The influence of NWA remains present in the majority of popular Hip Hop today. In addition to commercializing Gangsta Rap, the group also birthed moguls in Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube. However, one member recalls going through multiple years of financial issues that got so bad, he became homeless.
In a recent interview on the Murder Master Music Show, DJ Yella revealed he went through a three-year period where he was homeless. He noted that he wasn't sleeping on the street but had no place of his own despite being a member of one of the greatest rap groups of all time.
"I call it homeless because I didn't have my own place," Yella said. "I had to be on my sister's couch or somebody's couch. I wasn't on the street, but I was like a breath...one breath from it."
Yella said the rough time didn't cause him to become bitter or hold resentment towards Dr. Dre or Ice Cube, who both are worth over nine figures.
"When I was going through those three and a half years, I wasn't mad at nobody, I wasn't mad at the world, I wasn't mad at God, I was just, 'It is what it is,'" he added. "And I never had any thoughts of how to get out of it. I never thought about it."
The DJ claimed the most humbling part of his financial woes having to live in "the ghetto" on his sister's couch. He said that even though his family grew up in Compton, he came from a nice upbringing and never had to live in those conditions. Yella also stated his financial issues had nothing to do with any other issues other than spending money to overcome his boredom.
"God had to humble me -- take everything away," Yella continued. "Because it wasn't no drugs, it wasn't none of that. It was just...the money just ran out."
DJ Yella said he was homeless from 2010 until 2013 when he got married. His memoir, Straight Outta Compton: My Untold Story, is currently available for preorder.
