N.W.A.

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Niggaz With Attitude
From left to right, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, and MC Ren.
Background information
Also known as	N.W.A.
Origin	Compton, California
Genre(s)	Gangsta rap West Coast hip hop Old school hip hop
Years active	1986-1991 1994-present
Label(s)	Ruthless Records (1986 - 1991) Death Row Records (1994) No Limit Records (1999 - 2002) Interscope Records (2007 - Present)
Associated acts	The D.O.C. Snoop Dogg Michel'le J. J. Fad
Members
Ice Cube Dr. Dre MC Ren The D.O.C. DJ Yella
Former members
Eazy-E (1986-1991) Arabian Prince (1986-1988) Krazy Dee (1986-1988)

N.W.A. ("Niggaz With Attitudes") was a hip hop group that was originally formed in Compton, California in 1986, and disbanded in 1991. Over the course of the four years that the original group was together, N.W.A. was the first rapgroup that brought the gangsta rap act to achieve widespread commercial success and mainstream appeal, without radio airplay or many other conventional mainstream promotions.^{[citation needed]} In fact, they were banned from many radio stations, and even touring. The group was responsable to what many prefer as the "Golden Age" of West coast rap.

Contents 1 Overview 1.1 "The World's Most Dangerous Group" 1.2 Departure of Ice Cube and a new album 1.3 End of N.W.A. 1.4 Reunion 2 Members 2.1 Eazy-E 2.2 Dr. Dre 2.3 Ice Cube 2.4 MC Ren 2.5 DJ Yella 2.6 The D.O.C. 2.7 Krazy Dee 2.8 Arabian Prince 3 Incarnations 4 Timeline 5 Trivia 6 Discography 6.1 Original releases 6.2 Compilations 7 Notes 8 External links

[edit] Overview

Their second album, Straight Outta Compton, marked the beginning of the new gangsta rap era as the production and lyrics were revolutionary with respect to the previous early 1980s releases of the genre. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked N.W.A. #83 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.^[1]

Widely understood to be a drug dealer, Eazy-E began Ruthless Records. Ice Cube had already written a song for him named "Boyz-N-The Hood", and when one of the bands on his label rejected it, Eazy-E decided to rap it himself. Eazy-E formed "Niggaz With Attitude" (N.W.A.) with Ice Cube as the MC, Arabian Prince, and former World Class Wreckin' Cru members Dr. Dre and DJ Yella. Eazy-E released the party album N.W.A. and the Posse on Macola Records. Although marketed as N.W.A.'s debut album, half the songs didn't feature N.W.A., but rather a loose connection of artists on Ruthless Records. This was because N.W.A. and the Posse was not a full fledged album but rather a compilation of already released singles. Notable songs include "Boyz-N-The Hood" and "Panic Zone", which introduced the real N.W.A.. The track "Dopeman" also introduced Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, along with Eazy-E to weigh in as the "dopeman". "L.A. Is The Place" and "8-Ball" are also included (which for some reason is not included in the uncensored form of N.W.A. and the Posse CD version). Arabian Prince stayed with N.W.A. until July, 1988 (but he can still be seen on the album picture of Straight Outta Compton, between DJ Yella and Ice Cube). In the same year, the group added MC Ren. One year later, Arabian Prince released Brother Arab, his first LP.

[edit] "The World's Most Dangerous Group"

N.W.A. released the groundbreaking Straight Outta Compton in 1988. Many considered it a wake-up call to the problems that were going on in the West Coast, particularly in South Central Los Angeles. "Straight Outta Compton" reflected a rising anger in the city, "Fuck tha Police" talked of police violence, and "Gangsta Gangsta" spoke of gang life. The album has become best-known for these opening three songs, since the remainder are fairly lightweight in subject matter, mainly dealing with aspects of partying. Again, it should be noted that Straight Outta Compton is also a compilation with the majority of the material already released previously on 12 inch singles.

Both Ice Cube and, to a lesser extent, MC Ren contributed with lyrics, with Eazy-E providing comic relief within his rhymes. Producers Dr. Dre and DJ Yella composed beats for each song, and Dr. Dre occasionally rapped on the album as well.

Some of the lyrics were considered highly controversial, especially those of "Fuck Tha Police", perhaps the group's most notorious song. As a result of the lyrics, Milt Ahlerich, an assistant director of the FBI, sent a letter to Ruthless Records and its parent company Priority, advising the rappers that "advocating violence and assault is wrong and we in the law enforcement community take exception to such action".[1] Policemen refused to provide security to the group's concerts, hurting their plans to tour. The FBI's letter only served to draw more publicity to the group.

This was one of the first albums which prompted the parental advisory label scheme. Yet, reflecting the change in attitudes over time, the parental advisory label then only displayed "WARNING MODERATE impact coarse language and/or themes".

Rolling Stone magazine recently placed it 144th on their list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". [2]

[edit] Departure of Ice Cube and a new album

Ice Cube left the group in late 1989 because he suspected that Eazy-E and his manager, Jerry Heller, were skimming money off of the group's album profits.^{[citation needed]} He wasted little time putting together his debut solo album, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, which included "A Message to the Oreo Cookie", an interlude in which vehement insults are addressed to an unnamed individual – perhaps the increasingly-gentrified Eazy-E, as the track concludes with a sneering "Think about it... fuckin' sell-out".

In N.W.A.'s next release, some five months later, they merely alluded neutrally to Ice Cube's departure, rapping in the title track of their EP 100 Miles and Runnin' that the group "Started with five, but one couldn't take it/So now it's four, 'cause the fifth couldn't make it".

However, the following year, the band's next full-length release, Efil4zaggin (Niggaz 4 Life spelled backwards) showed a clear animosity towards their former member. Insulting references to Ice Cube are found in several songs, and in the middle of the album the track "A Message to B.A." echoes his "A Message to the Oreo Cookie". In this interlude, Ice Cube is first addressed by the name "Benedict Arnold", after the notorious traitor of the American Revolutionary War, but then named outright in a montage of abuse. "When we see yo' ass, we gon' cut yo' hair off an' fuck you with a broomstick", promises MC Ren.

The insults escalated: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted had avoided direct attacks on N.W.A., but on Ice Cube’s second album, Death Certificate, he fired back. He sampled and mocked the "Message to B.A." before embarking on a full-length rap, "No Vaseline", accusing N.W.A. and their associates of a variety of failings, including being phonies, fools, and homosexuals. Some considered his call for the murder of Eazy-E excessive, and his references to Jerry Heller's religion prompted accusations of anti-Semitism ("You can't be the nigga for life crew, with a white Jew telling you what to do"), which may have prompted the track’s omission from the U.K. release of the album.

After Eazy-E's death, and the break-up of N.W.A., tensions eased: Ice Cube teamed up with Dr. Dre to record a track for Snoop Dogg's short film and musical project, Murder Was the Case, and both Dr. Dre and MC Ren guested on the track "Hello" on Ice Cube's 2000 album War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc).

[edit] End of N.W.A.

Dr. Dre began his solo career, forming Death Row Records with former Bobby Brown bodyguard Suge Knight. His first album was The Chronic. On the single "Fuck Wit Dre Day", Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg (now known as Snoop Dogg) diss Eazy-E on the video for "Dre Day". Eazy-E was a character named Sleazy-E which was running around desperately trying to get money.

Eazy-E responded by releasing the EP It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa. On the songs "Real Muthaphuckkin G's" (or "Real Compton City G's") and "It's On", Eazy-E disses Dr. Dre by calling him a "she thang". On the music video for "Real Muthaphuckkin G's", he shows pictures of Dr. Dre wearing cosmetics and flashy clothes. The pictures were taken during his days with the World Class Wreckin' Cru.

[edit] Reunion

In 1994, Ice Cube re-teamed with Dr. Dre for the song "Natural Born Killaz" for the soundtrack to the short film Murder Was the Case. They also planned a full length album together, Heltah Skeltah, however this project was declined after The D.O.C. released his Helter Skelter. The reunion was a hit, as it helped propel the soundtrack to number 1. 1998 saw the beginning of a partial N.W.A. reunion when Ice Cube and Dr. Dre were soon re-joined by MC Ren to record some new songs. They first recorded "Hello" for Ice Cube's sixth solo album War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc), featuring the hook "I started this gangsta shit/And this is the motherfuckin' thanks I get?". Later, the three recorded "Chin Check" for Ice Cube's movie Next Friday with Snoop Dogg in place of the deceased Eazy-E. DJ Yella was not included on either reunion tracks but was supposed to get involved later as he wasn't on the road with "The Up In Smoke Tour" along with the others, who were recording the tracks in a mobile studio. These tracks were planned to be a part of a conceptual comeback album of N.W.A. called Not These Niggaz Again, that was to be produced by Dr. Dre on the part of the beats and Ice Cube on the part of the lyrics. But due to the artists' fully booked schedules and some label problems, the new album never materialized. The main obstacles were coordinating three different record labels (Priority, No Limit, and Interscope), foreclosing the copyright of the use of the name N.W.A., and endorsing the whole project to gain exclusive rights. Supposedly they did not succeed in realizing these goals, so those two songs were added to N.W.A.'s Greatest Hits album when it was remastered (archives by VH1 from 1999, 2000, and 2002). There is another reunion on The D.O.C.'s album Deuce: "The Shit", on which The D.O.C., MC Ren, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Six-Two spit their verses. Dr. Dre and DJ Yella have nothing to do with the song, however they were present in the studio at the time. There is also a remix of the song called "Tha Shit" featuring Eazy E's son Lil Eazy-E.

Capitol and Ruthless Records released The N.W.A. Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988-1998 in 1998, an album that only contained three songs from the actual group, but contained many solo tracks from the five members. The success of the album caused the labels to release a second volume, The N.W.A. Legacy, Vol. 2, two years later. It followed the same format of the first album, containing only three tracks from the actual band and many songs from them as solo artists.

As of 2007 the group is full-fledged and back together with Dre, Ren, Ice Cube, Yella, and The D.O.C. Snoop Dogg has and will continue to contribute to the groups songs however none have been recorded. Even though they are officially making albums together, it is of least interest right now. As of today, they are most interested in helping Dre put out his final solo album, Detox. After a word with the group it appears they will make songs in the style they did on Straight Outta Compton rather than the Dr Dre G-Funk sound.

[edit] Members

[edit] Eazy-E

Main article: Eazy-E

Eazy-E was one of the founders of N.W.A.. Having dealt in drugs he decided to use the money he had made to create a record label named Ruthless Records. Eazy-E, along with Ice Cube as the MC, Arabian Prince, Krazy Dee, and former World Class Wreckin' Cru members Dr. Dre and DJ Yella formed the group N.W.A., an acronym for "Niggaz With Attitude". They would bring aboard one more member, MC Ren.

Eazy-E remained the head of Ruthless Records and was the executive producer of acts including Above the Law, MC Ren, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

After N.W.A., Eazy-E started to feud with Dr. Dre by verbally attacking Dr. Dre and his protégés on his EP It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa.

In 1995, he was working on a comeback album, Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton when he checked into a hospital with the belief he had strep throat. In a publicized statement, Eazy-E announced he had contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. During the week of March 20, the star drafted his last message to his fans. A month after making that announcement, Eazy-E succumbed to the disease at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles at age 31. Some believe^{[citation needed]} that before his death, Eazy-E had made amends with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre (although others believe that only DJ Yella saw Eazy-E while he was in the hospital). Dr. Dre said in an interview on VH1 once that Eazy-E had made peace with all the other members but when he got to the hospital to see him he was already in a coma and died shortly after.

[edit] Dr. Dre

Main article: Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre had a successful solo career as a rapper and producer. After N.W.A., he introduced the world to a new type of West Coast hip hop known as G-funk, which consists of P-Funk-influenced beats and samples and "gangsta" subject matter. The style grew to be very popular, as his debut album The Chronic went quadruple-platinum and launched the career of Snoop Dogg, who featured prominently on the album and went on to release his Dr. Dre-produced debut Doggystyle, which went 5x platinum.

Prior to the death of fellow Death Row artist Tupac Shakur and the incarceration of Death Row co-founder Suge Knight, Dr. Dre left the label, forming his own label known as Aftermath Entertainment. In 1999, he executive-produced Eminem's The Slim Shady LP, and released his sophomore 2001 album. The Slim Shady LP went on to become 5x platinum and 2001 6x platinum, helping establish Aftermath on the hip-hop scene. Dr. Dre also produced Eminem's follow-up album, The Marshall Mathers LP, which was a huge success. Dr. Dre also produced 50 Cent's best-selling major-label debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin', together with Eminem. Dr. Dre has also launched the career of The Game, executive-producing his 2005 debut album The Documentary.

Rolling Stone magazine named Dr. Dre the 54th Greatest Artist of All-Time.^[2]

[edit] Ice Cube

Main article: Ice Cube

Ice Cube also became a highly successful rapper. As of 2006, he has released six solo albums. Whereas N.W.A. rapped about gang life on the street, Ice Cube continued to include social commentary on his records on subjects such as gun control in the ghetto and the 1992 Los Angeles riots. His political albums are most remembered for referring to America as AmeriKKKa, as well as addressing hypocrisy and issues such as ganglife and racism. All of his solo albums, except his first, debuted in the top 5. His first three albums (AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, Death Certificate, and The Predator) were big hits; they all achieved platinum status, and were greeted with rave reviews by critics. His fourth solo effort, Lethal Injection, was recorded on the back of projects with his crew, Da Lench Mob, and starring in Boyz-N-The Hood. Ice Cube has experienced success as a film actor and director, starring in films such as Friday, Three Kings, xXx: State of the Union, Barbershop, and Are We There Yet?. He has also released a reality TV series in March 2006, named Black. White.. He released his new album, Laugh Now, Cry Later, in 2006 on his own record company, Da Lench Mob Records.

[edit] MC Ren

Main article: MC Ren

MC Ren began a solo career under Eazy-E's Ruthless Records and after the death of his friend and producer, DJ Train, he departed from Eazy-E's side. He remained on the record label, releasing four albums, including his first gold release and his critically acclaimed platinum LP Shock of the Hour which made him more an underground act than his former colleagues. In 2004, MC Ren announced plans for a project with West Coast political rapper Paris. This turned out to be the Public Enemy album Rebirth of a Nation (2005). MC Ren is featured most prominently on two tracks, "Raw Shit" and "Hard Truth Soldiers".

[edit] DJ Yella

Main article: DJ Yella

Being a DJ, there was not much of a commercial solo career for DJ Yella to pursue, thus he was the lone member to remain loyal to Eazy-E after the breakup. He continued producing Eazy-E's records, including a couple of tracks for Eazy-E's protégés Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's debut EP Creepin on ah Come Up. He also claimed he was the lone member of N.W.A. to be at Eazy-E's deathbed when he died. After the death of his friend, DJ Yella released a solo album as a tribute to his former band-mate, but as with N.W.A., DJ Yella did not touch the mic; instead, he hired guest rappers such as Dirty Red, Dresta, Traci Nelson, Leicy Loc, B.G. Knocc Out, and Efil4zaggin lyricist Kokane to perform. DJ Yella has since retired from the music business and is now directing pornographic films.

[edit] The D.O.C.

Main article: The D.O.C.

The D.O.C. joined N.W.A. in 1986 as a rapper. After the group's first album, N.W.A. and the Posse, he left the group. However, after Ice Cube briefly left the group in 1987, The D.O.C. joined the group as a writer. He impressed them so much that he was kept in the group as a writer even after Ice Cube returned. The D.O.C. wrote lyrics on all of N.W.A.'s albums, particularly on the album Efil4zaggin. In 1989, The D.O.C. released his Dr. Dre-produced debut album, No One Can Do It Better. Dr. Dre's production was similar to his production work for N.W.A. at the time, but he also included one rap/rock song and a reggae-influenced track. At a time when virtually every well known California rapper was releasing gangsta rap albums, The D.O.C. released an LP with lyrics that more closely resembled the styling of East Coast lyricists. Shortly after the album's release, The D.O.C. was involved in a car accident which severed his larynx, reducing his voice to a raspy wheeze. He went on to introduce Dr. Dre to Suge Knight and help mold the career of Snoop Dogg. The D.O.C. split with Death Row after a dispute over money, and recorded an ill-advised comeback album, Helter Skelter in 1995. With his voice reduced to an ineffective rasp it didn't create the buzz his debut did. He returned to his hometown, Dallas, to form his record label and released his third album, Deuce. He did admit never being a member of N.W.A. but rather their official writer and temporary vocal replacement (when Ice Cube was studying in Phoenix). In 2007, he announced his next solo album will be released after he and Dre put out Detox. He claimed the 2007 N.W.A. reunion is actually his first time as an official member of the group.

[edit] Krazy Dee

Main article: Krazy Dee

Krazy Dee joined N.W.A. in 1986 as a rapper with the stage name "Culo Popper". After the group's first album, N.W.A. and the Posse, he left the group in 1988 from Ruthless Records to Lakeshore Records to start his own career. It is unknown why he left N.W.A., but he will release a documentary called "Ghetto Godz", where he tells why he left.

[edit] Arabian Prince

Main article: Arabian Prince

Arabian Prince found the going tough when he departed the group for a solo career in 1988. His debut Brother Arab barely scraped the bottom of the R&B and Pop Charts in 1989. His album credits include Where's My Bytches as well as work on N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton and production for various other West Coast hip-hop artists. Arabian Prince has reappeared testing video games for FOX Interactive around the year 2000, and currently works at Pixar animation studio.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Incarnations

1st Incarnation 1986 - 1987

• Eazy-E
• Ice Cube
• Dr. Dre
• Arabian Prince
• Krazy Dee
• The D.O.C.

2nd Incarnation 1987 - 1988

• Eazy-E
• Ice Cube
• Dr. Dre
• Arabian Prince
• Krazy Dee
• MC Ren
• DJ Yella
• The D.O.C.

3rd Incarnation 1988 - 1989

• Eazy-E
• Ice Cube
• Dr. Dre
• MC Ren
• DJ Yella
• The D.O.C.

4th Incarnation 1990 - 1991

• Eazy-E
• Dr. Dre
• MC Ren
• DJ Yella

5th Incarnation 1999 - 2000

• Ice Cube
• Dr. Dre
• MC Ren

6th Incarnation 2007 - present

• Ice Cube
• Dr. Dre
• MC Ren
• The D.O.C.
• DJ Yella

[edit] Timeline

• 1986 - N.W.A. is unofficially formed with members like Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, The D.O.C., Krazy Dee, Arabian Prince and DJ Yella.

• March 3, 1987 - Eazy-E meets his future business partner and manager, Jerry Heller.

• July 9, 1987 - Eazy-E disbanded the street duo "Eazy-E & Ron-De-Vu" (the duo's songs in N.W.A. and the Posse were "L.A. Is The Place" and "Fat Girl"). After he explained to Ron-De-Vu that he has a real group now, Ron-De-Vu started doing music with Alonzo Williams and Cli-N-Tel.

• November 6, 1987 - N.W.A. releases their first album, though only 4 songs out of 11 are performed by N.W.A..

• November, 1987 - N.W.A., with all six members, starts a 14-date national tour on the bill with UTFO, Salt-N-Pepa and Heavy D.

• February, 1988 - Back-up members Ron-De-Vu and Krazy Dee leave N.W.A., Arabian Prince soon leaves afterward.

• February, 1988 - MC Ren and The D.O.C. join N.W.A., MC Ren as a rapper and The D.O.C. as a writer.

• July, 1988 - Ruthless Records cuts a deal with Atco Records to distibute products by J. J. Fad and Michel'le.

• August, 1988 - N.W.A. releases its first official album, Straight Outta Compton, which eventually sells 3 million units.

• September, 1988 - Music channel MTV bans N.W.A.'s music video for "Straight Outta Compton", claiming the clip, a re-creation of a police gang sweep of black teens, "glorified violence".

• September 16, 1988 - Eazy-E releases his solo album Eazy-Duz-It, which eventually sells more than 2.5 million copies.

• June 19, 1989 - Members of N.W.A. are arrested for performing "Fuck Tha Police" on stage.

• August 20, 1989 - The D.O.C. falls asleep while behind the wheel of a car and gets into a serious accident. He loses his voice as a result of the accident.

• August, 1989 - A 16-year-old woman says she was raped after a concert in Birmingham, Alabama. In a later civil suit she claims she had a daughter as a result of being raped by N.W.A. member Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson on a tour bus after the concert.

• September, 1989 - The FBI sends a letter to Ruthless Records and its parent company Priority Records, warning the group that the agency didn't take kindly to the single "Fuck Tha Police".

• December 30, 1989 - Ice Cube leaves N.W.A. after financial problems and several conflicts with their manager Jerry Heller and Eazy-E.

• August, 1990 - N.W.A. releases EP 100 Miles and Runnin', which eventually sells 500,000 copies.

• September, 1990 - WaxWorks, a 110-store, Kentucky-based retail chain, pulls 100 Miles and Runnin' from its store shelves and refuses to sell it due to its explicit references to oral sex and gang violence.

• November, 1990 - FOX TV rap video show "Pump It Up" runs a segment on N.W.A. in which it crosscuts between members of the group bad-mouthing Ice Cube, and an interview in which Ice Cube is saying insulting things about them.

• January 27, 1991 - N.W.A.'s member Dr. Dre runs into "Pump It Up" host Dee Barnes at a record release party in Los Angeles and gets into a physical confrontation with her.

• February, 1991 - Barnes files criminal charges against André "Dr. Dre" Young for "assault and battery" and files a $22.7 million lawsuit against Dr. Dre and the members of N.W.A.. The civil case is eventually settled outside of court.

• May 29, 1991 - N.W.A. releases Efil4zaggin, which eventually sells more than one million copies.

• June 22, 1991 - Efil4zaggin becomes the first gangsta rap album to reach number 1 on the Billboard 200 charts.

• July, 1991 - Dr. Dre leaves N.W.A. after financial problems and several conflicts with their manager, Jerry Heller.

• August, 1991 - N.W.A. breaks up.

• August, 1991 - Dr. Dre forms Death Row Records with former bodyguard Suge Knight.

• August, 1991 - Eazy-E files a state court complaint against Dr. Dre, Death Row Records executive Marion "Suge" Knight and rap artist The D.O.C. that alleges the defendants used "duress" and "menace" to get Eazy-E to void his exclusive contracts with Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. The case is still pending.

• September, 1991 - Eazy-E cancels his second solo album Temporary Insanity after refusing to pay Dr. Dre his part (Dr. Dre was a producer in this album).

• September, 1991 - Eazy-E removes songs from this album that were produced by Dr. Dre and renames the album 5150: Home 4 Tha Sick.

• 1992 - Dr. Dre releases his debut album, The Chronic.

• 1992 - Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg release a song called "Dre Day" as a diss to Eazy-E.

• 1993 - Ice Cube reunites with Dr. Dre.

• 1994 - Dr. Dre and Ice Cube put out Natural Born Killaz.

• 1994 - Eazy-E finds a rap group from Cleveland called "Bone Thugs-N-Harmony".

• 1994 - Eazy-E releases a song called "Real Muthaphuckkin G's" as a diss to Dr. Dre.

• 1995 - Eazy-E passes away due to complications with the AIDS virus.

• 1996 - MC Ren joins Dr. Dre and Ice Cube in Miami, Florida.

• 1997 - They record a song called "This is the Final Cut" as a way to bring back their notoriety.

• 1999 - Dr. Dre and MC Ren re-unite with Yella live on stage and begin touring with Ice Cube, Eminem and Snoop Dogg for "The Up In Smoke" tour. They performed the song "Hello" with Ice Cube live during the tour.

• 2000 - Reunion tracks, "Chin Check" and "Hello" are put on Next Friday's soundtrack. Also, they recorded a song called "Tha Shit".

• 2007 - Dr. Dre to release Detox, there is no track confirmation yet, but possibility of another collaboration.

[edit] Trivia

• Were active from 1986-1991, however in 1993, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre began recording singles such as Natural Born Killaz for an album called Heltah Skeltah, which never happened.
• After Dr. Dre left the group, he planned to release Two Heads Are Better Than One together with MC Ren. However, the album was cancelled. The set release date of the album was May 4, 1992.
• MC Ren is one day older than Ice Cube.
• In 2004, "Alwayz Into Somethin'" and "Express Yourself" appeared on popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on West Coast hip hop radio station Radio Los Santos. "Express Yourself" was also featured on 2002's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.
• An album may or may not be recoreded as of 2007, however they announced that they are back together as a group. Each member said they won't be releasing an album, but rather have one another featured on one of the member's solo efforts. An album although has come to mind sice Yella rejoined this April. (It may be released on Interscope, No Limit, and possibly Aftermath. Dr. Dre has tried to establish a second Death Row Records without Suge Knight or any artist on the current roster. Dre claims since Suge left the music business, he is reinventing the label to be more like it was from 1992 - 1996).
• Each member has invested into opening their own label for N.W.A. Dr. Dre claims he will use the remains of Death Row in order to create NWA's own label.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Original releases

Album cover	Album information
	N.W.A. and the Posse Released: November 6, 1987 (vinyl), November 13, 1989 (CD) Chart positions: - Last RIAA certification: Gold Singles: "Panic Zone"
	Straight Outta Compton Released: August, 1988 (original), February 6, 1989 (re-released date) Chart positions: #37 US, #9 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, #35 UK (2003 Remastered version) Last RIAA certification: 2x Platinum Singles: "Straight Outta Compton", "Express Yourself"
	100 Miles and Runnin' Released: August 16, 1990 Chart positions: #27 US, #10 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, #38 UK Last RIAA certification: Gold Singles: "100 Miles and Runnin'"
	Efil4zaggin Released: May 28, 1991 Chart positions: #1 US, #2 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, #25 UK Last RIAA certification: Platinum Singles: "Appetite For Destruction", "Alwayz into Somethin'"

[edit] Compilations

Album cover	Album information
	Greatest Hits Released: June 2, 1996 Chart positions: #48 US, #20 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, #56 UK Last RIAA description: Gold Singles: "Alwayz into Somethin'", "100 Miles And Runnin", "Express Yourself", "Straight Outta Compton", "Hello"
	The N.W.A. Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988-1998 Released: March 3, 1999 Chart positions: #77 US, #42 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Last RIAA description: Gold Singles:
	The N.W.A. Legacy, Vol. 2 Released: August 27, 2002 Chart positions: #154 US, #38 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Last RIAA description: Gold Singles:
	The Best of N.W.A. - The Strength of Street Knowledge Released: January 8, 2007 Singles:

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official N.W.A. Legacy site
• N.W.A. World
• A collection of N.W.A. Lyrics and Videos
• The N.W.A. Legacy: The Video Collection at the Internet Movie Database
• A personal rememberance of Straight Outta Compton
• Mike "Crazy Neck" Sims - Guitarist N.W.A. [3]