N.W.A. Biography
N.W.A., the unapologetically violent and sexist pioneers of
gangsta rap, is in many ways the most notorious group in the history of rap.
Emerging in the late '80s, when Public Enemy had rewritten the rules of hardcore
rap by proving that it could be intelligent, revolutionary and socially aware,
N.W.A. capitalized on PE's sonic breakthroughs while ignoring their message.
Instead, the five-piece crew celebrated the violence and hedonism of the
criminal life, capturing it all in blunt, harsh language. Initially, the group's
relentless attack appeared to be serious, vital commentary, and it even provoked
the FBI to caution N.W.A.'s record company, but following Ice
Cube's departure late 1989, the group began to turn to self-parody. With his
high-pitched whine, Eazy-E's
urban nightmares now seemed like comic book fantasies, but that fulfilled the
fantasies of the teenage, White suburbanites that had become their core
audience, and the group became more popular than ever. Nevertheless, clashing
egos prevented the band from recording a third album, and they fell apart once
producer Dr. Dre left for a
solo career in 1992. Although the group was no longer active, their influence --
from their funky, bass-driven beats to their exaggerated lyrics -- was evident
throughout the '90s.
Ironically, in its original incarnation NWA was hardly revolutionary. Eazy-E
(b. Eric Wright), a former drug dealer who started Ruthless Records with money
he earned by pushing, was attempting to start a rap empire, by building a roster
of successful rap artists. However, he wasn't having much success until Dr. Dre -- a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru -- and
Ice
Cube (b. O'Shea Jackson) began writing songs for Ruthless. Eazy
tried to give one of the duo's songs, "Boyz N The Hood," to Ruthless
signees HBO and when the group refused, Eazy formed NWA -- an acronym for Niggaz
With Attitude -- with Dre
and Cube, adding World
Class Wreckin' Cru member DJ Yella
(b. Antoine Carraby), the Arabian Prince and the D.O.C. to the group.
[ N.W.A. CDs ]
N.W.A.'s first album, N.W.A. and the Posse, was a party-oriented jam record that
largely went ignored upon its 1987 release. In the following year, the group
added MC Ren and
revamped their sound, bringing in many of the noisy, extreme sonic innovations
of Public Enemy and adopting a self-consciously violent and dangerous lyrical
stance. Late in 1988, N.W.A. delivered Straight Outta Compton, a vicious
hardcore record that became an underground hit with virtually no support from
radio, the press or MTV. N.W.A. became notorious for their hardcore lyrics,
especially those of "Fuck Tha Police," which resulted in the FBI
sending a warning letter to Ruthless and its parent company Priority, suggesting
that the group should watch their step.
Most of the group's political threat left with Ice
Cube when he departed in late 1989 amidst many financial disagreements. A
nasty feud between N.W.A. and Cube
began that would culminate with Cube's
"No Vaseline," an attack on the group's management released on his
1991 Death Certificate album. By the time the song was released, N.W.A., for all
intents and purposes, was finished.
In the two years between Ice Cube's departure and the group's dissolution, N.W.A.
was dominated by Eazy-E's near-parodic
lyrics and Dr. Dre's
increasingly subtle and complex productions. The group quickly released an EP,
100 Miles and Runnin', in 1990 before following it up early the next year with
Efil4zaggin ("Niggaz 4 Life" spelled backward). Efil4zaggin was
teeming with dense, funky soundscapes and ridiculously violent and misogynist
lyrics. Naturally, the lyrics provoked outrage from many critics and
conservative watchdogs, but that only increased the group's predominately male,
White suburban audience. Even though the group was at the peak of their
popularity, Dre began to
make efforts to leave the crew, due to conflicting egos and what he perceived as
an unfair record deal.
Dre left the group to form
Death Row Records with Suge Knight in early 1992. According to legend, Knight
threatened to kill NWA's manager Jerry Hibbler if he refused to let Dre
out of his contract. Over the next few years, Dre
and Eazy engaged in a
highly-publicized feud, which included both of the rappers attacking each other
on their respective solo albums. MC
Ren and Yella both released
solo albums, which were largely ignored, and Eazy-E
continued to record albums that turned him into a complete self-parody until his
tragic death from AIDS in March 1995. Before he died, Dre and Cube both made
amends with Eazy. With his first solo album, 1992's The Chronic
Dr.Dre established himself as the premier hip-hop producer of the mid-'90s,
setting the pace for much of hardcore rap with its elastic bass and deep,
rolling grooves. Gangsta rap established itself as the most popular form of
hip-hop during the '90s -- in other words, N.W.A.'s amoralistic, hedonistic
stance temporarily triumphed over the socially conscious, self-award hip-hop of
Public Enemy, and it completely rewrote the rules of hip-hop for the '90s
