Ruthless Records producer Larry Goodman, better known as Laylaw, has died. Compton’s Most Wanted rapper Tha Chill confirmed the news on Thursday (January 12) with an Instagram post that read simply: “R.I.P. @laylaw_og_nwa_gone miss you BIG BRO. #NWA #ABOVETHELAW.”
Tha Chill also released a statement to AllHipHop, “I don’t want to be the first to speak on his personal business, but I will say he had some complications he was dealing with and it got to the best of him. He was a great friend of 30 years plus and he will be missed.”
In the mid-80s, Laylaw released two singles, the Dr. Dre-produced “Monster Rapping” in 1985, and he followed up with “What’s Your Name” the following year. Laylaw then became a producer himself and followed Dr. Dre to Ruthless Records, where he worked with N.W.A. and Above the Law. In 1993, Laylaw worked on 2Pac’s album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.
Ice Cube, MC Eiht and several other members of the West Coast Hip Hop community have paid tribute to producer Laylaw, who has died.
The beloved producer’s death was confirmed on Thursday (January 12) in an Instagram post by rapper Tha Chill, who co-founded Compton’s Most Wanted with MC Eiht.
The tribute did not offer any details as to when or how Laylaw passed away and instead simply read, “R.I.P. @laylaw_og_nwa_ gone miss you BIG BRO [prayer hands emojis][dove emojis]#NWA #ABOVETHELAW.”
Ice Cube, who collaborated with Laylaw on several songs as a solo artist, also shared a tribute to the fallen artist after news of his death broke.
“It’s hard when you lose one of the originals,” Cube captioned a photo on IG. “LayLaw was there when nobody cared who I was. A producer and song writer behind lots of hits. He always gave it to me straight, no chaser. My roommate on the NWA tour. I thought we had more time. Rest In Peace my friend.”
MC Eiht also memorialized his friend, writing: “DAM LOC ALWAYS SOLID WE USE TO SIT UP AT CRIB AND JUS BLOW CHOP IT UP MY NIA @laylaw_og_nwa_ #Riplaw”
Born Barry Goodman, Laylaw began his career as an artist in 1985, with the release of “Monster Rapping,” produced by Dr. Dre. After releasing one more single, “What’s Your Name” in 1986, he shifted his focus to production.
“I been knowing Dre since like ’80, ’81,” Laylaw recalled to HipHopDX in 2011. “I stayed down the street from his cousin, on 76th Street, right across the street from Fremont [High School]. I played football for Fremont… and [Dre] would dance at halftime with some other brothers, some pop-locker dudes.
“I was a writer,” he continued, explaining his short-lived stint as an artist. “I was just writing. I was writing … and then, I come across Alonzo [Williams] and Wreckin’ Cru and they’re rapping.
He added: “I’m not a rapper. I’m a writer. I can write a rap, but I don’t consider myself a rapper. So, it was weird trying to figure out what I was gonna do.”
“[Dr. Dre] heard a beat that he wanted, and it was the ‘California Love (Remix)’ beat,” Laylaw told DX. “He was officially working on The Chronic 2 way back then. And that song was supposed to have been for his album. So Dre did the song, a couple days later Roger come out [and] get on it. A couple days later, ‘Pac hear it [and] ‘Pac get on it. A couple days later now it’s ‘Pac’s single. The very next day they wanna shoot the video. So within a week of us doing it, it became ‘Pac’s single.
“So I’m like, ‘Alright, what’chu gonna do with my version? ‘Cause we have two versions of the song,’” he continued. “[Dre] said, ‘Your version’s the remix.’ I did it with my partner at the time, [D’Maq]. … [Dr. Dre] told me that he sent the credits into Suge [Knight] and Suge fucked it up. I called Suge. Suge said, ‘Dre never gave me the credits, ‘Law.’ … Mind you, Suge ain’t really worrying about putting my name on shit. So I get in touch with Tupac, and ‘Pac telling me he trying to leave [Death Row Records], he just wanna finish these extra albums and he wanna leave. So, we just kicked back and just let [the situation] marinate.”
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