This is an installment in The Posse Project, a 12-day series in which www.PHXmusic.com catches up with all 12 guys pictured on the cover of N.W.A's first album, N.W.A. Today, we continue with Candyman, who ironically went on to become a one hit wonder with the single 'Knockin' Boots.' ^Candyman then^ ^Candyman today^ Candy Man. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2015 Lenticular 3D Cover Vinyl release of N.W.A. And The Posse on Discogs. And the Posse is a 1987 release that compiled various Dr. Dre-produced tracks. The album features a collection of rap musicians at the beginnings of their soon-to-be successful career, including previously released tracks by N.W.A, Eazy-E, the Fila Fresh Crew, and Rappinstine. Continuing with its vinyl campaign, RTC has reissued this classic album that's a must-have for any N.W.A fan. And the Posse is a 1987 Macola Records release that compiled various Dr. Dre-produced tracks and was marketed as an album by N.W.A. It includes previously released tracks by N.W.A, Eazy-E.
N.W.A. and the Posse | ||
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(L-R) Top: DJ Train (obscured), Sir Jinx; Middle: MC Chip, MC Ren, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, K-Dee, Ice Cube, Arabian Prince, DJ Scratch (obscured); Bottom: Krazy Dee, Candyman. | ||
Compilation album by | ||
Released | November 6, 1987 (original) November 13, 1989 (reissue) | |
Recorded | 1986–87 | |
Genre | ||
Length | 46:26 | |
Label |
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Producer | Andre Young | |
N.W.A chronology | ||
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Singles from N.W.A. And The Posse | ||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic |
N.W.A. and the Posse, often regarded as American rap group N.W.A's first or debut but neglected album,[1][2][3] is a compilation album, rereleasing N.W.A and associated, underground rap songs from the Los Angeles area's rap scene on November 6, 1987.[4][5] N.W.A's authorized debut studio album, rather, is Straight Outta Compton, released in August 1988. Whereas the Straight album was certified platinum, one million copies sold, in July 1989, the Posse album was certified gold, half as many copies sold, in April 1994.[6]
Originally not N.W.A's intended album release, the Posse album was released by Macola Records—which was then the Los Angeles hip hop scene's main distributor—by collecting songs, mainly N.W.A's EP titled N.W.A, that Macola had distributed for N.W.A's record label, Ruthless Records.[7][8][9] Macola omitted the N.W.A EP's track 'A Bitch iz a Bitch' to favor party, electro sounds, like the 'Panic Zone' track, that led the Los Angeles rap scene until N.W.A's Straight album hit.[10][7][11] Months after that national, rap landmark's arrival, its own distributor, the new Ruthless distributor, Priority Records, reissued the Posse album with the 'Bitch' track.[7]
Six of the 11 tracks on the Posse album are of N.W.A's membership as it soon crystallized publicly: Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Arabian Prince, and DJ Yella. (MC Ren, soon the other public member, was not yet in N.W.A.) One track is of Microphone Mike, later called Myka 9, along with Rappinstine, a traveling faction of the DJ crew World Class Wreckin' Cru, whose core had yielded N.W.A's Dr. Dre and DJ Yella.
Four of the Posse album's tracks are all of Ruthless Records' releases from the Fila Fresh Crew,[5] a rap crew including Doc-T, who soon renamed himself The D.O.C.[7] Recently welcomed to Los Angeles by Dr. Dre, the crew had been discovered by him in Texas, where a DJ friend of his, Dr. Rock, had invited him to perform at a nightclub, where the crew, too, performed.[5][11] By 1988 a ghostwriter for N.W.A, and by 1989 a solo rapper on its Ruthless label,[11] The D.O.C. had reportedly been an N.W.A member.[10] (In a 2015 interview, he states that even in 1989, after a car accident ended his rap career, he remained in N.W.A.)[12]
N.W.A. & EP[edit]
The World Class Wreckin' Cru's home base was the Eve After Dark nightclub, just outside of Compton in Los Angeles county.[13] Also performing electro rap, the Wreckin' Cru's core, including Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, led by Grandmaster Lonzo, made the Los Angeles rap scene's first album released under a major record label, by Epic Records under CBS.[13] Otherwise, the Wreckin' Cru was on Lonzo's label Kru-Cut Records, a sublabel of Macola Records, the area's leading distributor of rap records.[13] Meanwhile, Eric Wright formed, in Compton, a new label, Ruthless Records.[10][13] Wright recruited Dr. Dre, already connected to Macola and to Audio Achievements recording studio, located in Torrance, California, to produce records, whereupon they recruited Ice Cube, in a local rap group called C.I.A., to write lyrics.[8][14]
Zeke and luther games. Once the rap group H.B.O., or Home Boys Only, signed by Ruthless from New York City, refusing to record the Ruthless songcrafting team's new song 'Boyz-n-the-Hood,' left the studio,[15] Wright, persuaded by Dre, rapped it himself, dubbed Eazy-E.[10][8][14] At the single's success, 200,000 copies sold,[8] Eazy formed N.W.A, initially a nebulous group of musical associates.[10][11][16] At N.W.A's core were three members—in his own words, Eazy the 'conceptualizer,' Cube the 'lyricizer,' and Dre the 'musicalizer'[16]—supported by producers Yella and Arabian Prince.[16][17] The success of N.W.A's first three releases—'Boyz-n-the-Hood,' 'Dope Man,' and '8 Ball'—prompted Eazy's call for an EP, distributed by Macola.[11] The EP's five songs included Dre and Cube on 'A Bitch iz a Bitch,' Eazy on 'Fat Girl,' and Arabian's production 'Panic Zone.'[11]
Photo & Posse[edit]
Dj Train Death
For the EP's cover photo, Eazy summoned N.W.A's members, and maybe some of its circle, to pose for the camera in a Hollywood alleyway near Macola's office.[11][17] Reportedly, some who were photographed wound up there by merely driving or accompanying another.[17] And future N.W.A rapper MC Ren, living near Eazy,[9] although photographed, was not yet in N.W.A.[16][17] On the other hand, DJ Yella, although already active within N.W.A,[16] is absent.[18] In any case, soon after the EP, titled N.W.A.—having the third period, which Ruthless would later drop—Ruthless switched distribution to the indie giant Priority Records, based in New York City.[9][19]
Exploiting the moment, Don MacMillan of Macola, reusing the photo, and adding more Ruthless songs, created a compilation album, N.W.A. and the Posse.[8][9] Still, some photographed are not on the LP's songs, whereas those in the added songs are not photographed.[17] In August 1988, N.W.A's new distributor, Priority, released Straight Outta Compton—N.W.A's first intended album release, first authorized debut album[8]—with two tracks remixing ones on Posse, '8 Ball' and 'Dopeman.' And in 1989, Priority reissued Posse, if replacing the Microphone Mike & Rappinstine track 'Scream' in favor, after all, of N.W.A's track 'A Bitch iz a Bitch,' featuring Rappinstine.[7]
No. | Title | Performers | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | 'Boyz-n-the-Hood' | Eazy-E | 5:37 |
2. | '8 Ball' | N.W.A. | 4:26 |
3. | 'Dunk the Funk' | Fila Fresh Crew | 5:01 |
4. | 'Scream' | M. 'Microphone Mike' Troy, Rappinstine | 3:18 |
5. | 'Drink It Up' | Fila Fresh Crew | 4:45 |
6. | 'Panic Zone' | N.W.A., Krazy Dee | 3:33 |
7. | 'L.A. Is the Place' | Eazy-E, Ron-De-Vu | 4:31 |
8. | 'Dope Man' | N.W.A., Krazy Dee | 6:16 |
9. | 'Tuffest Man Alive' | Fila Fresh Crew | 2:16 |
10. | 'Fat Girl' | Eazy-E, Ron-De-Vu | 2:45 |
11. | '3 the Hard Way' | Fila Fresh Crew | 4:10 |
Total length: | 46:26 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA)[20] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^shipments figures based on certification alone |
- ^Stephen Thomas Erlewine, 'N.W.A: Biography', AllMusic.com, Netaktion LLC, visited 26 Apr 2020.
- ^Alex Henderson, 'N.W.A: N.W.A and the Posse', AllMusic.com, Netaktion LLC, visited 26 Apr 2020.
- ^Jerry Heller with Gil Reavill, Ruthless: A Memoir (New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2007).
- ^Robin D. G. Kelley, 'Kickin' reality, kickin' ballistics: Gangsta rap and postindustrial Los Angeles', in William Eric Perkins, ed., Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996), p 128.
- ^ abcRoni Sarig, Third Coast: Outkast, Timbaland, and How Hip-hop Became a Southern Thing (Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2007), indexing 'Fila Fresh Crew'.
- ^Gold & Platinum search, 'N.W.A. & the Posse', Recording Industry Association of America website, visited 26 Apr 2020.
- ^ abcdeAlex Henderson, 'N.W.A: N.W.A and the Posse', AllMusic.com, Netaktion LLC, visited 26 Apr 2020.
- ^ abcdefDavid Diallo, 'Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg', in Mickey Hess, ed., Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2007), pp 321–322.
- ^ abcdRonald 'Money B' Brooks, interviewer, Arabian Prince, interviewee, The Goin Way Back Show Stream @ YouTube, 9 Oct 2015, 27:45 mark. With the N.W.A. EP's cover photo displayed, Arabian explains the Posse LP's origin. Soon, his local contemporary, The Unknown DJ, by phone, emphasizes Macola's lead in the early Los Angeles rap scene's record distribution.
- ^ abcdeStephen Thomas Erlewine, 'N.W.A: Biography', AllMusic.com, Netaktion LLC, visited 26 Apr 2020.
- ^ abcdefgGerrick D. Kennedy, Parental Discretion Is Advised: The Rise of N.W.A and the Dawn of Gangsta Rap (New York: Atria Books, 2017), pp 85–86.
- ^Vlad Lyubovny, interviewer, 'The D.O.C. speaks on 'No Vaseline' & his friendship w/ Ice Cube', VladTV–DJVlad @ YouTube, 4 Dec 2015.
- ^ abcdDavid Diallo, ch 10 'From electro-rap to G-funk: A social history of rap music in Los Angeles and Compton, California', in Mickey Hess, ed., Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide, Volume 1: East Coast and West Coast (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2010), p 233 on World Class Wreckin' Cru, pp 234–238 on N.W.A.
- ^ abJerry Heller w/ Gil Reavill, Ruthless: A Memoir (New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2007), pp 67–69.
- ^Dre, Yella, Arabian, and Eazy assembled at the Audio Achievements studio, in Torrance, California, to present a rough cut, just the beats by Dre and Yella, and the lyrics in Cube's notebook, to H.B.O. [J Heller w/ Gil Reavill, Ruthless: A Memoir (Simon Spotlight, 2007), p 69].
- ^ abcdeJerry Heller w/ Gil Reavill, Ruthless: A Memoir (New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2007), p 103.
- ^ abcdeMartin Cizmar, 'Whatever happened to N.W.A's posse?', LA Weekly, 6 May 2010.
- ^In the photo, the five, eventual N.W.A members are side by side in the center: Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Arabian Prince, and MC Ren. Otherwise, there are seven others. Two of them had already formed, with Ice Cube, the rap trio C.I.A.: Anthony 'Sir Jinx' Wheaton and Darryll 'Kid Disaster' or 'K-Dee' Johnson. Another two were in another rap group, CPO: Clarence 'DJ Train' Lars and Granville 'MC Chip' Moton. Also, there are LaMont 'DJ Scratch' or 'King Scratch' Burnett, Candell 'Candyman' Manson, and Damon 'Krazy D' Trujillo. For backstory and developments on each, see Martin Cizmar, 'N.W.A. and the Posse: Where are the 12 guys from N.W.A's first album cover now?', Phoenix New Times, 15 Mar 2010.
- ^Priority would distribute for Rap-A-Lot Records, which had the gangsta rappers the Geto Boys, and would distribute Ice Cube's solo albums.
- ^'American album certifications – N.W.A. & The Posse – N.W.A. and the Posse'. Recording Industry Association of America.If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
Last week, Dr Dre released Compton: The Soundtrack – his first album in 16 years – with cover art that features the iconic Hollywood sign transformed to read C-O-M-P-T-O-N.
The timing, title and cover imagery of the album coincide with the new biopic Straight Outta Compton, a film that details the rise and fall of Dr Dre's former rap group NWA (Niggaz Wit Attitudes), which, along with Dre, included Eazy-E, MC Ren, DJ Yella and Ice Cube.
NWA was active for only a few years, but their 1988 album Straight Outta Compton gave birth to West Coast gangsta rap – the controversial genre of music defined by its gritty depictions of inner-city street life.
In NWA's world, however, Compton and Hollywood have never been far apart. In fact, the photograph for the cover of the group's first album – 1987's NWA and the Posse – wasn't even taken in Compton. Instead, it was shot in a graffiti-filled Hollywood alleyway near the group's first record label.
And in a deeper sense, NWA's brand of rap music was always a cinematic blend of reality and fiction: a blaxploitation film with beats. The genius of the group's approach – masterminded by member Eric 'Eazy-E' Wright – was the way it manufactured a narrative of Compton as a rough, unpredictable place, while placing it at the center of NWA's identity.
Selling the hood
For decades, real estate boosters have packaged the Southern California good life, using images of sunshine and palm trees to entice millions of Americans to relocate to the West Coast.
Under the guidance of Eazy-E, NWA commodified a more sinister version of the Los Angeles story, crafting a new brand of hardcore rap that moved from third-person descriptions of street life to first-person portrayals of the gangstas themselves.
Compare earlier recordings like Eazy-E's Boyz-n-the-Hood – which describes the arrest, trial and failed escape of a fictional drug dealer named Kilo-G – to NWA's Gangsta Gangsta, in which Ice Cube actually assumes the role of an unrepentant criminal, proclaiming:
Taking a life or two, that's what the hell I do / You don't like how I'm living? Well, fuck you!
Over Dr Dre's booming beats and sampled sounds of automatic gunfire, Ice Cube, MC Ren and Eazy-E rapped about their sexual prowess and penchant for violence. Playing upon stereotypes dating back to blackface minstrelsy, they tapped into a centuries-old American appetite for racialized entertainment.
Meanwhile, in interviews, the group members were cagey. Understanding intuitively that their infamy was tied to record sales, they posed for pictures holding guns and refused to state clearly whether they were gang members, drug dealers or just kids looking to make a quick buck.
In truth, the only rap sheets NWA members had were notebooks full of song lyrics.
Although the group often claimed they were simply 'street reporters,' the violent gang- and drug-filled world of their music ignored more prosaic aspects of Compton, such as its single-family homes and history as a black, middle-class enclave.
![Nwa And The Posse Album Cover Nwa And The Posse Album Cover](https://fanart.tv/fanart/music/3a54bffa-2314-44a2-927b-60144119c780/albumcover/nwa-and-the-posse-5527069859778.jpg)
But in segregated Los Angeles, whites often avoided predominantly black communities and viewed black youth suspiciously. Straight Outta Compton played to their shrill, pervasive fears about gang violence, offering outsiders a vicarious look into a neighborhood most had only heard about on the nightly news.
Music fans ate it up: the album went double platinum and encouraged music industry executives to focus on developing more hardcore acts.
An underlying social message
Nonetheless, the larger-than-life personas populating NWA's recordings spoke to complicated realities.
On tracks like Gangsta Gangsta Ice Cube might have sounded invincible – 'I'm the type of nigga that's built to last / Fuck with me, I'll put my foot in your ass' – but all of that bravado masked real social insecurity.
NWA's core members grew up in Compton and South Central neighborhoods that had been devastated by massive deindustrialization. The resulting poverty and unemployment proved fertile ground for the influx of cocaine in the early 1980s. They witnessed the dramatic rise in gang violence connected to it and felt the LAPD's heavy-handed response.
With draconian names like C.R.A.S.H. (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) and Operation Hammer, the LAPD criminalized entire neighborhoods, conducting destructive search and seizure missions with the dual purpose of finding contraband and intimidating residents.
By embracing the role of the 'bad guys,' NWA found a profitable way to capture public attention and strike back at the system – a musical strategy I explore in my recent book Sounding Race in Rap Songs.
![First First](https://bonerollingreviews.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/220px-nwaandtheposse.jpg)
But in segregated Los Angeles, whites often avoided predominantly black communities and viewed black youth suspiciously. Straight Outta Compton played to their shrill, pervasive fears about gang violence, offering outsiders a vicarious look into a neighborhood most had only heard about on the nightly news.
Music fans ate it up: the album went double platinum and encouraged music industry executives to focus on developing more hardcore acts.
An underlying social message
Nonetheless, the larger-than-life personas populating NWA's recordings spoke to complicated realities.
On tracks like Gangsta Gangsta Ice Cube might have sounded invincible – 'I'm the type of nigga that's built to last / Fuck with me, I'll put my foot in your ass' – but all of that bravado masked real social insecurity.
NWA's core members grew up in Compton and South Central neighborhoods that had been devastated by massive deindustrialization. The resulting poverty and unemployment proved fertile ground for the influx of cocaine in the early 1980s. They witnessed the dramatic rise in gang violence connected to it and felt the LAPD's heavy-handed response.
With draconian names like C.R.A.S.H. (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) and Operation Hammer, the LAPD criminalized entire neighborhoods, conducting destructive search and seizure missions with the dual purpose of finding contraband and intimidating residents.
By embracing the role of the 'bad guys,' NWA found a profitable way to capture public attention and strike back at the system – a musical strategy I explore in my recent book Sounding Race in Rap Songs.
Nwa Records
For example, in the video for Straight Outta Compton, the group members rap lyrics about their indomitable strength, but portray themselves at the mercy of one of the LAPD's terrorizing gang sweeps. NWA's critique, which came years before the Rodney King beating, provided fans with a glimpse at the LAPD's worst practices under Police Chief Daryl Gates.
In the group's most famous and controversial song Fuck Tha Police, they parodied courtroom proceedings. White police officers stood trial as defendants, Dr Dre presided as judge, and rappers MC Ren, Eazy-E and Ice Cube served as prosecuting attorneys.
Testifying against the LAPD's widespread racial profiling and excessive force, Ice Cube rapped:
Fuck the police coming straight from the underground / A young nigga got it bad ‘cause I'm brown / And not the other color so police think / They have the authority to kill a minority.
A year after the police killing of Michael Brown and the ensuing protests, the timing the Straight Outta Compton biopic could not be better. #BlackLivesMatter and the Department of Justice report on Ferguson have helped shed light on ongoing patterns of police violence and harassment against black people nationwide.
Current events continue to make NWA look prophetic, and the biopic – along with Dr Dre's Compton: The Soundtrack – will certainly profit from them.
Whether that feels like a Hollywood cash in for the group or another attempt to say something meaningful remains a subject of much debate.