E-40 has established himself as a West Coast legend and is still making moves. His 1995 album In a Major Way helped give him national recognition, especially with tracks such as “Sprinkle Me,” which features Suga T. E.D.I. Mean, a member of the Outlawz explains why that LP and the circumstances surrounding it helped cement E-40’s legacy.
“40 had his own sound. Let’s just start off with his delivery and his tone,” he says. “There’s no other rapper who can really compare for it to. You got a lot of people that may even try to emulate that style or try to fuck with it, but it’s very difficult to do. He’s one of one. Then also, just behind the scenes, I remember the shock waves that sent through when he did that deal with Jive.”
E-40 signed a $3 million deal with Jive Records after the success of his 1993 debut album, Federal, which he released independently. The Bay Area legend spent 10 years with the major label and continues to remain influential on radio hits today.
“Everybody, even established artists that had major deals was like, ‘Woah, did you hear the number on that?'” E.D.I. Mean says. “Then he go and get the crib next to Gary Payton, that was big moves that helped add to the fact that he just put an album out and called it [In] a Major Way.That just solidified him and it’s no secret to me that 20 years later, you can still hear him on records with Big Sean and Ty Dolla $ign. He’s one of those artists that’s managed to stay relevant regardless.”
The Outlawz member points to the production, some of which was handled by Sam Bostic and Mike Mosely, as part of what made In a Major Way stand out from the rest of the rap scene at the time, which was heavily influenced by G-Funk. Tupac was so impressed that he got the two producers to work on his Me Against the World album.
“When we first came to Oakland being East Coast kids, when we first came to Oakland, that was one of the first artists ‘Pac put us on,” he says. “‘Cause he wanted to expand our palette for music. ‘Cause we were strictly East Coast at the time. And he was like, ‘Yo, it’s a big world out here. It’s a lot of dope cats that’s doing Hip Hop that ain’t from New York. So let me put you up on something.’ When E-40 first came on board, we had a hearty laugh. We were like, ‘Are you serious? Are you serious right now? You, this is what you’re into?'”
Besides the production, E.D.I. Mean says that E-40’s pure lyricism is what sets him apart from the rest.
“When you start listening to him, he’s incredible,” he says. “Once you get past the style and he’ll say, ‘I’m not rapping too fast, you’re just listening too slow.’ Once you get past the style and you start listening to what that man’s saying, it ain’t nothing but straight G. One of the best. I’d definitely say 40 top 5 and he never gets mentioned in that conversation.”
E.D.I. Mean says that 40 doesn’t get enough credit in general for his hustle and says he should be considered in the same echelon as Birdman and Master P.
“For an artist to go from independent to major and that first project be a platinum album, to me that certified him as one of the great moguls, let alone MCs in the game,” he says. “That was a mogul move. So to me, the legacy is that. After that, you had the Cash Monies and the No Limits, and all these other cats that were independent, doing numbers and went major, but 40 was the first.”