Former N.W.A. rapper Eazy-E shocked the world when he died due to complications of AIDS on March 26, 1995. But now, more than 16 years later, a former protégé of the gangsta rap pioneer is claiming that he was murdered.

Fresh off a 10-year sentence for attempted murder, B.G. Knocc Out, a close associate of Eazy’s in the years before his death, has released a new single, “N My Prime,” in which he makes some stunning allegations: “The way my big homie went out, he didn’t deserve it / Try to say he died of AIDS, but Eazy was cold murdered.” The song is the first single from his upcoming debut full-length, the straightforwardly titled Eazy-E’s Protégé.
B.G., who first hit the scene rapping alongside Eazy on his Dr. Dre diss track “Real Muthaphuckkin’ G’s,” elaborated on his claims in an interview with HipHopDX:

"I believe in my heart somebody did something to Eric. Whether it was Jerry [Heller, Eazy's partner at Ruthless Records], whether it was [his widow] Tomica [Woods-Wright], I have yet to really know the truth about it …. My little brother, his father died from full-blown AIDS ... from sharing a needle [‘cause] he was [an addict]. Now, I seen this man go through these stages, from HIV to full-blown AIDS. And, when you get a cold, any little thing like that, your whole immune system shut down. So you have to go into the hospital just to recover. Now, to be around Eric for the last three years of his life and he never had an episode like this — never ever — something is strange ... And then you gon’ come out and tell me when the man go in there for bronchitis, you gon’ come out and tell me this man had full-blown AIDS. And we done been to New York, we done been to Chicago in below-zero weather [and] he never got sick. He never had an episode. Like, c’mon bruh. Who are you kidding?"

B.G. also casts suspicions toward the Nation of Islam:

"Before everything hit the fan with Eric and Jerry Heller, these brothers from the Nation Of Islam from Chicago — some of [Minister Louis] Farrakhan’s right hand men ... walked up in the [Ruthless Records] office ... [They] stormed in the office, into Jerry Heller’s office, and told Eric to “Come here.” Eric got up and went into the conference room. They were in there for like two or three hours. And I swear, when they came out of there, Eric had a different look on his face. He seemed like he was shook up about something ... And like a week or so later, he started firing Jerry [and the rest of Heller’s relatives at Ruthless]. He fired Jerry Heller. He fired Terry Heller. He fired Gary Ballen. And they were all family."
The Compton-raised MC goes on to describe a terrifying incident that occurred a few days before Eazy's death:

"The night before we go into the studio Eric had an episode with his bronchitis. He go to the hospital [and] they kept him overnight. That next day he came directly from the hospital straight to the studio …. I went into the hallway [and] the man was in there by himself sittin’ on the floor wheezing, like terribly. And I was like, “You alright?” I sat down next to him, and he was tryin’ to talk, and he had this big manila envelope in his hand, pulling out these faxes and all this stuff. He had records from where money was missing from the label — millions of dollars that he said Jerry was stealing from him. And Jerry was sending him idle threats, faxes and stuff like that. He had these inhalers that I never seen before, these big, huge-ass inhalers, and he was tryin’ to hit his lungs wit’ em. And it seemed like his breathing was getting better and then it just got worse. So, when he started gettin’ real bad and he started sweating, I ran and got his two bodyguards [and] was like, “Hey man, y’all gotta come get the dude. Somethin’ ain’t right.” They came and picked him up, put him inside the car, drove him to the hospital, and that night is when it came out on the news [that Eazy had AIDS]."
B.G.'s claims certainly seem unsubstantiated, though it should be noted that Bone Thugs N Harmony, who were discovered by Eazy, have made similar allegations in the past. Head over to HipHopDX for more of their interview with B.G. Knocc Out, who also spills some interesting details about his infamous altercation with the late Nate Dogg and the beef between Eazy and Death Row.

(Photo: Al Pereira/Getty Images)