N.W.A Essentials

N.W.A may not have invented gangsta rap, but their brash, unapologetic approach to hip-hop made them innovators and one of the industry’s most controversial groups ever. They formed in 1987 in Compton, California, when Eazy-E recruited Dr. Dre, a producer and DJ from World Class Wreckin’ Cru, and rapper Ice Cube to write songs like “Boyz-n-the-Hood” for Eazy's label, Ruthless Records. The trio formed N.W.A—Ni**az Wit Attitudes—with Arabian Prince, MC Ren and DJ Yella. N.W.A. and the Posse arrived in 1987, but it was the following year’s Straight Outta Compton that properly put them on the map as the World’s Most Dangerous Group. Songs like “Dopeman” and “Gangsta Gangsta” were misogynistic, violent and lewd, while the battle cry “Fuck tha Police” still rings out for its fearless rebellion against racial profiling and police brutality. Eazy’s nasal voice, Cube’s brawny baritone, and Dre and Yella’s funky production fascinated, offended and inspired—a template that future gangsta rappers would follow for decades to follow.