NWA
NWA | |
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General information | |
origin | Compton , California , United States |
Genre (s) | Gangsta rap , west coast hip hop |
founding | 1986 |
resolution | 1991 |
Website | www.nwaworld.com (unofficial) |
Founding members | |
Arabian Prince (until 1988) | |
DJ, rapper |
Dr. Dre |
rapper |
Eazy-E († 1995) |
rapper |
Ice Cube (until 1989) |
Last occupation | |
DJ, rapper |
Dr. Dre |
rapper |
Eazy-E |
rapper |
MC Ren (since 1987) |
DJ |
DJ Yella (since 1987) |
NWA ( abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes ) was a hip-hop crew from Compton ( Los Angeles ). The band's founding members were Arabian Prince , Dr. Dre , Eazy-E and Ice Cube , later DJ Yella and MC Ren joined them.
NWA contributed decisively to the popularization of gangsta rap and are considered to be important representatives of West Coast hip-hop . They became known worldwide through the songs Dopeman and Fuck tha Police from the album Straight Outta Compton (1988).
In 2015 the film Straight Outta Compton was released, which is a biography of the NWA.
Beginnings
The group was founded in 1986. The first songs were published as 12 "singles and later found their way to the compilation NWA and the Posse from 1987 with other productions of artist friends . It was only with the album Straight Outta Compton that a great, albeit difficult, breakthrough came. The record was made in six weeks the production cost about 8,000 US dollars . most radio stations refused to play the album, and MTV , which is an important time gatekeeper for pop culture was played no songs from the album. Nevertheless sold over three Millions of copies. The A-side in particular established the band's image, which resulted in both the success and a public condemnation of the group: Straight Outta Compton , Fuck tha Police and Gangsta, Gangsta . Similar to early hip- Hop described the life of the gangs on the street, but unlike before, it was no longer critical, but either nihilistic or even hedonistic table praising. They are, however, in the tradition of the music from Southern California by the Beach Boys , the Eagles or Jefferson Airplane . All groups praised the hedonistic lifestyle, money and women, except that the earlier groups did not come from the gang-dominated suburb of Los Angeles called Compton.
Ice Cube wrote most of the lyrics for Straight Outta Compton , Dr. Dre and Yella are shown as producers, although most of the production was actually done by Dre. Musically, however, the album has little in common with Dr 's earlier fast, electronic upbeat- influenced releases in the World Class Wreckin 'Cru . Straight Outta Compton is musically much slower, darker with strong funk influences, embedded in a sound collage of gunshots, sirens, car noises, screams and curses.
The album, although initially operated without advertising or media public, became an enormous sales success. First of all, the network of the Afro-American community and especially their record stores was decisive for this . Sales developed from region to region. Once it was possible to convince record stores to sell the album, word of mouth sold it almost automatically. It clearly changed from the Afro-American to the white community, where it was particularly popular with young people.
controversy
In 1989 the FBI wrote a letter complaining to the distributor Priority Records that Fuck tha Police was calling for violence against the police and asked the company to withdraw the record. The label spread the letter, whereupon the market success reached new dimensions. Bryan Turner of Priority Records says in retrospect: The [letter] was like a nuclear explosion. Once we circulated that, everybody wanted to hear the record the FBI wanted to suppress. The album, which had sold around 100,000 copies so far, made the national news. MTV still didn't play it, but it did show numerous TV shows and newspaper articles about the album. The sales figures then increased thirty-fold.
resolution
Ice Cube , one of the main rappers and lyricists of the band, left the group in 1989. The two albums 100 Miles And Runnin ' (1990) and Niggaz 4 Life (1991, released in the US as Efil4zaggin' ) also achieved international success, including through the underlying G-Funk sound from Dr. Dre. Due to financial disputes between Eazy-E and the rest of the group, NWA was finally dissolved in 1991
According to NWA
Dr. Dre formed the Death Row Records label with Suge Knight and released albums such as The Chronic or Snoop Doggy Doggs Doggystyle , which became successful due to the G-Funk sound. Eazy-E didn’t match the best times, but continued to be successful. On The Chronic and Doggystyle , Snoop and Dre insulted ( dissten ) Eazy-E, whereupon he countered with the album It's On ( Dr. Dre ) 187um Killa (187 is the police code for murder) with the tracks Real Muthaphuckkin G's and It's On . After the separation, Dr. Dre as a producer for other rappers including Snoop Doggy Dogg and Eminem . Ice Cube was successful as a rapper and actor . Eazy-E died of complications from AIDS in 1995 . The very explicit and often nihilistic lyrics of the NWA late phase served as a model for many rappers, especially on the west coast. The content of the texts also had a certain impact on the east coast. The DOC released their album No One Can Do It Better . After the album he was in a car accident which severely damaged his voice.
Appreciation
NWA were at the center of a number of lesser-known hip-hop bands signed to Ruthless Records , including King T , CPO, Above the Law and Kokane . NWA was one of the first gangsta rap groups. Schoolly D is also seen as a pioneer of gangsta rap . Many artists in this field draw their influence from the Straight Outta Compton album. The lyrics by Ice Cube and MC Ren are not typical of the genre, they were the first to interpret the genre. The quality of the rap style (better said of the MCing) of the individual NWA members was very different, especially in the early days. Compared to the big MCs on the east coast , which improved the quality of the lyrics and the flow , especially in the second half of the 1980s , the releases from the early days of the group ('88 and earlier) still sound qualitatively very simple. Rather, the explicit language drew attention to the group and the energy and anger with which Ice Cube presented his texts. Especially during his solo career, Ice Cube developed into a respected MC, also on the east coast. MC Ren's solo career, despite remarkable skills, never picked up speed. At Dr. Dre and Eazy-E should be mentioned that neither wrote the majority of their lyrics themselves. While Ice Cube was primarily a ghostwriter at the beginning, his rapper friend The DOC later mainly took on this role. After the NWA split, he switched to Dr. Dre formed Death Row Records and wrote much of the lyrics for The Chronic .
In 2016, NWA were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . After Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five (2007), Run-DMC (2009), Beastie Boys (2012) and Public Enemy (2013), the group is only the fifth hip hop act to receive this honor.
Members
- Arabian Prince (Mik Lezan): DJ, rapper ( left the group after the album Straight Outta Compton )
- DJ Yella (Antoine Carraby): DJ, producer
- Dr. Dre (André Romell Young): DJ, producer, rapper
- Eazy-E (Eric Wright; † 1995): rapper, producer
- Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson): rapper
- MC Ren (Lorenzo Patterson): rapper
Discography
Studio albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
1988 | Straight Outta Compton |
DE36 1 (5 weeks) DE |
AT55 1 (3 weeks) AT |
CH66 1 (5 weeks) CH |
UK35 2
platinum
(14 weeks)UK |
US4 3 × 3
(110 weeks)US |
First published: August 9, 1988
Sales: + 3,300,000 |
1991 | Niggaz4Life | - | - | - |
UK25 (2 weeks) UK |
US1
platinum
(44 weeks)US |
First published: May 28, 1991
Sales: + 2,150,000 |
Compilations
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
1987 | NWA and the Posse | - | - | - | - |
US-
gold
US
|
First published: November 6th, 1987
Sales: + 500,000 |
1996 | Greatest hits | - | - | - |
UK49 4
gold
(5 weeks)UK |
US48
gold
(13 weeks)US |
First published: July 2nd, 1996
Sales: + 600,000 |
1999 | The NWA Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988-1998 | - | - | - | - |
US77
platinum
(8 weeks)US |
First published: March 23, 1999
Sales: + 1,000,000 |
2002 | The NWA Legacy, Vol. 2 | - | - | - | - |
US154 (2 weeks) US |
First published: August 27, 2002
|
2006 | The Best of NWA: The Strength of Street Knowledge |
- | - | - |
UK-
gold
UK
|
US72 (7 weeks) US |
First published: December 26th, 2006
Sales: + 100,000 |
2008 | NWA and Their Family Tree | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: September 30, 2008
|
EPs
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
1987 | Panic Zone | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: August 13, 1987
|
1990 | 100 Miles and Runnin ' | - | - | - |
UK38 (4 weeks) UK |
US27
platinum
(25 weeks)US |
First published: August 14, 1990
Sales: + 1,000,000 |
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
1988 | Straight Outta Compton Straight Outta Compton |
- | - | - |
UK66 5
gold
(3 weeks)UK |
US38 5
platinum
(2 weeks)US |
First published: July 10, 1988
Sales: +1,400,000 |
Gangsta Gangsta Straight Outta Compton |
- | - | - |
UK70 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: September 5, 1988
|
|
1989 | Express Yourself Straight Outta Compton |
- | - | - |
UK26th
silver
(9 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: March 27, 1989
Sales: + 200,000 |
1991 |
Appetite for Destruction Niggaz4Life |
- | - | - | - | - |
First publication: 1991
|
Alwayz into Somethin ' Niggaz4Life |
- | - | - |
UK60 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: April 15, 1991
feat. Admiral D. |
|
1999 | Chin Check Soundtrack for Next Friday |
- | - | - | - | - |
First published: August 23, 1999
feat. Snoop Dogg |
The following songs did not appear as single, but were made available for download and streaming through the album and were thus able to achieve a placement: | |||||||
2015 | Fuck tha Police Straight Outta Compton |
- | - | - |
UK97
silver
(1 week)UK |
- |
Sales: + 200,000
|
Video albums
year | title | Remarks |
---|---|---|
1992 | Niggaz4Life: The Only Home Video | First published: November 2, 1992 |
statistics
Chart evaluation
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Awards for music sales
-
Canada
- 1999: for the album Greatest Hits
- 2003: for the album The NWA Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988–1998
- 2016: for the song Fuck tha Police
Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.
Country / Region | silver | gold | platinum | Sales | swell |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
|||||
Canada (MC) | - | 3 × gold3 | - | 140,000 | musiccanada.com |
United States (RIAA) | - | 2 × gold2 | 7 × platinum7th | 7,500,000 | riaa.com |
United Kingdom (BPI) | 2 × silver2 | 3 × gold3 | platinum1 | 1,300,000 | bpi.co.uk |
All in all | 2 × silver2 | 8 × gold8th | 8 × platinum8th |
swell
- ↑ Potter, Russell A. Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip-Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism . State University of New York Press, 1995. p50. ISBN 0-7914-2626-2
- ↑ Ice Cube produces NWA biopic
- ↑ Steve Hochman: FBI Claims Song by NWA Advocates Violence on Police In: Los Angeles Times , October 5, 1989. Retrieved July 24, 2015
- ↑ Inductees 2016
- ↑ a b c d Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
Web links
- NWAWorld (English)
- NWA at Discogs (English)
- Detailed article on the band's history in the Los Angeles Times (English)