MC Eiht and Norm Steele talk Kendrick Lamar beefing, ‘Boyz n the Hood,’ gang culture, Nipsey Hussle and more

On this week’s episode of “Drink Champs,” N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN were joined by MC Eiht and his partner in crime Norm Steele.

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MC Eiht hails from Compton, California, an area that bred such unique experiences that he was able to establish a career as one of the West Coast’s premiere street scribes. He started out in the group Compton's Most Wanted, and as they gained popularity locally, he became an inspiration and part of two big-screen standouts, Boyz n the Hood in 1991 and Menace II Society in 1993. From there, Eiht really started soaring musically, following up with projects like We Come Strapped, Death Threatz and Section 8. Over time, he remained a force in music and in popular culture, even contributing to video games like Grand Theft Auto.

As for Steele, he originally came from Cleveland, Ohio, but moved to Long Beach, California, as a teenager and became engulfed in the West Coast culture. He started his career as a music writer, but eventually saw light in the evolution of the internet. In the late 2010s, he started a podcast network called Digital Soapbox Media Corp, where he serves as president. Their biggest show to date is “Gangster Chronicles,” a storytelling outlet that sifts through the minds of gangsters and former criminals. The show is of course co-hosted by MC Eiht.

During this “Drink Champs” episode, which was co-hosted by Benzino, both guests talked through their evolution of going from local notoriety in the streets to being praised on a national level thanks to their contributions to music and media. Below are nine takeaways from the conversation. And don’t forget to check out the full episode here.

1. On the new era of West Coast rap

First, Steele offered his take on the current climate of Hip Hop out West and voiced, “I embrace all of it. Anytime homies out there getting to their money, getting to their bag and everything. But I think the thing that made Hip Hop, Hip Hop was the regional thing.” In reference to people adopting styles from Atlanta and Detroit, he continued, “I think if everybody just stays in their lane, it would make the game a lot better.”

MC Eiht’s answer was centered on the content of rap these days. He said, “A lot of stuff is glorified today in young music. So, my take on it is it’s just the trendy s**t. It’s what they see, what they hear. It’s what they think is popularized. It’s what they think they’re gonna get a fast buck off of. So that’s how I look at how West Coast music is with the youngsters nowadays.”

2. On the dangers of Los Angeles

When asked if LA is one of the most dangerous cities in the nation, MC Eiht provided some context as to why that may be. “LA is dangerous because of how the gang element sets into play,” he said. In addition to the varying sets, he also spoke on the threat of outside forces.

“If you’re a Hip Hop artist, and you come to LA, and n**gas is greedy and they hungry, they gonna get on the aspect of s**t. Now you just got the regular jacking n**gas,” he explained. Steele chimed in on the topic as well and spoke to technology’s impact on safety, saying, “The internet made s**t dangerous, dawg. Because you can see where people are at in real time.”

3. On how Ice-T’s “Colors” impacted gang culture

Benzino asked how rap music might’ve enhanced gang culture in Los Angeles, which according to MC Eiht, ties back to a popular Ice-T song. “‘Colors’ had a huge impact on us because it got to show the world LA gang banging. It made us famous. N**gas all around the world see this blue and this red,” he said. Steele chimed in on the record’s impact on gang banging as well and voiced, “It became really trendy. If you was a Crip, all the broads liked Crips. They wanted them a n**ga that was a Crip or a Blood. Because it was a lot of money that was in the streets back then too.”

4. On what Nipsey Hussle represented

While discussing how Nipsey Hussle lost his life, MC Eiht praised the slain rapper while comparing his impact to another local legend. “Nip was a true representative of his neighborhood… Of course, he could’ve went to Beverly Hills or Melrose and all that to open a store, but I think he wanted to show n**gas that I’m gonna keep the bread here, like n**gas talk about it,” he said.

He continued, “To a lot of people, he was the essence of what you’re supposed to do and be when you're from LA and claim a neighborhood. We had that element when Eazy first started rapping. Compton was vicious, but Eazy had it to where n**gas felt good about being from Compton… I don’t give a f**k about who you was: Blood, Crip, Mexican. You loved the ‘Boyz-n-the-Hood’ record when you first heard it. Because it was like, ‘Oh s**t, this n**ga is representing us right now.’”

5. On an N.W.A reunion record

Though the songs never came out, MC Eiht wrote for Eazy-E at one point. That topic led to Steele revealing that an unreleased N.W.A record came to life after the group disbanded. “After [Dr. Dre] left, my God brother started doing a lot of the staff production over there and [DJ Bobcat] played me a record with Ren, Eazy, muthaf**king Dr. Dre and Cube, like the N.W.A s**t,” he revealed.

“I asked him all the time, ‘Man, play that s**t for me dawg. Let me get a copy.’ He said, ‘Hell muthaf**king nah.’ [It was] The hardest s**t I ever heard though, after the beef, like a reunion record. And the beat was so muthaf**king crazy,” the rapper added.

6. On MC Eiht’s style of music

When MC Eiht first started making music, he noted that other rappers around him were using production with higher beats per minute. But Eiht intentionally took a different approach. “I would always like when the movie gets to that part where you know somebody is gonna die, or the scary n**ga is gonna jump out. So, I always wanted my music to fit that,” he said, adding, “I never got into the fast-paced s**t because I wanted n**gas to hear me.” He concluded, “I wanted my s**t to be sinister.”

7. On Boyz n the Hood

With a major hand in the soundscape of the film, MC Eiht spoke about how he got involved in the process, explaining, “This was when I just dropped ‘One Time Gaffled Em Up.’ So, I go up to the set with J-Dee [of the Da Lench Mob] and John Singleton comes out the trailer. And me and J-Dee [are] just standing there, smoking. He walked right up to me and said, ‘That video was hard as f**k… I’ma get you on my soundtrack.’ And like two weeks later they called.”

On the making of the record, he added, “I was going to the set every day, so I got to see it while they was making it… I was at home, in the hood, with a single mom, with a younger brother, and I was the middle kid. So I’m like, ‘N**ga, this me right here.’ So, it was easy to pen that type s**t.”

8. On J. Cole’s apology and predicting how Kendrick Lamar would respond

Though this episode was shot far before the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar really took off, the guests gave their thoughts on the early stages of it, beginning with J. Cole’s apology. “F**k all that, you already swung on a man, accept whatever is gonna come with it. ‘Cause I’m telling you right now, [K. Dot] is just throwing jabs at them boys, he’s baiting them in, and he’s gonna come back and knock them boys out when they say something,” Steele said.

MC Eiht predicted a similar angle on the note of an onslaught and said, “He done did the s**t, then he apologized and said, ‘Ok, I’ma bow out. I don’t want no problems.’ And then Kendrick comes and [is like], ‘I’m about to gun you down, f**k it. You throwing in the white towel, n**ga, I’m finna charge.’”

9. On working with Kendrick Lamar

MC Eiht has always stood 10 toes down on supporting his son’s football career. With that in mind, the Compton rapper noted he was supposed to be in the music video for Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly cut “Alright.” “I turned down [being] in the ‘Alright’ video because my son had a game. Kendrick called me all night, he called me the next morning, and I couldn’t get away from the game. So, I missed the opportunity because we had just did ‘m.A.A.d city’ and that came out,” he said.

On the note of the good kid, m.A.A.d city standout, Eiht let it be known that he appreciated the homage and explained his feelings toward Lamar coaching him throughout the studio session, saying, “He was cool as f**k, so I didn’t mind [Lamar’s instructions]. It came out the way it came out. It was tight as f**k.”

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