Former Death Row Records Artist CPO Boss Hogg Has Passed Away
CPO Boss Hogg was at the epicenter of the 1990s West Coast Hip-Hop movement. The Compton, California native born Vince Edwards has died this week, as confirmed by friend, journalist, and past Ambrosia For Heads contributor Chad Kiser. Details were not made public. However, CPO had posted about his ongoing health battles on social media. In 2010, he survived congestive heart failure.
CPO was one of MC Ren’s proteges during the pinnacle of N.W.A. Ren brought Capital Punishment Organization to Capitol Records for the release of 1990’s To Hell And Black. He made a brief appearance on N.W.A.’s sophomore set, via an intro on the raunchy “Findum, F*ckem, and Flee.” Initially known as Lil Nation, CPO adopted the moniker from the group he formed with DJ Train and Young D in the years that followed. By the mid-1990s, CPO left Capitol after one album to end up on Death Row Records, the label started by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight—two men that were shouted out on “This Beat Is Funky,” alongside N.W.A. and The D.O.C.
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At the new West Coast power-house, CPO appeared on soundtrack songs from 1994’s Above The Rim and Murder Was The Case. However, his biggest break came courtesy of Tupac Shakur’s debut with the label, 1996’s diamond-certified All Eyez On Me. Pac and CPO had enjoyed a few brief exchanges before the Thug Life leader joined Tha Row.
By 1995, as CPO was watching label attention decline, Tupac changed his life. In 2013, CPO told HipHopDX about Tupac reaching out when the elder rapper had already taken a job as a receptionist at Martin Luther King Medical Center to help provide for his family. “I was really depressed because I knew I was going to get laid off. I was sitting there thinking to myself, I’m signed to Death Row, the biggest record company out here and nothing is going on with me. I’m not doing videos,” he recalled. “I just wanted to talk to somebody, anybody who is doing something, so I can feel like even if I’m not doing sh*t, I can talk to somebody who is. So I called the studio and [Death Row Records employee] Travis answered the phone and he said, ‘What’s up CPO?’ I said, ‘Who is in today?’ and he said. ”Pac,’ and I said ”Pac…Tupac?” CPO learned that Shakur had joined the fold.
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The news was met with a connection. “He put me on hold and when the phone picks up I can hear it’s ‘Pac’s voice. I said, ‘What’s up Pac?’ and he said, ‘What’s up, who is this?’ I said, ‘CPO.’ He said, ‘What’s up, CPO.’ I said, ‘I had a vision,’ and he said, ‘What was it?’ I said, ‘To do a song with Tupac.’ He said should I do a song with you, do one with me. I said, ‘Cool, we got to do that one day.’ He said, ‘Ni**a, I’m here now.’ I was like, ‘Okay.” And I hung the phone up. Then me and the homies went to the studio.”
That trip to the studio resulted in “Picture Me Rollin’,” a thematic keystone of double disc All Eyez On Me. CPO rapped alongside Pac, Big Syke, and Danny Boy. Years later, CPO remembered receiving $37,000 for his role in the song—a life-changing gift that arrived over three years since Tupac had passed. “Pac did more for me than anybody else.”
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After Death Row, CPO appeared on albums by Warren G, The Eastsidaz, and other Snoop-affiliated soundtrack work. In the last decade, he worked with Compton’s Most Wanted member Tha Chill. In 2018, he spoke with AFH to clarify a report Bow Wow made about his time with Death Row. Last year, Death Row’s new ownership hinted at CPO music in the vaults coming to release.
AFH extends condolences to the family, friends, and fans of CPO.