I
i
THEY PISSED OFF THE FBI AND DELIVERED THEIR RAW TRUTH WITH
DOPE BEATS, GRAPHIC STREET NARRATIVES AND A MIDDLE FINGER TO
THE PO PO. TWENTY FIVE YEARS LATER WE TAKE A LOOK AT GANGSTA
RAP'S MOST DANGEROUS AND INFLUENTIAL GROUP EVER.
BY MARGENA A. CHRISTIAN
94_JUNE 2011.EB0NY
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IN MANY WAYS, THEIR MUSIC
WAS PRESCIENT. iN 1986,
NIGGAZ WIT ATTITUDE
(N.W.A.), FEATURING DR. DRE,
EAZY-E, DJ YELLA, ICE CUBE,
ARABIAN PRINCE AND MC REN,
PRCVIDED A SCUNDTRACK
FCR THE STREETS BY NCT SUGARCCATING THE HARSH REALITIES CF LIFE IN CCMPTCN,
CALIF. THE FOREFATHERS CF
THE GANGSTA-RAP SUBGENRE
WERE AHEAD CF THEIR TIME
AND FEARLESS AS A RESULT
CF LEARNING HCW TC SURVIVE
IN SCUTH CENTRAL.
OPENING 8PREAD: Arabian Prince, DJ Yella, MC Ren, Dr. Dra, Ice Cube and
Eazy-Epause In their heyday; Ice Cube and Eazy-Bperform in 1989 at the
opening of the Straight Outta Compton Tour. ABOVE: Dr. Dre, MC Ren, Eazy-E
and DJ Yella In 1986.
of the LAPD. People finally understood what the boyz in the
hood were trying to convey. N.W.A. exercised their First Amendment rights. With attitude. With profanity. With truth. With
one of the first albums to receive a censorship label.
The mid-to-late '80s were considered the Golden Age of rap
"Rap was real relevant to what I was going through as ayouth
music. East Coast artists such as Run-D.M.C, Public Enemy,
in South Central L.A.," Ice Cube once said. "It was so relevant
EPMD and Eric B. & Rakim ruled the genre. Ice T and Schoolly to how we were living, and we were creatively superior to anyD pioneered a new style of rap, gangsta, which described the
thing else that was going on because rappers were creative. Everybody did things their way and introduced it to the world. The
actualities of violence in inner cities. Out of all the genre's playstyle we came up with we actually labeled 'reality rap.' It was
ers, no group was as controversial as N.W.A.
Straight Outta Compton, their 1988 debut album, set the tone about what we saw."
for what was to come—freedom of expression like you've never seen it. Their name was derived from the controversial "n.W.A. members considered themselves to be
word." Instead of allowing themselves to be abused by it, they
street reporters. MC Ren says their intention
used it with attitude to illustrate how people in urban areas
was to put Compton on the map so that West
were treated.
Coast rappers could be respected as much as
Fair warning was given before one of the greatest rap colthe others. The media, however, were not so
lectives of all time erupted. "You are now about to witness the
easily persuaded. The group found its intenstrength of street knowledge," cautioned Dr. Dre before "a crations completely distorted by one story in parzy motherf-—- named Ice Cube" deafened fans with explicit,
ticular that made waves.
rapid-fire rap lyrics and you-ain't-ready-for-this depictions
"This dude interviewed us in Eazy-E's mama's backyard.
about life in Compton, where gang warfare was at its zenith,
This White cat was so nervous, he actually fell backward in
crack was the new drug of choice and nefarious members of the
his chair," recalls MC Ren. "No one touched him. He looked so
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) were gaining a reputascared. He went and wrote his article and called that shit gangtion for racial profiling and harassing young people who lived
sta rap. We didn't like that when it first came out. We thought
in certain areas and dressed a certain way.
they were trying to put us away and label our shit for us. It took
"F— tha Police," N.W.A.'s most controversial joint, proved
away from who we were. [People] in New York City were just
prophetic. The subversive-yet-brutally honest song, written by
rappers. They had to label us as 'gangstas.' But ain't no way we
Ice Cube and MC Ren, seemed to channel the ignored voices
could have done all ofthat shit we talked about. We would have
in urban areas across America. The song's aggression, often
been in jail and under the jail."
mistaken as a call for violence, acknowledged their pain and
Before N.W.A. ripped the scene on a national level, not much
frustration. Not only did it anger the LAPD, but it prompted a
noise was being made on the West Coast in terms of rap. Dr.
threatening letter from the FBI.
Dre and DJ Yella, the group's main producers, had disbanded
On March 3,1991, the world witnessed on video the savage
earlier from an electro-hop group called World Class Wreckin'
beating of motorist Rodney King at the hands of a few members
Cru. A lot of babies were probably conceived to their biggest hit.
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"Before You Turn Off the Lights."
Members of the group had won an underground following on
Compton's dance scene: Dr. Dre, DJ Yella and Arabian Prince
were local celebrities in their own right on the wheels of steel.
"We did parties where 5,000 people would come just for the
deejays," says Arabian Prince, a master of the electro sound
who produced two of N.W.A.'s few clean cuts, "Something 2
Dance 2" and "Panic Zone." "We had three, four turntables and
a drum machine. That is what initially turned us from deejays
into making records. We could make people dance, so we knew
we could do music. That was our 'aha' moment."
Ice Cube, who did principal writing for the group (though he
left for a year to complete an architectural drafting course at
the Phoenix Institute of Technology), was wicked when it came
to creating lyrical content. He'd take popular rap songs and flip
the lyrics in a way that made you think, raise a brow and laugh.
MC Ren's gruff, authoritative voice made most people stand at
attention when he stepped to the mic.
Then there was Eazy-E, the character of the group and the
lone man out who didn't come from a musical background. As
a former drug dealer, he did, however, have the finances and
business savvy to back their dream of starting a record label.
Eazy also had the drive to change his life and the heart to pick
up a mic to learn how to rap, even when that meant recording
something, he would figure out how to get it."
One of the older members of the group at 25—and the shortest
at only 5'4"—the Jheri-curl-wearing rapper's presence loomed
large. His sarcastic wit and charm with the ladies—"We want to
—
f you, Eazy!"—would help him go on to become hailed as the
Godfather of Gangsta Rap.
.W.A.'s music was so real and raw; they wanted it to become a soundtrack for the streets.
"Our music, when it first came out, was underground," said Ice Cube. "And that's where
we expected it to stay. We didn't think we
would get our records played on the radio or
that our stuff would be popular [with] the
masses."
The video for "Straight Outta Compton," though cleaned
up, was still considered too violent to air on MTV, and radio
stations refused to play N.W.A.'s songs. The only record label
willing to take a chance on them was Priority, an upstart whose
only other act was The California Raisins. The album still went
platinum.
"They had an important seat at the table, and I don't think
it can be minimized due to the fact that they cursed a lot," says
journalist Davey D, a former deejay at KALX, the University of
"THIS DUDE INTERVIEWED US IN EAZY E'S MAMA'S BACKYARD. THIS WHITE OAT WAS
SO NERVOUS, HE AOTUALLY FELL BACKWARD IN HIS OHAIR. ...HE LOOKED SO SOARED.
HE WENT AND WROTE HIS ARTICLE
AND GALLED THAT SH GANGSTA RAP."
many of his earlier songs on his debut solo album, Boyz-n-theHood, line by line.
"His drive and determination was to be successful," says Eazy's widow, Tomica Woods-Wright, who took over her husband's
rap label. Ruthless Records, after he succumbed to AIDS in
1995 at the age of 31. "He was also the type of person who always
went against the grain. If somebody told him he couldn't have
California, Berkeley's, radio station, who conducted early interviews with the group. "N.W.A. was giving voice to the secondlargest city and an entire coast that was being dismissed. Most
people thought California was sunshine and palm trees. N.W.A.
gave you the other side. It wasn't all fun and games out there.
And not only could they flow, they had good production and the
same grittiness as New York."
Dr. Dre demonstrates his deejay skills, which made him
legendary, while Ice Cube raps. Eazy-E knew how to
please the crowd, parthulary the ladles.
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KALX also happened to be a station
that banned N.W.A.'s music for two
years at the urging of outraged listeners. "You had Public Enemy and others coming out with stop the Black-onBlack crime campaigns," says Davey D.
"And N.W.A., to a large degree, was the
opposite of that. The group seemed to
glorify all those things. There was violence going on and misogyny. N.W.A.
wasn't talking about anything that
didn't exist, but their presence was like,
'What the heck are you guys doing?' For
some, they were an eye-opener. For others it was like, 'Finally, somebody's talking about stuff that we're dealing with
every day.'"
Radio consultant Greg Mack was the
music director and assistant program
director of L.A.'s KDAY-AM 1580, the
first radio station to program rap music into its regular rotation. He gave the
group its first national radio exposure.
"Their music was a reflection of what
"THE THING IS, N.W.A. DIDN7 MAKE GANGSTA RAP POPULAR.
YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THE RECORD COMPANIES ANO RAOIO STATIONS.
WE WERE A LITTLEMORE CONSCIOUS WITH
THE MUSIC ANO WHAT TO 00 WITH IT."
Dr. Ore and DJ Yella, the men behind the
N.W.A. sound; Eazy-Egives the famous
finger; and MC Ren relaxes in the studio.
was going on in the streets,
but it wasn't an accurate depiction of them. They were good kids," says Mack, who gave Dr.
Dre an early job of doing remixes. "Whether you liked the lyrics
or not, the music was so good, you had to bob your head. What
shocked us more than anything was the reaction, because the
police didn't want people to hear this, and a lot of people didn't
understand it. I think that's why a lot of White listeners got into
hip-hop. They had an interest in what went on in the 'hood, and
these songs kind of explained it."
The masses were afraid of N.W.A. Some thought art really was
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imitating life, especially
when the FBI stepped in
on Aug. 1, 1989, with a letter expressing disapproval
over "F— tha Police." It
didn't take long before
N.W.A. earned its infamous moniker: the world's
most dangerous group.
"What were they going to
do to us? [Priority Records]
was more afraid than we
were," says MC Ren. "We
were young. We looked at it
like publicity. All the sh- we
had been through with the
police on the streets. What
were they going to do with
a letter? After everything
went down with Rodney
King, we saw "F— tha Po-
lice" written on a lot of buildings."
The FBI letter only served to heighten people's curiosity about
N.W.A. During shows, the group's only prop was yellow crime-scene
tape that roped off the stage from the audience. The rock band Guns
N' Roses, fans of the group, even invited them to open for their tour.
"You know what's funny? More White people bought our stuff than
Black," says DJ Yella. "When we went on tour in 1989. we played 40
nights. Eighty-five percent of the audience was White. We wouldn't
have gone platinum without White people buying our music."
rabian Prince left the group in 1988 before
their first and only tour. The following year.
Ice Cube left, citing money-related issues. "We
were supposed to be getting paid, not just getting allowances," Arabian Prince says. "I had
a problem with that. When I left, my friends
thought I was stupid. I thought, 'Well, why am
I sitting somewhere if I'm not getting paid?' I
made more money on my own."
Dr. Dre left N.W.A. in 1991, the same year they released their
second and final album, Efil4zaggin (Niggaz 4 Life spelled backward). At the time of Eazy-E's death, his Ruthless Records was
worth an estimated $15 million.
Wannabe gangsta rappers have tried to imitate but could never
duplicate the magnetic force of N.W.A. And as a generation of
young people spiraled out of control to the backdrop of gangsta
lyrics, fingers were pointed at the foreiathers.
"The thing is, N.W.A. didn't make gangsta rap popular, you
have to look at the record companies and radio stations. We
were a little more conscious with the music and what to do with
it," said Ice Cube. "Then with the G-funk era, if you're the
powers that be, what do you promote? Do you promote Public
Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Ice Cube, Poor Righteous
Teachers? Or do you promote G-funk and partying and not re-
¡^azy-E, Carlos Carraby,
DJ Yella and Marvin KIdd
are pictured in December1994. Eazy-Ediedin
March 139SofAiDSat
age 31. This is one ofthe
iast photos of him taken.
ally have a political message? They said, 'Let's promote this.'
That snowballed into this gangsta-rap phenomenon, and basically, parties, bullshit and taking the social consciousness out
ofthe music."
There is talk of a hiopic about N.W.A. "As it is now, the two
producers ofthe film are myself and Cube," says Woods-Wright.
"It will pay homage and respect to the impact ofthe group. Dre
should be a part of it, but it has been a matter of locking him
down when he has the time. For me, it wouldn't be a film without
everyone else involved. "
Dr. Dre doesn't discuss those days much. He's currently in the
studio working on his highly anticipated final solo album. Detox.
His recent video, "I Need a Doctor," features Eminem, along with
a series of flashbacks in Dr. Dre's life. Many are images and footage
from his days in N.W.A. It ends with Dr. Dre visiting Eazy-E's final
resting place. A first.
"This video was a big step in him dealing with his past," says
Allen Hughes, who directed "I Need a Doctor." "When it came to
Eazy, he was very moved. We're doing an [HBO] ¡iroject that entails seeing rap music on the West Coast through Dre's eyes. Before
the music video, I didn't hear details. Now for three hours straight,
he's giving it up. The video opened him up. His journey is unique.
He said he didn't want to exploit his history. I told him, 'You're not.
It's your history. You were there.'"
As for the infamous FBI letter, it's still around. These days, anyone can see it on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland.
Twenty-five years after N.W.A. began. Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella
and MC Ren are still standing. They came straight outta Compton
and went straight to the top—like that middle linger. Q
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
DR. DRE is CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and remains one ofthe
most prolific music producers of our time. He has appeared in commercials and films. Known for his "sonic ears," he is the man behind
the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones.
ICE CUBE, who has recorded
nine solo albums, has become
one of Hollywood's most bankable
performers, thanks to the Friday
and Barbershop movie franchises.
He executive produces the TBS
series Are We There Vef?, based
on his movie of the same name.
MC REN has recorded five solo albums
and reunited with Ice
Cube and Dr. Dre for
the song "Hello."
DJ YELLA heads DJ Vella Productions
where he's a top filmmaker in the adultmovie industry.
ARABIAN PRINCE owns a
video game company where
he does special effects. His
work has included Die Hard,
The Simpsons, King of the Hill,
The Addams Family, Casper
and Barbie. He still deejays
electro shows, often overseas.
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