Born in  Compton, California , his father was a stuntman and a founder of the  Black Stuntmen's Association . Johnson began acting in his early twenties. In 1990 he landed a starring role as E.Z.E. in  House Party , after which he started doing  stand-up  in bars in  Los Angeles . He later appeared in  Lethal Weapon 3  as a drug dealer and in  Menace II Society . His biggest role was in the 1995 comedy  Friday , as Ezal, a crackhead and thief. He has also appeared in  Panther ,  The Players Club ,  B*A*P*S ,  I Got The Hook Up , [ Def Jam's How to Be a Player  and  Repos , and in rap videos: in Dr. Dre's " Dre Day " (1992), he played Sleazy-E, a parody of  Eazy-E , and he appeared again as Sleazy-E in the video for Eazy-E's " Real Muthaphuckkin G's " (1993), this time being assaulted.