Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImageRapper Frost has floated a new conspiracy theory about one of the most memorable deaths in rap history.
For years, it was reported that famed former N.W.A rapper Eazy-E died of complications from AIDS in 1995. Since then, a number of conspiracy theories about the specific cause of his death and the way he contracted the HIV virus have popped up online.
Speaking in the upcoming documentary For the Record: The Story of Latinos in Hip Hop, Frost, whose real name is Arturo Molina, Jr. and who used to be signed to Eazy-E's record company, Ruthless Records, maintains the famed rapper got infected with HIV-contaminated needles while undergoing acupuncture.
Eazy-E's family has not commented.
"I'm-a tell you what happened with Eazy getting AIDS and I believe this to this day," Frost says. "And I don't care if you guys got it on film. You can tell the world. They gave him tainted needles with acupuncture. Needles that tainted him, they gave it to him." (Watch the video below. Warning: Contains expletives.)
"Although no clear evidence exists to support a link between acupuncture and HIV infection, there are reports of patients with HIV who had no risk factors other than acupuncture," read a 2010 report by University of Hong Kong microbiologists, published in the British Medical Journal.
Eazy-E's lawyer had said in March 1995 at a press conference that the rapper, then 31 years old and married with a baby son, was hospitalized in critical condition and had learned two and a half weeks prior that he had contracted the AIDS disease, the Los Angeles Times reported. He read a letter penned by his client.
"I'm not religious, but wrong or right, that's me," Eazy-E wrote. "I'm not saying this because I'm looking for a soft cushion wherever I'm heading. I just feel I've got thousands and thousands of young fans that have to learn about what's real when it comes to AIDS."
"I'm not looking to blame anyone except myself," the letter said. "I have learned in the last week that this thing is real, and it doesn't discriminate. It affects everyone...Before Tomika, I had other women. I have seven children by six different mothers. Maybe success was too good to me. I love all my kids and always took care of them."
The lawyer said Eazy-E's wife and son were not infected. A little more than a week after the press conference, the rapper, whose real name was Eric Wright, was dead.
In his interview, Frost expressed skepticism about the timing of the announcement of Eazy-E's diagnosis and his passing. He thinks another person in the rap world played a part in Eazy-E's death.
"What happened was is that someone—I won't say the name, but people know the name. I don't wanna say that name 'cause it's the devil's name—but another person in rap, if you know you're history of rap, calls him the devil," Frost said. "If you know the history of rap, West Coast rap, you know who I'm saying...I was told even in my last conversation from Eazy not to even talk to that man."
"Not only that, but I think that they really had a stronghold of giving him tainted needles with the AIDS virus in him through acupuncture," he said. "Because how else could somebody die that fast of AIDS? Have you even heard of somebody dying in two weeks of AIDS, bro? Come on, man, it's just unheard of, bro."
Interest in Easy-E's untimely death was reignited in recent months due to the release of the movie Straight Outta Compton, which chronicled N.W.A.'s early days. The movie was dedicated to his memory.
"There's this actor, Jason Mitchell, he plays Eazy and he did an incredible job," Dr. Dre, another former N.W.A. member, told Rolling Stone. "I mean, there's a couple of times where I got a little emotional on set. When E's in the hospital and he finds out he has the disease and what have you, his acting was that great. Goosebumps."