E.D.I. Mean Discusses Outlawz Legacy Following Young Noble Death

TMZ

E.D.I. doesn't want longtime Tupac and Outlawz fans to focus on Noble's suicide -- he'd rather they redirect to his solo musical legacy that's layered with positive messages ... his collaborations with members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony also being particularly noteworthy.

Transcript

00:00Given everything that this group has went through, would you say that it was a bittersweet

00:12experience or did things pan out just the way that history was written?

00:22How are you able to summarize your group's history?

00:27That's a great question, bro. I'm not going to sit here and act like I really have that

00:36answer right now. Today, I will say this, though. There are two other members, former members

00:43of the group that are doing well. Mouton Napoleon Bill lives in Abu Dhabi, has opened several

00:49businesses, a family man, a father. Atari Castro Cox is doing well. Raised a beautiful daughter

01:01that is a college graduate and lives a pretty good and sober life. So there are success stories.

01:10Unfortunately, you know, including myself, I'm a heart attack survivor, a two-time novelist,

01:18still here living and breathing. The success stories get drowned out by the tragedy and the

01:26unfortunate incidents that has happened to other group members. But I would look at the

01:32legacy of one of tragedy, triumph, overcoming so many different obstacles along the way. And

01:41it may be only three surviving members, but there's success in those three surviving members'

01:46stories. So it's hard for me to look at it with a negative, because there is beauty in it.

01:53You know what I mean? There's surviving it. There's life after so much death. No pun intended.

01:59No, for real. And you guys made music that people listen to every day, and probably will until the

02:07end of time. No pun intended.

02:11Hey, we two for two on that.

02:12Nice.

02:15Have you been in contact with them? You know, did this make everybody reminisce on the group

02:21chat? And, you know, you guys are the last remaining pieces?

02:25Yeah, we definitely have never stopped communicating. You know what I mean? Even if it's not every

02:33day, we definitely are all in contact with each other. And, you know, all supportive of each other.

02:40And that's something that will never change.

02:43What is the favorite song that you remember recording as an outlaw? Like, what's the funnest

02:49in-studio experience?

02:52Yeah, man, there's so many, but I will always cherish and remember the day we did Teardrops

02:57of Close Cases. One of my favorite Tupac and Outlaws

03:01song. I think it's so unique in the way we did it. I think we did

03:05something that no other hip-hop groups were doing at the time. And as

03:09far as storytelling is concerned, and the fact that we all recorded

03:13that song together in the studio on, you know, one microphone, I was very innovative. And I give all

03:20credit to Tupac's support because that was his idea, his concept. But absolutely one of my favorite

03:27days in the studio, one of my favorite songs. Tupac absolutely made a zero in on that audience. He was very

03:36smart in that regard that he knew there were people that needed to hear this message. There

03:42were young black males that needed to hear this message that's trying to figure out life each and

03:47every day. And we were that representation of those young black males, right, wrong,

03:53or indifferent. And if you're going to be in a studio with a Tupac, you better keep up or you're

03:59going to get left out. We're going to get left out. You know what I mean? So many classes being made,

04:05nobody wanted to be left out. We were all competitive. We were all going after it, 100%.

04:11Noble didn't come from the best of backgrounds. He had challenges. He's going to career. But he was

04:16able to get with the Outlaws and Tupac to be a part of one of the most legendary songs of hip-hop, Hail Mary.

04:24His body of work is impeccable. Unfortunately, he's passed, so people will probably go back and

04:30stream that music. Please stream that music. Not just Outlaws music, but get into the Young

04:35Noble catalog and all of those independent solo albums that he put out full of positive messages

04:41and full of great music. You know, I know it sounds like a cliche, but give the shirt off his back

04:47to a stranger. Very indicative of his name. He wasn't named Young Noble for a reason. So it's

04:55important for me that his legacy is not one of him taking his own life, but his legacy is one of

05:03surviving and persevering. He lost his mother who survived with HIV for 30 years.

05:09He, herself, was a warrior and a survivor. Long live the memory, Young Noble, and all my fallen

05:20combat. Usain's favorite, the big sight. Tupac's support, and y'all fail for me.

05:28O-Fab.

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