Customer Reviews

Ruthless: A Memoir

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I have to admit, that when I first heard that Jerry Heller was writing a book about the Ruthless Records History, I was a little suspicious that the book would have something of a tabloid-esque, payback tonality to it. After all, any of us who followed the Ruthless chronicles in its entirety, knows well the verbal beating that Jerry Heller took after the break-up of NWA. His flogging seemed inevitable since most of Urban America, if not the world, was deeply dissapointed when Ice Cube left the group. So it was easy to jump on the "Jerk Jerry" band wagon when Cube pointed the finger at him. Then Dre pointed the finger. I even remember hearing the word "Draconian" being used in regards to the contracts the group shared.

Finally, and after a decade, Jerry Heller stands up to tell his side of things. Despite my suspicion, I was impressed to discover that book isn't nearly as bitter as I had anticipated. "Memoir" is an accurate term used in the books sub-title, as there's an obvious emotional undercurrent about the friendship that existed between Eazy-E and Heller. This friendship, severed by Eazy's death, takes on a documentary voice as Heller takes it all the way to the beginning. First, he gives us a brief account of his own life before he met Eazy. His pre-Eazy story helps underscore just how improbable their "dynamic duo" alliance really was. It also gives you a glimpse of just how much Jerry Heller evolved from having been in Eazy's company for years. Every good story involves change and evolution from experience and introspection, and that's something of how Heller as a "character" in this Memoir presents himself.

But perhaps what is even more urgent than appreciating the bond between Heller and Eazy is someone FINALLY bringing to the immediate foreground the indisputable importance that was NWA and "Straight Outta Compton." Somewhere in the beginning of the book, Heller mentions how Chris Rock noted "Straight Outta Compton" as the single most important album of all time. I vividly remember when I encountered this same article in Rolling Stones, because I felt a sudden relief that finally someone of significant celebrity had finally taken the Torch that everybody has given "The Chronic" and handed it to the rightful pioneer project: Straight Outta Compton. Anybody who witnessed the advent of NWA and how it changed the entire social and political climate of America knows what I'm talking about.

After NWA controversy became fashionable. Everybody, including Tupac & The Geto Boys, sought out controversey either through more explicitly told ghetto stories, or just plain explicitness and then defended it with the "I'm just kicking reality" - a signature mantra of NWA. "The Chronic" was a great album, but it was really just a smoother sequel to what Dre had already started with "Straight Outta Compton," and "Eazy Duz it."

This book finally offers people like me 300+ pages of WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW descriptions of NWA.

Not to be missed are pages 98-100, where Heller gives a tell-all account of Eazy, Dre, Yella and Heller being harrassed by the police while hanging in front of THEIR recording studio during a break. Actually, let me correct myself. Heller stood on the sidelines and protested in awe as the police completely excused him from the routine pat-down administered to the other three. As a black man who has many white friends, I will be the first to say that whites often dismiss and refuse to believe that the police are that selective in singling out young black men. That's what made "F--- tha Police" such a potent and prophetic song. Heller's story serves to validate it.

The book does have a somewhat sour beginning, specifically when Jerry attempts to brand himself with the "N" word. A move that wasn't so much offensive as it was pretentious. Even if he is as anti-establishment as he claims, turning the "N" Word into a self-given fashion emblem is a temptation (and embarrassment) he should have avoided.

Another unfortunate part of this book, and I'm not sure if this is a reflection on the book or just the reported history of the author, is that you can't help but feel suspicious of how much of the story has been slightly twisted to simply un-do all that has been said in the past about Heller and Eazy. At times, you can sense the indulgence to over-romanticize an obvious "Father and Son" story, but hey, maybe it really was that way. And if not, I suppose all that matters is that it geuninely seemed that way to Heller.

Eitherway, if there is truly two-sides to every story, then here we have at last a little light shed on the alleged "darker side" that was the backbone of Ruthless Records. If nothing else, Heller is probably one of a small few who make up the short list entitled to tell Eazy's and the Ruthless story.

The book read like a novel which was interesting for a biography and surprisingly fun. It was not your basic "this is where I grew up; this is how great I am, this is what I'm doing now" biography. It was a look into two men's (Eazy-E and Jerry Heller) vision and the story of how they turned that vision into reality. It was almost inspiring to see how a 21 year old reputed dope dealer and a 40 year old Jewish man could team up to create one of the most powerful record labels ever and forever change the landscape of music. By far the best part of this book was how well they articulated the craziness that was omnipresent at Ruthless. Beat downs, guns, drugs, full blown war and kidnapping plots were everyday business for these thugs/businessmen/rappers.

This is definitely a good read for those interested in the legendary Ruthless Records story. However, I feel the book delves way too much into Jerry Heller's '60s and '70s history that is largely irrelevant to the Ruthless saga. The book seems to go very light on details in the post-Dre Ruthless era...perhaps because a lot of those stories could still end up in litigation? Anyway--this is definitely a good read, and there were a few revelations in here that are worth the price of admission.

This book isn't just about Jerry Heller and NWA. The whole book talks about the good side and the bad side of music as well as trying to make it as a business. Regardless of how you may think about Jerry when it comes to NWA, the undertone of the content behind the title is about how the business worked in the 60s and 70s.
You probably wouldn't know that Heller's clients included people such as Marvin Gaye, Elton John, Ike & Tina and so on. Heller is not just someone who came out of no where, he probably was responsible for bringing some of the USA's favorite acts.
I enjoyed the amusing stories of Jerry and Miami Mike sitting at the table with David Bowie, Eric Wright snatching the ticket book away from the meter maid, Jerry being tricked into learning the top 100 billboard before going to a job interview when it wasn't necessary, Eric and Dre sharing a groupie while asking Jerry to look over the royalty statements, Jerry yelling out the window to his competitor across the street from his office.
It really has a great insight into the business world and I would encourage anyone to pick it up if you are wanting to learn more about a history of music. So, go get it!

Jerry Heller&Eric 'Eazy E" Wright RIP flipped the whole script of Hip-Hop. forget what you know about Hip-Hop pre NWA Era Hip-Hop because Hip-Hop as we know it mirrors the NWA Era more than anything else. Jerry Heller is a interesting musical figure. Loved or Loathed he pulls no punches in this book. he sets the record straight about Ice Cube, Dr.Dre, Suge Knight&Other Musical Figures through his own eyes,ears&overall Opinion. once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. my local Barnes&Noble accidentally put this book out a few days before it was suppose to reach the shelf,but it didn't phase me because I had time to read&I was just reading it. good feedback on the DOC, also Mechell'e the R&B singer who pre-dated alot of what Mary J.Bliege&other artists would do with bridinging the gap of R&B&Hip-Hop. also Heller was Marvin Gaye's Agent. very interesting storys on him&Marvin along with Heller&Elton John amongest other interesting tidbits in here. One of those Books that takes you back to a different era of the music business&when certain things that happen in Hip-Hop that made your jaws drop to the ground. it seems longer than it really is.

A great and informative read for any fan of hiphop and it's history. The only thing that is "off" about it, is the slightly weird ending. When we come close to Eazy's death the story abruptly stops and we get a long chapter about the authors past. A lot is left unsaid about the circumstances surrounding Eazy E's death.

It was a cool book that gave me some insight into what was going on behind the scenes. Most of the stuff about NWA I knew because I was a huge fan. A interesting book the only bad part was about 3 chapters when he slipped in his personal life but I guess he had to let people know about where he came from I skipped over some of that stuff because I didn't really care but I would suggest this book to everyone that was fan of Eazy & NWA & westcoast "Gangsta Rap"

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer recently printed a lengthy interview with Jerry Heller as a promo to a talk he gave at the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame & Museum on his career in the music industry and to discuss Ruthless: A Memoir.

The book gets off to a very choppy beginning, as Heller struts a tough-guy persona that is absolutely silly. He sounds as if he is a rookie pro wrestler trying to psyche himself up for his first match by looking in the mirror & yapping through a monologue that he hopefully will be able to use in the future to get his "bad-guy" character over with the fans.

The extensive chapters on how he met Eazy-E, the rise of West Coast rap, the struggles to get Ruthless Records operating - the racism on the street & in the corporate boardrooms - and the exploding feuds with The D.O.C., Ice Cube and Dr. Dre are interesting. The same can't be said on material covering the implosion of the group and the battles with Suge Knight/Death Row Records; the sections read like the coverage in any number of books/articles.

About one-third of the book covers his work in the music industry in the 1960s and 1970s & is more of a narrative of names, places and anecdotes on the famous, near famous and wannabes.

It is a quick read and is written in more of a conversational flow. Ruthless: A Memoir has about as many misses as hits, but - in the end - will hold your attention in parts & have you skimming other chapters pretty quickly.

Jerry Heller aka Mr. Rourke is out to settle a few scores with Suge, Cube and Dre. The read is very laughable when he discredits Cube and Dre's gangsta reputations. My beef is with the way he claims Eazy E as a adopted son and protoge, then towards the end of the book, he discloses some very private information about Eazy's death. I found it disgusting for a person who claims to have had so much love for Eazy to do that.

I liked this book but about three pages into the tangent about the non-N.W.A part of his career, I became very bored. After skipping this section, the author returned to his description of his experience with N.W.A and it got interesting again. Decent book, but who cares about the non-N.W.A part of Jerry Heller's career?