Ruthless Records Celebrates 20 Years

Legendary gangsta rap imprint Ruthless Records is gearing up for the release of five new acts in 2008 to celebrate the historic label’s 20th anniversary.

“It’s been difficult at times since Eric’s death, but it’s been worth it,” founder Eric “Eazy E” Wright’s widow, Tomica Woods-Wright, tells Billboard magazine. “We have a strong, groundbreaking mix here that represents the next generation.”

Eazy-E started Ruthless with $7,000 of his own money and 5,000 12-inch copies of his single “Boyz N the Hood” in 1987, but it was the 1988 release of J.J. Fad’s certified-gold single “Supersonic” and N.W.A.’s landmark triple-platinum debut “Straight Outta Compton” that established the label as a major force in music.

Ruthless artists have sold over 60 million records to date, including the first album (1991’s “Efil4zaggin” by N.W.A.) to top the Billboard charts based on Nielsen SoundScan reporting and 1995’s ten times platinum “E. 1999 Eternal” by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

The label is currently preparing new product from R&B singer/songwriter Na’Shay, bilingual pop singer/actress Agina, rapper/producer Hopsin, party/dance trio Street Runnaz Click, and rapper Stevie Stone to be released through a recently renegotiated pact with RED.

“Eric wasn’t a quitter,” says Woods-Wright, who took over the label after her husband’s diagnosis and subsequent death from AIDS in 1995. “He believed in riding a project until the wheels fell off and if they did, then he always said he’d carry it. This company was…and is…him.”