Cold 187um Remembers Nearly Fatal Showdown Between Death Row and Ruthless Records

Those who remember the West Coast scene in the mid-'90s remember Above The Law, the seminal rap group that was on Eazy-E's Ruthless Records. Most people attribute the group, specifically their producer Cold 187um, with the innovation of G-Funk, a mix of rap and funk production.

In a new story from the upcoming book Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap, the legendary producer talks with author Ben Westhoff about how the controversy over who created G-Funk nearly led to a shootout. You can hear him tell the story above.

As 187um, also known as Big Hutch, tells it, tension arose between Ruthless and Death Row after Dr. Dre dropped The Chronic in 1992. That album followed Above The Law's Black Mafia Life with a very similar production sound, and Hutch wasn't happy about it.

In February '93, Hutch ran into Death Row affiliate Warren G at an industry event and the two of them got into it. Hutch told Warren he thought it was messed up that Dre copied his style from Black Mafia Life, and when things escalated, both camps drew guns. "It turned into a gang banging situation," remembers Hutch.

Fortunately, a bodyguard who worked with both crews got in between them and calmed everyone down. Watch Hutch talk about the crazy story above and pre-order Westhoff's book on Amazon right here.

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