Thug Life Army

Jerry Heller, the Ruthless Records co-founder and one-time manager to N.W.A, has passed away at the age of 75, according to social media posts from those who knew him.

TMZ is reporting that Heller had a medical emergency while driving in Ventura County, California on Friday morning. He reportedly collided with another vehicle and was brought to the hospital. The publication hasn’t confirmed whether Heller’s death was caused by the medical emergency or the crash.

Born in 1940 and growing up in Cleveland, Heller eventually went on to work with some of the biggest names in music in the ’60s and ’70s, including Journey, Marvin Gaye and Pink Floyd. In the ’80s, he became instrumental in bringing West Coast rap music to prominence, co-founding Ruthless Records with Eazy-E and managing N.W.A for several years.

Together they released Straight Outta Compton in 1988, a triple-platinum record that changed the course of Hip Hop and that is widely considered by critics as one of the greatest albums of all time.

The group parted ways in 1991, with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre blaming Heller for splitting them up over bad business and exploitation. Cube went on to release “No Vaseline,” a scathing diss track aimed at Heller and the rest of the group, scolding Eazy-E for having “a white Jew tellin’ you what to do.”

The film version of the group’s story was a major hit in theaters last year, grossing more than $200 million worldwide. It also led to Heller filing a $110-million lawsuit against the filmmakers over his depiction in the movie, which he said was inaccurate in places and lifted without permission from his memoir in others.

The long-awaited No Labels Anthem is now featured in the iTunes Music Store and available for purchase for 99 cents. Written by Grammy award-winning platinum artist Akon, aka Aliaune Damala Badara Thiam, and performed by Grammy-nominated platinum artist Deborah Cox, the song's proceeds will help fund No Labels, a citizens' movement of Democrats, Republicans and Independents by empowering our leaders to work across the aisle. Recently, No Labels launched its Make Congress Work! action plan, which features a dozen common sense proposals to combat the gridlock and hyper partisanship that make it virtually impossible to deal with America's serious challenges.

"When I told Akon about No Labels, he was so inspired that he stayed up all night to write this song," said No Labels co-founder Lisa Borders. "The No Labels Anthem speaks to our fellow citizens of every persuasion who are not being served by a partisan, dysfunctional Congress. We want our leaders to work together - like the words and melody of this iconic song - to do what's best for the 'indivisible' United States of America."

"The No Labels mission moved me to get involved and perform this song," said Cox, who has 11 number-one Billboard dance singles. "To citizens like me, Congress is like an orchestra where every member is trying to play their instrument louder than the next. That makes for bad music and its made for bad government. Our leaders need to put aside their differences and work together for the good of the country."

The No Labels Anthem debuts on the day of the president's State of the Union address, where over 196 members of Congress will be sitting with members of the opposite party. No Labels has made bipartisan seating at the State of the Union and all joint meetings of Congress one of the 12 proposals in its Make Congress Work! action plan.

The No Labels Anthem can be purchased on iTunes here and the album cover and lyrics can be viewed here.

No Labels is a group of Republicans, Democrats and Independents who want our government to work again. Our dozen proposals to Make Congress Work! mostly don't require new laws or new spending, and don't favor any party or particular cause. These are simple, straightforward proposals to break gridlock, promote constructive discussion and reduce polarization in Congress. They can mostly be adopted all at once when the next Congress convenes in January 2013.