckin' Cru

The World Class Wreckin' Cru was an electro group, best known for its contributions to early rap and its association with future-N.W.A member, hip-hop mogul, and renowned producer Dr. Dre.-Early Career:...

, which included Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre

Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...

 and DJ Yella

DJ Yella

DJ Yella is the stage name of Antoine Carraby , a DJ, drummer, music producer, film director and pornographer from Compton, California. He was a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru along with Dr. Dre. He later became a founding member of the pioneering gangsta rap group N.W.A...

. On March 3, 1987, he met the Compton, California

Compton, California

Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city of Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city to incorporate. The city is considered part of the South side by residents of Los...

 rapper Eazy-E and became general manager of Eazy's label, Ruthless Records.

Heller managed N.W.A.

N.W.A.

N.W.A was an American hip hop group from Compton, California, widely considered one of the seminal acts of the gangsta rap sub-genre....

. Under the direction of Heller and Eazy, Ruthless Records had six platinum releases in three years: Supersonic

Supersonic (album)

Supersonic is a 1987 hip-hop album by J. J. Fad, released on Ruthless Records. The album was produced by Dr. Dre, DJ Yella and Arabian Prince. Executively produced by Eric Eazy-E Wright. The album was distributed by Atco Records, a division of Atlantic Records.The song was written by Dania Maria...

 (J. J. Fad

J. J. Fad

J. J. Fad is an American rap group from Rialto, California, whose name initially stood for Just, Jammin', Fresh And Def, and were backed by Clarence "DJ Train" Lars.-Supersonic:...

), Eazy-Duz-It

Eazy-Duz-It

Eazy-Duz-It is the debut album of rapper Eazy-E, released on September 16, 1988, through both Ruthless and Priority Records. The production by Dr. Dre and DJ Yella was deemed dense and funky by critic Jason Birchmeier. The pieces were written primarily by MC Ren, Ice Cube, and The D.O.C.. The...

 (Eazy-E), Straight Outta Compton

Straight Outta Compton

The lyrics on the album were mainly written by Ice Cube and MC Ren. Critics of the album expressed their view that the record glamorized Black-on-Black crime, but the emcees stated that the group was simply showing the reality of living in the areas of Compton, California, and South Central Los...

 (N.W.A), No One Can Do It Better

No One Can Do It Better

No One Can Do It Better is The D.O.C.'s debut album, released on June 16, 1989. It reached number-one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for two weeks, while peaking in the Top 20 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album was certified gold by the RIAA three months after it was released, and platinum...

 (The D.O.C.

The D.O.C.

Tracy Lynn Curry , primarily known by his stage name The D.O.C., is an American rapper from Dallas, Texas. In addition to a solo career, he was a member of the hip hop group Fila Fresh Crew, and a creative force behind the gangsta rap group N.W.A, where he co-wrote many of their releases. He has...

), Michel'le

Michel'le

Michel'le Toussant better known as Michel'le, is an American R&B singer-songwriter known for her squeaky, child-like speaking voice, which is a startling contrast to her strong vocals.-Career:...

s self-titled debut, and Efil4zaggin

Efil4zaggin

- Samples :Prelude* "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" by Isaac HayesReal Niggaz Don't Die* "UFO" by ESG* "Different Strokes" by Syl Johnson* "Die Nigger!!!" by The Last Poets* "Rise Above" by Black Flag* "Long Red" by Mountain...

 (N.W.A.).

Death Row Records and Jewish Defense League

During Dr. Dre’s departure from Ruthless Records, Heller and Ruthless director of business affairs Mike Klein sought assistance from the Jewish Defense League

Jewish Defense League

The Jewish Defense League is a Jewish organization whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary"...

. Said Klein: "The Defense League offered to provide bodyguards to Eazy-E when [Suge] Knight

Suge Knight

Marion "Suge" Knight, Jr. is the founder and CEO of Black Kapital Records and co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Death Row Records rose to dominate the rap charts after Dr. Dre's breakthrough album The Chronic in 1992. After several years of chart successes for artists including...

 allegedly threatened him in the early 1990s." This provided Ruthless Records with muscle to enter into negotiations with Knight over Dr. Dre’s departure.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

 launched a money laundering

Money laundering

Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...

 investigation, assuming that the JDL was extorting money from Ruthless Records. JDL spokesperson Irv Rubin

Irv Rubin

Irving D. Rubin was chairman of the Jewish Defense League from 1985 to 2002. He allegedly committed suicide in jail when awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy to bomb private and government property....

 issued a press release stating "There was nothing but a close, tight relationship" between Eazy-E and the League".

Heller explained JDL’s involvement with Ruthless for even more reasons than the FBI investigated. Heller claimed Eazy-E received death threats and it was discovered that he was on a Nazi skinhead hit list. Heller speculated that it may have been because of N.W.A.'s song Fuck tha Police

Fuck tha Police

"Fuck tha Police" is a protest song by the gangsta rap group N.W.A that appears on the album Straight Outta Compton. Despite not being a single, it ranked #425 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time....

. Heller said "It was no secret that in the aftermath of the Suge Knight shake down incident where Eazy was forced to sign over Dr. Dre, Michel'le, and The D.O.C., that Ruthless was protected by Israeli trained/connected security forces." Heller maintains that Eazy E admired the JDL for their slogan "Never Again" and that he had plans to do a movie about the group.

After N.W.A.

N.W.A. broke up in 1991, with Ice Cube and Dre departing and aiming vicious dis raps at Heller, Ruthless, and Eazy. Ruthless went on to release Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is an American Hip-Hop/R'n'B band from Cleveland, Ohio formed in 1991. It originally consisted of rappers Layzie Bone, Flesh-n-Bone, Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Wish Bone. Rapper Eazy-E of the group N.W.A signed Bone Thugs-N-Harmony to Ruthless Records in 1994, when Bone...

's platinum hits of the mid-1990s. Heller continued to work in rap, prompting the rise in Hispanic hip-hop at Hit-a-Lick Records. Rejected by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre (NWA) was going to do a reunion but Eazy was diagnosed with AIDS.

Heller's memoir, Ruthless, written with Gil Reavill

Gil Reavill

Gil Reavill is an American author, journalist and screenwriter whose work has appeared in a variety of media.-Early and personal life:Reavill was born in Wisconsin and educated at University of Wisconsin–Madison and University of Colorado...

, was published by Simon & Schuster/Simon Spotlight Entertainment in 2006.

Heller is married to former actress Gayle Steiner and lives in Calabasas, California

Calabasas, California

Calabasas is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California in the western United States. It is located in the hills in the southwestern San Fernando Valley and the Santa Monica Mountains between Woodland Hills, Agoura Hills, West Hills, and Malibu, California. As of the 2010 census, the city...

.

Jerry Heller now manages Pittsburgh rock n' Roll band 28 North.

External links

• Ruthless: A Memoir, Jerry Heller and Gil Reavill. ISBN 1-4169-1792-6.
• IMDb entry
• Ruthless A Memoir (Interviews, videos, and resources on Jerry Heller, updated frequently)