Don't let the hard-knock exterior fool you. Even gangsta rappers (and their DJs) get frightened by things that go bump in the night.
In his new, 326-page autobiography Straight Outta Compton: My Untold Story, the legendary DJ Yella (Antoine Carraby) of N.W.A. speaks his truth about the death of bandmate Eazy-E and his fears of being visited by the rapper from beyond the grave.
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In February of 1995, Eazy-E was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, and passed only a month later from AIDS-induced pneumonia. "I didn’t have many words to say," Yella writes. "I told myself I didn’t want to sleep alone that night because I knew E was coming to visit me."
It turns out his fears were spot on. Speaking with HipHopDX Yella says, “I knew it the day when I found out he died. I said, ‘He’s going to come here.’ I already knew it. I didn’t want to go to sleep — I wasn’t afraid of the dark, but I feared the dark a little bit. That night I was like, ‘I do not want to go to sleep. I didn’t want to be by myself.’"
Yella decided to have some company over, he explains. "Queen C" and "Singer J," as they are noted in the book. After their departure, “I went to sleep and he came," says Yella. "I don’t know if it was a dream or vision or whatever it was, but it was so real. Me and him just flying in the air, our hands were spread out and our fingertips were barely touching — that’s how close we were." While the topic of their conversation during the dream has escaped him, Yella does remember Eazy-E telling him "he was OK and had to go. I looked around and looked back, and he was gone. Never seen him again."
DJ Yella's Straight Outta Compton: My Untold Story is out now. In addition, WE TV's one-hour episode premiere of The Mysterious Death of Eazy-E, helmed by Eazy-E’s daughter Ebie, will air on August 12 at 10PM EST.
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