Former NWA manager Jerry Heller dies at 75

Jerry Heller, the original manager of rap group N.W.A and a controversial figure in West Coast rap, has been pronounced dead after suffering a heart attack and a resulting vehicle accident.

Heller served as the group’s manager for four years until Ice Cube quit over a royalty dispute.

The crash unfolded just before noon.

His cousin Gary Ballen confirmed his death to Billboard but didn’t elaborate on the cause.

According to TMZ, Heller was driving on Friday morning when he suffered a medical emergency and crashed his vehicle.

A native of Cleveland, Heller began his career in music as a booking agent for artists including Elton John, Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye and Pink Floyd.

Heller played a role in the emergence of West Coast rap music when he cofounded Ruthless Records with Eazy-E and discovered, signed, or managed the likes of N.W.A, The Black Eyed Peas, Above the Law, The D.O.C., and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. That suit, which argued false portrayal and damages from defamation, was ongoing at the time of Heller’s death on Friday evening.

Accused by N.W.A. members of financial impropriety – which was never proven – Heller and Eazy-E particularly had a tempestuous relationship.

N.W.A. garnered widespread attention with the release of “Straight Outta Compton”, which tells the story of the rap group’s rise to fame.

In 2006, Heller’s own version of his co-founding Ruthless Records with Eazy-E, was laid out in his 2006 book Ruthless: A Memoir. “I still think about him every day. he was like my son”. He would eventually attack Heller in the famous diss track “No Vaseline”. “He was the greatest, and I’ve always believed that only he and I really understood the significance of what N.W.A was”. However, the majority of Heller’s lawsuit was dismissed this June. These events were all chronicled in the 2015 N.W.A biopic.

Heller was angered by the film, which he claimed portrayed him as the “bad guy”.