How Ice-T reacted to Eazy-E’s death: “It was a wake-up call”
In March 1995, the hip-hop community was left reeling by the unexpected death of Eazy-E. Diagnosed with HIV/AIDS only a month previously, his illness had progressed swiftly and his death was announced to a shocked fan base. He was only 30.
One of those to be shaken by Eazy-E’s death was Ice-T, who spoke about Eazy in an interview with a Canadian magazine called Props only a year or so after his peer had died. He and Eazy hadn’t exactly been close, but his death had affected T all the same.
“That’s the most real shit that’s happened in hip-hop in a long time,” T said of Eazy’s passing, before explaining that, while they had been on good terms, they had previously had their issues with one another.
“Me and Eazy were okay, but we weren’t business partners ’cause we had a falling out over something back in the NWA days. So I was like ‘Okay, me and you will be friends, we just can’t fuck around over this money.’ I never hated Eazy or wanted to see anything terrible happen to anybody.”
Their relationship, evidently, had been a little bit complicated, but the circumstances of Eazy’s death had been really shocking for T and so many others. “It was a wake-up call for everybody,” he said. “AIDS is such a scary thing and it’s also the kind of thing that you think won’t happen to you. It can happen to you and it’s deadly serious.”
T went on to talk about what he viewed as an especially cruel irony about HIV/AIDS. “It’s the worst disease, because it gets you when you’re having the most fun,” he said. “What was God thinking about when he said, ‘I’m going to make a disease that kills you when you’re making love’? That’s like two opposites!”
The fact that Eazy had succumbed to the disease made its threat much more concrete in T’s mind. “I think about Eazy every day and every time I’m dealing with any woman,” he admitted. “I’m sayin’, ‘Yo, my n*gga Eazy’s dead so I gotta strap up.’”
Ice-T went on to underline the importance of contraception, which is a lesson that Eazy taught him in the most tragic conceivable way. He called on men to always be sensible about things and to always wear protection.
“It’s the times we live in,” he said. “It’s scary, because nobody knows if they got it, the shit can be layin’ dormant on your ass.”