KXNG Crooked a supporter of West Coast Hip Hop, and doesn't think "I Got It Made" rapper Special Ed's shots at N.W.A necessarily come from a bad place ... but still says the OG may have missed the mark in his message.
We caught up with the Horseshoe Gang rapper following Special Ed's particularly passionate take on the group that pioneered gangsta rap ... he blamed Ice Cube, Dr. Dre. MC Ren DJ Yella, and the late Eazy-E for single-handily bringing "the age of destruction" into the rap game.
Ed also made his fiery comments on "Drink Champs" -- while completely sober at that but Crooked still thinks rap media often pigeonholes talent in order to get a negative headline.
Crooked was previously signed to Dre through Eminem's Shady Records/Aftermath imprint and remembers feeling the ripple effects from N.W.A's debut in real-time ... a project that broke ground for highlighting the issues in impoverished hoods -- not glorifying them.
The group's debut "Straight Outta Compton" was inducted into the Library of Congress and Crooked says their success created a negative narrative still being pushed by Ed to this very day.
Crooked's been famously alcohol-free for 7+ years after his own public battles and while he's not in the business of judging folks' life choices, he knows from experience how booze can cause you to speak more loosely.
As a former Death Row Records artist, he recalls being on hand for Suge Knight's infamous 2003 Jimmy Kimmel interview where the music mogul casually floated claims that Eazy was intentionally given the HIV virus that led to his death from AIDS.
Crooked says the apple martinis were flowing in Suge's direction backstage ... so it's anyone's guess what version of the truth comes out in these situations.