N.W.A

This article is about the hip hop group. For other uses, see NWA.

N.W.A
Complete N.W.A lineup in 1988 (left to right) Arabian Prince, MC Ren, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, Dr. Dre
Complete N.W.A lineup in 1988
(left to right) Arabian Prince, MC Ren, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, Dr. Dre
Background information
OriginCompton, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active
Labels
Past members

N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes,[5][6] eye dialect for Niggas With Attitudes) was an American hip hop group formed in Compton, California. Among the earliest and most significant figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, the group is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential acts in hip hop music.[7][8]

Active from 1987 to 1991,[1] N.W.A endured controversy owing to their music's explicit lyrics, which many viewed as misogynistic or homophobic, as well as to its glorification of drugs and crime.[9] The group was subsequently banned from many mainstream American radio stations. In spite of this, they have sold over ten million units in the United States alone. Drawing on its members' own experiences of racism and excessive policing, N.W.A made inherently political music.[10] N.W.A's consistent criticisms of institutional racism within the American police significantly contributed to the political awareness and involvement of American youth against racism.

The original lineup, formed in early 1987,[1] consisted of Arabian Prince, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, and Ice Cube, with DJ Yella and MC Ren joining later that year. They released their first compilation album as a group in 1987, called N.W.A. and the Posse, which peaked at No. 39 on Billboard magazine's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Arabian Prince left shortly after the release of N.W.A's debut studio album, Straight Outta Compton, in 1988, with Ice Cube following suit in December 1989. Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and Dr. Dre later became Platinum-selling solo artists in their own right in the 1990s. Eazy-E died from AIDS on March 26, 1995.

The group's debut album marked the beginning of the new gangsta rap era, as the production and social commentary in their lyrics were revolutionary within the genre. N.W.A's second studio album, Niggaz4Life, was the first hardcore rap album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 sales charts.[6] In general, N.W.A had a lasting impact on generations of hip-hop artists and, in the late '80s, played a crucial role in shaping rap as it evolved in the subsequent generations, both musically and lyrically. Moreover, the group was credited with being the first to open up rap to a white American audience, contributing to the rapid spread of rap within the American population in general, starting from the late 1980s.[11]

Rolling Stone ranked N.W.A at number 83 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[12] In 2016, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,[13][14] following three previous nominations.

  1. ^ a b c Reid, Shaheem (December 19, 2001). "Unreleased Eazy-E Tracks Coming In March". MTV News. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  2. ^ Baker, Soren (December 12, 1999). "N.W.A Reunion Propels 'Next Friday' Soundtrack". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  3. ^ O'Connor, Christopher (December 7, 1999). "Reunited N.W.A Get Serious About Recording Album". MTV News. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  4. ^ Moss, Corey (April 24, 2002). "N.W.A May Still Have Attitude, But They Don't Have An Album". MTV News. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  5. ^ Potter, Russell (1995). Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip-Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism. New York City: State University of New York Press. p. 50. ISBN 0-7914-2625-4.
  6. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "N.W.A". allmusic. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
  7. ^ White, Miles (2011). From Jim Crow to Jay-Z: Race, Rap and the Performance of Masculinity. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. pp. 64, 74. ISBN 978-0-252-03662-0.
  8. ^ Kennedy, Gerrick D. (December 5, 2017). Parental Discretion Is Advised: The Rise of N.W.A and the Dawn of Gangsta Rap. Simon and Schuster. pp. 2–5. ISBN 978-1-5011-3493-7. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023. Also on the marquee was Eazy-E, the "Godfather of Gangsta rap" and founder of the most notorious hip-hop group of all time, N.W.A. (...)
  9. ^ "NWA Biography". www.nwaworld.com. NWA World. Archived from the original on February 21, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2014. ... a self-consciously violent and dangerous lyrical stance ... ridiculously violent and misogynist lyrics.
  10. ^ "Straight Outta Compton and the Social Burdens of Hip-Hop" Archived November 9, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. The Atlantic. Retrieved August 20, 2017
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", Rolling Stone.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).