Which is a shame.

I remember I posted about him here maybe 5 years ago, lamenting that he was someone who deserved to be mentioned, in terms of impact on rap music, among the others, and I got laughed out the building.

But dude was a visionary.

So many of the labels that came to fortune in the 90's were following the Ruthless formula.

And people forget, it wasn't just N.W.A. or Bone Thugs that he had a hand in (which, in itself, is enough to make him noteworthy).

J.J. Fad were huge, he put out the first Above The Law album (damn near a classic from where I sit), and of course, was the first to try and put B.E.P. on.

I've always wondered how much of his lack of recognition is the manner in which he died. He didn't go out in a glamorous (by media and fan standards) way. Dude slipped up and was the posterboy for a disease that was very misunderstood and downright scary at that time.

Also can't help but wonder what kind of career he would have had if he had stayed alive.

Musically, I don't know how much he had left. It's On went double platinum, and it's hard to judge the success, or lack there of, of Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton because it came out so long after he passed. However, as a mogul? He seemed to have his finger on the pulse still.