DJ Yella is the stage name of Antoine Carraby (born December 11, 1967), a DJ, music producer and film director from Compton, California. He was a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru along with Dr. Dre. He later became a founding member of the pioneering gangsta rap group N.W.A (comprised of Yella, Dre, Arabian Prince, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and Eazy-E). Along with Dre, he produced Eazy-E's debut album Eazy-Duz-It and all three N.W.A albums.
History
After the break up of N.W.A in 1991, Yella and MC Ren were the only members to stay with Ruthless Records. Over the following four years he produced albums and songs for numerous Ruthless Records acts, including Eazy, J. J. Fad, Menajahtwa, H.W.A., B.G. Knocc Out, Dresta and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. He also shot pornographic films under his alias Tha Kidd during this time period.
Eazy-E's sudden death from AIDS in 1995 sent the label into disarray. Yella remained to piece together Eazy's final album, but he had difficulty tracking down all the material Eazy had recorded with various producers. Ultimately, with Ren, he co-produced Eazy's final single, "Just Tah Let Ya Know", released in September 1995.
In 1996 Yella released the album One Mo Nigga ta Go on Street Life. The album featured several members of the old Ruthless family rapping over his productions.
After this release he disappeared from the music scene, only to resurface years later as a director of pornographic movies. While for the most part he does not appear to be interested in returning to music, he did reunite with former N.W.A member MC Ren for a song called "Bangin" on the soundtrack to one of his movies. On October 17, 2006, at VH1's Hip Hop Honors, Yella performed alongside Lil' Eazy-E and Young Jeezy in a tribute to Eazy-E.
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