

N.W.A: American Gangstas - pmcpinto
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/n-w-a-american-gangsters-20150827

======
npkarnik
I'm blown away by how much of modern American (urban and suburban) culture can
be attributed to the rise of gangsta rap. I work as a software engineer at a
large tech company, and I can regularly hear (and am certainly guilty of)
people greeting in the hallways: "what's going on homeboy!"

I have been listening to "Straight Outta Compton" for about 9 years, and what
surprises me is how simultaneously dated the album sounds along with how ahead
of its time it is. As Dr. Dre says in the linked article...the choruses are
mostly him scratching the record. At the same time, the lyrics are so
unapologetically violent and degrading towards women, that it influenced
literally every major rap record that came after. Even the conscious rap
movement was a concerted effort to distinguish itself from some of the more
ignorant, hardcore stuff.

"Fuck the Police" is somehow MORE relevant 27 years after it was released, and
I'm not convinced a popular rap artist would release a song today with a
warning about a "bloodbath of cops dying in LA." Even Eminem had lyrics about
Columbine censored on the explicit version of his album.

~~~
ap22213
1989\. I was 14. For the previous several years, almost every week my friends
and I would go to the mall's record shop and buy (or steal) cassette tapes
(right after visiting the arcade). The cassettes were $14.99, and the best
that you could find then was whatever junk was playing on the radio. Music was
only the radio then, or maybe MTV (You have to remember that 'cable tv' had
only recently become available, and the original 13 channels had exploded to a
whopping 20-some channels). If you wanted to express yourself, maybe you were
into hair rock. Otherwise, the top 40 was generally music that your parents
would listen to.

My friends and I recently discovered skateboarding around that time, which had
finally transcended the west coast. And, alternative music (via 120 minutes)
was almost turning the corner.

I think I discovered N.W.A. from Thrasher (a skateboarding magazine) or maybe
a skateboarding video. I can't remember. But, I remember having to special
order the cassette from the record shop. I got the tape, and immediately went
home to pop it into my boom box. It was amazing. It was like punk rock for the
RnB genre. Before then, our world of 'hip hop' was Tone Loc, Fat Boys, JJ Cool
J - all record company sanctioned, lifeless, commercialized, censored.

N.W.A. really spoke to us kids, who were feeling massive angst, ennui,
despair, rage, and desperation. The lyrics were clever, memorable, and violent
- but most importantly it was truly rebellious. We had grown up in a tough
time - crime was almost at its peak in the US, inequality was rampant, we were
forced to conform, against our will, and our parents (the baby boomers) were
largely absent. The police were, in a way, much worse than they are today. To
me, it was the voice of struggling youths talking to the struggling youths
throughout the country.

I probably listened to that tape until the tape wore out. My boom box
eventually shredded it into bits and pieces and the tape reeled itself out
onto my counter. But, I loved that album. I'd memorized all of the lyrics. It
wasn't the last 'rap' that I'd listen to, but it was incredibly influential.
It was a time when rebellion was still truly rebellion, before the
corporations had analyzed, optimized, and regurgitated rebellion into a
billion dollar industry.

I recently listened to Straight Outta Compton, and it was pretty bad. But, at
the time, it was amazing. So much nostalgia and memories.

------
exodust
Straight Outa Compton is a thumping track, I still love it.

They had a few juvenile train wrecks too such as...

'A Bitch Iz A Bitch'...

"Bitch eat shit 'n die Ice cube comin' at you at crazy pitch (Why?) I think a
bitch is a bitch" ...etc

~~~
deepnet
Dr Dre's 'wall of sound' composed from 1000s of samples would be impossible
now - licensing would be astronomical & unnatainable - only the underground
could pull it off - it remains as a imperfect definitive milestone in American
culture - as hard and raw as it needed to be and strong sweet, beat poised, &
heartfelt like Coltrane. Unique.

------
madengr
I only had Eazy duz it, but man that album has hilarious.

------
olivermarks
'the most dangerous hip-hop group in the world' \- more like a bunch of upper
middle class music industry insiders posturing as rappers to commercialize
what had been a very dynamic musical art form...

Wrestlemania pr stunts to make it seem more real

~~~
semi-extrinsic
Huh? All of them grew up and lived in Compton and/or South Central. When did
that become upper middle class? And do you have any reference for them being
music industry insiders?

~~~
ironsides
I think the original poster was referencing recent events ie the movie and
selling out. The wrestlemania portion I think was in relation to Suge Knight
running over 2 dudes during filming of NWA and killing one of them. Ref:
[http://newsrty.com/surveillance-video-suge-knight-running-
ov...](http://newsrty.com/surveillance-video-suge-knight-running-over-2-men-
killing-one-ford-raptor)

As far as upper middle class record industry insiders - Sure, Dr Dre net worth
is projected to be $810 Million. He did Beats and Death Row Records etc.

[http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-
celebrities/richest...](http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-
celebrities/richest-rappers/dr-dre-net-worth/)

Ice Cube at $140 million [http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-
celebrities/richest...](http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-
celebrities/richest-rappers/ice-cube-net-worth/)

Easy E was estimated at around 8 million.
[http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/celeb/rappers/eazy-e...](http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/celeb/rappers/eazy-
e-net-worth/)

etc.

