Check out the song with lyrics here! ...
If you're not familiar with this tune, just click above ^^^^
the Who/What: So I'm sure plenty of you folks remember or have heard (or at least heard of) one of the most controversial songs in rap history. I'm talking about the song released by the rap group N.W.A titled "fuck tha police" which was featured on the groups first album "Straight Outta Compton". N.W.A was always a group which did things their own way and this song is a great example of that. The group consisted of O'Shea Jackson (Ice Cube), Eric Wright (Eazy-E), Andre Young (Dr. Dre), Lorenzo Patterson (MC Ren), and in the early days, rapper Kim Nazel (Arabian Prince) performed with the group but would leave shortly after their first album.
The object is the entire song. The lyrics were harsh and controversial and the sound was in your face and came right at you. A lot of people may have probably thought what N.W.A had the courage and platform to say. The entire song represents what was occurring in inner city LA with LAPD and police brutality mainly against minorities.
The Where: Everywhere practically. This song, along with other N.W.A hits, have spanned the globe, but this song was released by Ruthless records under Priority records which were based in Los Angeles. Keep in mind the song is influenced by what Ice Cube and his band mates went through growing up in Compton through out their childhood and teenage years. This jam has become a staple of west coast gangsta rap.
When? The song was released in August of 1988. The 1980s in Los Angeles saw plenty of racial tension and police brutality. Along with the introduction and growth of crack into inner cities, it seemed like at the end of the decade it could all reach a boiling point. At the time raps demographic was still heavily an urban inner city audience so the message took a while to reach the burbs and the non rap crowd, but even when it did, people only saw how offensive the song was and not where the group was coming from.
Why: N.W.A, primarily Ice Cube, felt that they needed to write something that encapsulated what had been going on in their neighborhood and around them for too long. The story goes, and the claim was supported by the biopic also titled "Straight Outta Compton", that Cube was so irate after two police officers rolled up on the group while they were standing outside a recording studio where they were working on their first album. The cops treated the group like criminals and assumed they had drugs on them. A song like this had to be done, but i think N.W.A was ahead of their time.
This song definitely articulated through a rap group from Compton to rap fans from Compton or places like Compton. It identifies a culture which at the time was looked down upon and heavily stereotyped, black youth culture, rap culture, west coast culture, and would stand the test of time and can even associate with some among the #blacklivesmatter movement because of what has been going on with police and young minorities across the country.
Dibs!!!! BetoH
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