Formation and "Panic Zone" (1987–1988) N.W.A was assembled by
Compton-based
Eazy-E, who co-founded
Ruthless Records with
Jerry Heller. Eazy-E sought an introduction to Steve Yano. Although Yano initially rebuffed him, he was impressed by Eazy-E's persistence, and arranged a meeting with
Dr. Dre. Initially, N.W.A consisted of Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, fellow producer
Arabian Prince and
Ice Cube who started out as a rapper for the group
C.I.A. Ruthless released the single "
Panic Zone" in 1987 with Macola Records, which was later included on the compilation album
N.W.A. and the Posse. N.W.A was still in its developing stages, and is only credited on three of the eleven tracks, notably the uncharacteristic record "Panic Zone", "8-Ball", and "Dopeman", which marked the first collaboration of Eazy E, Arabian Prince, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube. Mexican rapper Krazy-Dee co-wrote "Panic Zone", which was originally called "Hispanic Zone", but the title was later changed when Dr. Dre advised Krazy-Dee that the word "hispanic" would hinder sales. Also included was Eazy-E's solo track "
Boyz-n-the-Hood". Dre later brought
DJ Yella on board as well. Dre and Yella were both formerly members of the
World Class Wreckin' Cru as DJs and producers. Finally, solo rapper
MC Ren joined the group.
Eazy-Duz-It and Straight Outta Compton (1988–1989) N.W.A recorded their official debut,
Straight Outta Compton, during the summer and fall of 1988. Twenty-six years later, member and co-producer of the
Straight Outta Compton film, Ice Cube, commented "they were talking about what really led into the style that we ended up doing, which is now called hardcore gangster rap." Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince as HighPowered Productions, composed the beats for each song, with Dre making occasional rapping appearances. The D.O.C., Ice Cube, and MC Ren wrote most of the group's lyrics, including "Fuck tha Police", perhaps the group's most notorious song, which brought them into conflict with various
law enforcement agencies. Under pressure from
Focus on the Family, Milt Ahlerich, an assistant director of the
FBI sent a letter to Ruthless and its distributing company
Priority Records, advising the rappers that "advocating violence and assault is wrong and we in the law enforcement community take exception to such action." This letter can still be seen at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
Cleveland, Ohio. Policemen refused to provide security for the group's concerts, hurting their plans to tour. Nonetheless, the FBI's letter only served to draw more publicity to the group.
Straight Outta Compton was also one of the first albums to adhere to the new
Parental Advisory label scheme, then still in its early stages: the label at the time consisted of "WARNING: Moderate impact coarse language and/or themes" only. However, the taboo nature of N.W.A's music was the most important factor of its mass appeal. Media coverage compensated for the group's lack of airplay, and its album eventually went double
platinum. Two months before
Straight Outta Compton, Eazy-E's solo debut
Eazy-Duz-It was released. By the time
Straight Outta Compton was finished, Arabian Prince increasingly became disillusioned with how Heller managed the group's funds. He gradually skipped studio sessions and photoshoots. N.W.A. accompanied
Public Enemy and
Ice-T on a short nationwide tour from December 1988 to January 1989. When the short tour concluded, Arabian Prince had left the group.
Straight Outta Compton was released in January 1989. having written almost half of the lyrics on
Straight Outta Compton himself, he felt he was not getting a fair share of the profits. A lawsuit brought by Ice Cube against band manager Jerry Heller was settled out of court. He wasted little time putting together his solo debut, 1990's ''
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted'', but he avoided mentioning his former label mates. N.W.A's title track from their 1990
EP ''
100 Miles and Runnin''', however, included a
diss towards Cube: ''"We started with five, but yo / One couldn't take it—So now it's four / Cuz the fifth couldn't make it."'' The video for the song depicted the remaining members of N.W.A together in a jail cell, while an Ice Cube look-alike is released. Also heard on the EP (which found its way on the
Efil4zaggin album) was "Real Niggaz", a full-blown diss to Ice Cube where the remaining members accuse him of cowardice, and question his authenticity, longevity and originality: ''"How the fuck you think a rapper lasts / With your ass sayin' shit that was said in the past / Yo, be original, your shit is sloppy / Get off the dick, you motherfuckin' carbon-copy"
, and "We started out with too much cargo / So I'm glad we got rid of
Benedict Arnold, yo."'' The song "
100 Miles and Runnin'" was Dr. Dre's final
uptempo recording, which had been a common feature of late 1980s hip-hop. After this, he focused on a midtempo,
synthesizer based sound which became known as
G-funk, starting with "
Alwayz Into Somethin'" from
Efil4zaggin in 1991. The G-funk style dominated both the West and East Coast hip-hop music scene for several years to come. N.W.A is referenced on Ice Cube's 1990 EP,
Kill at Will, where he name-checks his former group (likely in a mocking manner) on the song "Jackin' For Beats". On "I Gotta Say What Up!!!", Ice Cube gives shout-outs to his rap peers at the time, among them
Public Enemy,
Geto Boys, and
Sir Jinx. At the end of the track, in what appears to be an on-the-phone interview, Ice Cube is asked, "Since you went solo, what's up with the rest of the crew?" and the phone is abruptly hung up on the interviewer. The group's second full-length release, 1991's
Efil4zaggin ("Niggaz4Life" spelled backwards), re-established the band in the face of Ice Cube's continued solo success. The album is considered by many Dr. Dre's finest production work, and it heralded the beginning of the G-Funk era. It also showed a clear animosity towards their former member, and derogatory references to Ice Cube are found in several songs. The interlude "A Message to B.A." echoes the beginning of his song "Turn Off the Radio" from ''AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
: Ice Cube is first addressed by the name Benedict Arnold (after the infamous traitor of the American Revolution) but then named outright in a torrent of abuse from both the group and its fans: "When we see yo' ass, we gon' cut yo' hair off and fuck you with a broomstick"'' spoken by MC Ren. The N.W.A–Ice Cube feud eventually escalated, both on record and in real life. ''AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
had avoided direct attacks on N.W.A, but on Death Certificate'', Ice Cube's second full-length release, he retaliated. He sampled and mocked the "Message to B.A." skit before embarking on a full-blown tirade, the infamous "
No Vaseline". In a series of verses, Ice Cube verbally assaulted the group: ''"You lookin' like straight bozos / I saw it comin' that's why I went solo / Kept on stompin' / When y'all Muthafuckas moved Straight outta Compton / You got jealous when I got my own company / But I'm a man, and ain't nobody humpin' me."
On January 27, 1991, Dr. Dre assaulted Dee Barnes, host of the hip-hop show Pump It Up
, after its coverage of the N.W.A/Ice Cube beef. According to Rolling Stone'' reporter Alan Light: In response, Dre commented: "People talk all this shit, but you know, if somebody fucks with me, I'm gonna fuck with them. I just did it, you know. Ain't nothing you can do now by talking about it. Besides, it ain't no big thing—I just threw her through a door."
The end of N.W.A and death of Eazy-E (1991–1999) 1991's
Niggaz4Life was the group's final album. After Dr. Dre, The D.O.C. and Michel'le departed from Ruthless to join
Death Row Records and allegations over Eazy-E being coerced into signing away their contracts (while however retaining a portion of their publishing rights), a bitter rivalry ensued. MC Ren later said that the only relationship he had with Eazy-E was through Ruthless Records, where he released the platinum-selling EP
Kizz My Black Azz (1992) and the album
Shock of the Hour (1993). Eazy-E and MC Ren ended their feud shortly before the former's death in their 1995 duet '"
Tha Muthaphukkin' Real" after two years of not talking to each other. All bad blood finally ceased within the rest of the group. Dr. Dre, MC Ren and Ice Cube later expressed their re-evaluated feelings to their old friend on 1998's "Ruthless for Life", 1999's "What's the Difference" and "
Chin Check", 2000's "
Hello", 2006's "Growin' Up", and in the 2011 music video "
I Need a Doctor". DJ Yella was reportedly the only member of N.W.A who got along so well with Eazy-E that he dedicated his 1996 album
One Mo Nigga ta Go to him.
Reunion of N.W.A, aborted third album and aftermath (1999–present) Having both parted with Ruthless Records on bad terms, tensions between Ice Cube and Dr. Dre eventually eased on their own. After Ice Cube made a
cameo appearance in Dr. Dre's "
Let Me Ride" video in 1993, the two recorded the hit song "
Natural Born Killaz" for
Snoop Dogg's 1994 short film and soundtrack
Murder Was the Case. Ice Cube also later appeared on MC Ren's album
Ruthless for Life on the track "
Comin' After You". MC Ren appeared on Dre's 1999 album
2001, and the three remaining N.W.A emcees reunited for "
Hello" on Ice Cube's 2000 album
War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc), and the song "
Chin Check" in 1999 for the
Next Friday soundtrack, a movie starring Ice Cube. and Eminem began recording in a mobile studio. A comeback album entitled
Not These Niggaz Again was planned (and included DJ Yella, who had not been present on the tour). However, due to busy and conflicting schedules as well as the obstacles of coordinating three different record labels (
Priority,
No Limit and
Interscope), obtaining the rights to the name N.W.A and endorsing the whole project to gain exclusive rights, the album never materialized. Only two tracks from these sessions were released: the aforementioned "
Chin Check" (with Snoop Dogg as a member of N.W.A) from 2000's
Next Friday soundtrack and "
Hello" from Ice Cube's 2000 album
War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc). Both songs also appeared on N.W.A's
remastered Greatest Hits. There were also partial reunions on other projects, notably "Set It Off", from Snoop Dogg's
Tha Last Meal (2000), which featured MC Ren and Ice Cube, and The D.O.C.'s "The Shit", from his 2003 album
Deuce, featuring MC Ren, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Six-Two. Dr. Dre and DJ Yella were present in the studio for the latter song. In addition to the
Greatest Hits initially released by Priority in 1996,
Capitol and Ruthless Records jointly released
The N.W.A Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988–1998 in 1999, a compilation that contained songs by other rap artists and only three songs from the actual group but various solo tracks from the five members. The success of the album prompted a second volume,
The N.W.A Legacy, Vol. 2, three years later. It emulated the format of its predecessor, containing only three genuine N.W.A tracks and many solo efforts by the crew members. In 2007, a new greatest hits package was released, entitled
The Best of N.W.A: The Strength of Street Knowledge. In 2014, Ice Cube appeared on MC Ren's remix for "
Rebel Music". This was the first time the duo had worked together since the N.W.A reunion in 2000. On June 27, 2015, MC Ren and DJ Yella joined Ice Cube during his solo set as part of the BET Experience show at the
Staples Center in
Los Angeles, California. This marked the first reunion performance of the group (minus Dr. Dre) in 15 years. Following a 27-year hiatus, the group reunited with surviving members Ice Cube, MC Ren, Dr. Dre and DJ Yella taking the stage during the second weekend of the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2016, just days following the group's Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame induction. ==Members==