MC Eiht
MC Eiht in 2020
Background information
Birth name	Aaron Bernard Tyler[1]
Also known as	MC 8 Eiht Tony Smallz
Born	(1971-05-22)May 22, 1971 (age 53) Compton, California, U.S.
Genres	West Coast hip hop gangsta rap G-funk
Occupations	Rapper actor songwriter
Years active	1987–present
Labels	Blue Stamp Music Eiht Hype Hi Power Year Round Real Talk Epic Hoo Bangin' Doggystyle Priority
Formerly of	Compton's Most Wanted War Zone

Aaron Bernard Tyler (born May 22, 1971),^[2] better known by his stage nameMC Eiht (pronounced "MC Eight"), is an American rapper. Many of his songs are based on his life in Compton. His stage name was partly inspired by the numeral inKRS-One's name. He chose Eiht for its links to "hood culture", includingOlde English 800 (8 Ball) and .38 caliber firearms.^[3] He is thede facto leader ofWest Coast hip hop groupCompton's Most Wanted, which also included fellow Compton-basedrappersBoom Bam,The Unknown DJ,Tha Chill,DJ Mike T,DJ Slip and Ant Capone. He is also known for his role as A-Wax in the 1993 filmMenace II Society, as well as voicing the character Ryder in the 2004 video gameGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Tyler was born inCompton, California, and grew to fame on theWest Coast as one of two MCs in the four-man crewCompton's Most Wanted. After enjoying increasing success with the group, which peaked with 1992'sMusic to Driveby, Eiht took a role in the hit movieMenace II Society as well as a high-profile spot on the soundtrack. The song "Streiht Up Menace", which chronicles the unfortunate downturn of the film's protagonist within the pathological conditions of American inner city life, is considered by many critics to be Eiht'smagnum opus.^[4] The movie spurred him into a solo career, although his next two albumsWe Come Strapped andDeath Threatz would be accredited as MC Eiht featuring Compton's Most Wanted. These albums were considered his best and took place during the most tense years of the 'beef' between Eiht andDJ Quik, Eiht's childhood friends Boom Bam and Tha Chill ofN.O.T.R were heavily involved with both albums and theQuik beef, there are several explicit remarks towards Quik made on these albums by E, Bam and Chill. E was also associated with the West 159th Street Tragniew Park Compton Crips.

He states that he didn't wish to star in comedy films in order to maintain his public image. He later only appeared in the low-budget moviesReasons,Thicker than Water andWho Made the Potatoe Salad? as well as providing the voice for Lance 'Ryder' Wilson in the video gameGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas.^[5] His music has also been included in theGrand Theft Auto series, both alone and with Compton's Most Wanted.

He put outLast Man Standing, the first album accredited only to MC Eiht, then broke from the label for Big Beat/Atlantic. Eiht never ended up putting out an album on the label, instead eventually signing with and releasing the albumSection 8 onPriority/EMI in 1999.^[6]Eiht would hop between record labels and one-off releases in the next years, moving between independent labels Half-Ounce, D3 Entertainment and Lookin' Up Entertainment from 2001 to 2003. He would put out records withSpice 1 andBrotha Lynch Hung in 2004 and 2006 onReal Talk Ent., releasing another solo album between them on West Inc./Native Records. His inability to settle at a label contributed to his joiningthe Warzone, a trio put together bySnoop Dogg and consisting ofGoldie Loc,Kam, and MC Eiht himself. In 2006, Eiht and the group appeared on the single "Candy (Drippin' Like Water)" onSnoop Dogg's albumTha Blue Carpet Treatment. In 2010, Eiht appears on the remix toDam Funk's "Hood Pass Intact".^[7] MC Eiht also appeared withYoung Maylay in Blaq Poet's new street single,Ain't Nuttin' Changed (Remix).

In June 2011, MC Eiht released his single "Fine By Me" accompanied by a music video directed by Director Hugo V. under his new label Year Round/Blue Stamp Records. Year Round Records is owned by New York-based hip hop artistDJ Premier.

In October 2012, MC Eiht was featured on the song "m.A.A.d city" byKendrick Lamar, from his major label debutGood Kid, m.A.A.d City. Eiht released theKeep It Hood EP, through BLUESTAMP Music Group on January 4, 2013.^[8] The album features cuts fromDJ Premier and production from Brenk Sinatra.^[9] In 2013, he plans to release a collaboration album withDJ Premier.^[10]

In the summer of 2014, MC Eiht released a single with the Outlawz, Tupac Shakur's old group, titled "Shut ’Em Down", which made references to old Outlawz members Tupac and Kadafi. The song is a part of Eiht's upcoming "Which Way Iz West LP" and is MC Eiht's first LP in eight years.^[11]

MC Eiht and his group CMW got involved in a long tumultuous rivalry with fellow Compton DJ/rapperDJ Quik that lasted for several years.^[12] The feud traces back to a track on DJ Quik's debut mixtapeThe Red Tape, where Quik indirectly dissed both Compton's Most Wanted andN.W.A. During that time, Quik was a member of the Tree TopPiru Bloods and Eiht was a member of the 159th St. Tragniew Park ComptonCrips. On the track "Duck Sick" from CMW's debut albumIt's a Compton Thang, they criticized and questioned Quik's street credibility.^[12] They hit Quik again in 1991 on their second effortStraight Checkn 'Em. Quik didn't respond to CMW's disses on his debut albumQuik is the Name, but he responded to Eiht on the title track to his sophomore effortWay 2 Fonky & "Tha Last Word". CMW responded months later with a music video for "Def Wish II" which featured a DJ Quik lookalike having a surreal nightmare of CMW chasing & ambushing him leading to him getting killed & with "Def Wish III" leading to the peak of their rivalry. Quik then responded to it with "Street Level Entrance" & "Let You Have It", mentioning the "Def Wish II" music video, while facing label problems and other music projects.^[12] However, on the soundtrack to the 1994 short filmMurder Was The Case, on the track "Dollaz + Sense", Quik ruthlessly verbally attacks Eiht, calling him a movie script killer (in reference to Eiht's appearance in the critically acclaimed 1993 filmMenace II Society), a coward, and more. Quik fanned the flames even more by performing the song at the 1995Source Awards inNew York City. The feud stayed quiet until April 1996, where Eiht responded to Quik on his second solo albumDeath Threatz which featured the track Def Wish IV (Tap That Azz) exposing the backstory of how both artists met in person, & "Killin' Nigguz" which were the last diss tracks of their feud. The feud between Quik and Eiht slowly died down in 1997^[12] following the deaths ofTupac Shakur andThe Notorious B.I.G., but the feud didn't actually end until the summer of 1998, whereSnoop Dogg,Daz Dillinger, and other West Coast rappers helped Eiht and Quik squash the beef. MC Eiht and DJ Quik appeared in an interview on July 21, 1999 onBET Tonight. Since then, Quik and Eiht collaborated on various songs.^[12] Even though the rivalry was not on the level of theNas-Jay Z rivalry or theEast Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry since it was not covered by the media, it has been hailed by most hip hop fans and critics that it stands out as one of the longest active hip hop rivalries of all time (from 1992 to 1998).^[12]

Studio albums

• We Come Strapped (1994)
• Death Threatz (1996)
• Last Man Standing (1997)
• Section 8 (1999)
• N' My Neighborhood (2000)
• Tha8t'z Gangsta (2001)
• Underground Hero (2002)
• Hood Arrest (2003)
• Smoke in tha City (2004)
• Veterans Day (2004)
• Affiliated (2006)
• Compton's O.G. (2006)
• Which Way Iz West (2017)
• Official (2020)
• Lessons (2020)
• Revolution in Progress (2022)
• Lessons 2 (2023)

Collaborative albums

• The Pioneers (withSpice 1) (2004)
• The New Season (withBrotha Lynch Hung) (2006)
• Keep It Gangsta (with Spice 1) (2006)

• Official website
• MC Eiht atIMDb

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• 1971 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American rappers
• 21st-century American male musicians
• American male film actors
• American male television actors
• American male voice actors
• American male video game actors
• African-American male rappers
• 21st-century American male rappers
• 20th-century American male rappers
• Crips
• Epic Records artists
• Gangsta rappers
• Musicians from Compton, California
• Priority Records artists
• Rappers from Los Angeles
• West Coast hip-hop musicians
• 21st-century African-American musicians
• 20th-century African-American musicians

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