N.W.A were a highly controversial group during the mid to late 1980s. Still, strange things began to happen as the group started to dissipate during the early 1990s. As Dr Dre was forming Death Row Records and Ice Cube was releasing diss records, Eazy-E was dining with the president of the USA.
Despite Eazy-E’s evident hatred of the American establishment, in March of 1991, the N.W.A. founder (real name Eric Wright) found time to dine with the upper echelon of America. Shortly after Ice Cube’s ‘No Vaseline’ release, Wright attended a $1250 plate members-only lunch with his manager (Jerry Heller) and a group called The Republicans Inner Circle. All of whom were close affiliates of George H.W. Bush.
In a 1994 interview, when the rapper was asked if he was having lunch with the president, the rapper replied, “I wouldn’t say that I was having lunch with Bush.” He then continued to explain why he was present at the event. Clarifying why he was with the group the rapper detailed, “I’m on these things called Athletes and Entertainers For Kids, Make A Wish Foundation. I give a lot of donations to different organizations. They picked my name from a list from me giving donations and then sent me an invitation.”
Wright continued, “The letter said that they wanted to invite me to the Republican party. I’m not no fuckin’ Republican, but we went there and when we got off the plane they had C.B.S., CNN and all these media people who blew it up saying, ‘The gangbanger and drug dealer Eazy-E came down here to the Presidents luncheon’. Basically, what I did was pay $1200 for a million dollars worth of press.”
Later that year an NBC news report claimed that “Eazy E received a fundraising letter from Texas senator Bill Graham inviting him to join the Elite Inner Circle for a thousand bucks.” They also revealed how, “Senate Republican leader Bob Dole pointed out that his fellow members would include Arnold Schwarzenegger and George Shultz. Before the Republicans realized that it was all a computer foul-up, Eazy-E had sent in the money and was made an official member.” Below you can watch a NBC news clip in which Eazy-E speaks on his Whitehouse engagement.
