N.W.A. (Niggaz wit Attitude)

In 1986 Eazy-E used the money he got from the inheritance of his deceased grandmother and proceeds from drug profits to put together Ruthless Records. He also recruited Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, D.O.C and Arabian Prince to form the rap group N.W.A. (Niggaz wit Attitude).

Ice Cube was a young and upcoming rapper who proved to be the lead MC for the group. Former World Class Wreckin' Crew members Dr. Dre and DJ Yella handled almost all of the production duties. Rappers Arabian Prince and D.O.C. were members for a short time, with the D.O.C. staying on as a ghostwriter for the group. Later on, MC Ren was also added to the group. Eazy provided comedic relief on the albums along with distinctive high-pitched voice and unique rapping style.

Their debut album "N.W.A. and the Posse" was released in 1987 and went gold. But the real success came when they released their second album titled "Straight Outta Compton" in 1989. The music industry nor American society had seen anything like it before and the first three tracks on the album turned the music scene upside down. The song "Straight Outta Compton" put forth the growing anger in the South Central Los Angeles area. "Gangsta Gangsta" talked about living the gang life and "Fuck tha Police" had highly provocative lyrics that sought to highlight police violence. It even resulted in a warning from then assistant FBI director Milt Ahlerich who sent a scathing letter to Ruthless Records and its parent, Priority. But this just added fuel to the fire of this newest rap phenomenon that would become known as "Gangsta Rap".

In the subsequent years, NWA went through some turbulent times with Ice Cube being the first member to leave in 1989, disagreeing with Eazy E and Jerry Heller on how much he was making, compared to them. He would of course go on to start a very successfull rap and movie career. There was a brief fued between NWA and Ice Cube, but NWA continued on to release a follow on platinum albums, "100 Miles and Runnin'" in 1990 and "Niggaz4life" in 1991. Soon after, Dr. Dre was also on his way out, fueding with Eazy E about how money was being split within the group. NWA was a done by the early 1990s, though its impact on rap music has been enormous. A final compilation album, NWA's "Greatest Hits" was released in 1996 and featured some of their best songs.