It was N.W.A's incendiary words a decade ago that made the Southern California group the most controversial and influential ever in rap. They even drew the fire of an FBI official who said that some lyrics in N.W.A's "Straight Outta Compton" album encouraged violence against law enforcement officers.
The language in that album--which defined the entire gangsta rap movement in America--was startling. Though other artists had laid the foundation for N.W.A's tales of inner-city frustrations, no one had ever written with such force.
For many listeners at the time, it was hard to believe that anyone was putting these words on record--not just the expletives, but also the ribald humor and the relentless rage. It was music that would directly influence artists ranging from the late 2Pac to DMX.
But the legacy of the five--Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren and Yella--isn't limited to N.W.A's words, or even to its own recordings. Some of its alumni, notably Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, have gone on to give us some of the most acclaimed and successful rap albums, including Dre's 1992 "The Chronic" and Cube's 1990 "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted."
One of the remarkable things about N.W.A's music, which has been compiled in "The N.W.A Legacy Volume 1 (1988-1998)," a two-disc retrospective due March 23 from Priority Records, is its revolutionary musical textures.
It would be difficult to overestimate the contributions that producers Dr. Dre and Yella made to N.W.A's breakthrough album, offering sonic knockout punches on each track of "Straight Outta Compton."
While most of their contemporaries were sampling the festive, funky tracks of artists such as James Brown, N.W.A spurned the comfortable and immersed itself in the gangster formula.
Driving drums, wailing sirens and piercing keyboards created a sinister backdrop that was matched by the anti-authority raps of Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren and Dr. Dre.
Although Public Enemy's earlier sound collages were as abrasive and commanding as any music being produced at the time, N.W.A added an overpowering menace to its nonstop assault that was an obvious influence on the throng of up-and-coming beatsmiths.
"Efil4Zaggin," N.W.A's darkest effort, spawned the most imitators. The 1991 album was full of macabre, eerie, hair-raising backdrops that could easily serve as the soundtrack for a murder. The harrowing beats were intended to match the extreme lyrics, which were more violent and sexually deviant than those on their earlier works.
