The N.W.A. breakup is proof of how money can rip a group apart. Whether it’s internal or label issues or some middleman in between, greed always appears at the root of dissension. Ice Cube was the first domino to fall when it came to N.W.A. At the peak of their powers, N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton and Eazy-E’s solo album Eazy-Duz-It sold over a million records without an industry boost. Moreover, the group grossed over $650k on tour in 1989. Their manager, Jerry Heller, netted $130k of that bulk.

So where did that leave Ice Cube? After such a monumental time, he walked away from that tour with a measly $23,000. Obviously, something was wrong with these numbers, and he wanted to know about it. So when Cube inquired about merch sales and where all the money was going, they told him to mi

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