Left to right: Ken Smith Of Native Records, Tha Chill, Power 106 mixer J-Rocc, MC Eiht and Mr. Choc

On the heels of the release of MC Eiht’s new album, Veterans Day, on L.A.’s KPWR 106 “Friday Night Flavors,” in a special show featuring music by both MC Eiht and Comptons Most Wanted, courtesy of mixer J-Rocc, Mr. Choc proclaimed, “I’ma let you know MC Eiht is a legend in the West, and we had to pay tribute just like that, and we continue to recognize.”  He added, “Veterans Day is crazy hot.” He urged his listeners, “West Coast, please stand up.”
     In other related news, a new book, That’s The Joint! A Hip-hop Studies Reader, edited by hiphop writers Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal, expounds on MC Eiht’s representation of the City of Compton. The book, an in-depth, comprehensive look into hiphop music and culture, delves into the significance and meaning of Eiht’s work.
     Forman writes that Eiht’s contribution includes adding to the elements that NWA had brought into their lyrics, in representing the Hub City. He writes that Eiht’s lyrics, are “almost testimonial form,” and that Eiht’s experiences “offer relevant insights on the social construction of a gangster attitude or a gang member’s raison d’etre.” He elaborates, “MC Eiht’s bonds to the localized Compton environment are defined as the product of an evolving growth process, as a child becomes a man.”  Forman also writes about how Eiht’s music expounds upon the “racial characteristics of the City of Compton that have influenced and shaped the man that MC Eiht has become.”
     Michael Eric Dyson (Holler If You Hear Me: Looking For Tupac Shakur) is the author of the book’s introduction, and a variety of writers contributed chapters, including Nelson George (Hiphop America). The book is published by Taylor and Francis.