"I'm about to blow the top off of everything I saw," writes Bruce Williams, longtime friend and former right-hand man to successful rapper and record executive, Dr. Dre, one of the best hip-hop mega producers of all time and the brains behind the record label Aftermath.
In "Rollin' With Dre: The Unauthorized Account," by Williams with Donnell Alexander, Dre's former go-to guy gives readers an inside look at the roller coaster that is hip-hop culture."
You can see Williams in the flesh at noon, Saturday, April 12 at Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 300 Andover Park W., Suite 200 in Tukwila.
As Dre's confidante and as the problem-solver for his stable of artists and followers, Williams was usually present when the action went down – or at least close enough to feel the draft as the hollowpoints whizzed by.
In the book, Williams dishes the inside dirt on the machinations of the music industry and on the sex, violence and power that drives the hip hop music machine — and the West Coast scene in particular. From Dre's early days with N.W.A., through the explosion of his seminal album, "The Chronic," and up to the release of Dre's forthcoming album, "Detox"; Williams chronicles the story of Dre's split with Death Row Records, the label he co-founded with Suge Knight. Playing key roles in Dre's story are: Eminem, 50 Cent, The Game and Eazy-E, with whom Dre reconciled before E's death from AIDS. Not to mention Tupac Shakur, whose chaotic rise and fall led to a deadly feud involving Death Row Records and East Coast MCs, and precipitating Suge Knight's legal battles.
Williams delivers plenty of juicy details: what was behind the reconciliation press conference for 50 Cent and The Game — and the surprising role Al Sharpton played in it; Dre's practical joke on Will Smith in the film "Bad Boys 2" and the real reason behind it; and what it was like rollin' with giants and legends-in-the-making and living "the life."
Now an actor, screenwriter and producer, Williams is currently working on a cable-TV pilot based on his experiences as "the man next to the man."