And the Posse, often regarded as American rap group N.W.A's first or debut but neglected album, 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. High-quality Nwa iPhone Cases designed and sold by artists. Stylish and protective for iPhone SE, 11, XS, X, 8, and more. Slim, tough, soft options.
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.
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.
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.
| 'Express Yourself' | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by N.W.A | ||||
| from the album Straight Outta Compton | ||||
| Released | March 27, 1989[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1988 | |||
| Genre | Golden age hip hop | |||
| Length | 4:26 4:42 (extended mix) | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | O'Shea Jackson[2] | |||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| N.W.A singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
'Express Yourself' is a song recorded by American hip hop group N.W.A, performed solo by Dr. Dre. The song, off their 1988 album Straight Outta Compton, samples Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's song of the same name.[3] Unlike most songs on the album and by N.W.A, the song is devoid of profanity. 'Express Yourself' was released in 1989 as the album's last single, the album version of the track features rap vocals from Dr. Dre only whereas the 2002 reissue, single edition and video version features small verses from MC Ren and Ice Cube, the writer of the song. The song reached number 26 in the UK in September 1989.[4]
History[edit]
The song's vocals are primarily handled by Dr. Dre though an extended version features interludes from Ice Cube and MC Ren. The song samples Charles Wright & the Watts 103 Street Rhythm Band's hit, also titled 'Express Yourself' (1971).
The song's lyrics focus on the concept of free expression and the constraints placed on rappers by radio censorship. The song is notable for including lines criticising other rappers for not swearing in order to get radio airplay despite the song itself containing no profanity, being based on a pop music sample with a clearly 'radio friendly' tone.[5]
In May 1990, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's music radio station Triple J notably stunted by playing 'Express Yourself' on a loop. The station's staff had gone on strike over the suspension of Triple J's news director, Nick Franklin, after he had played a portion of fellow N.W.A. song 'Fuck tha Police' in a segment discussing the song's subject matter. The station had, notably, been playing the song without incident for several months, but ABC's radio head had requested that the song be given a 'rest'. The song was played 82 times in a row until the employee was reinstated. Triple J paid tribute to the event in April 2014, when the launch of its new service Double J (which replaced ABC Dig Music) was preceded with another loop of 'Express Yourself', including the original recording and covers performed by Australian musicians,[6][5] such as Darren Hanlon and The Audreys.[7]
Music video[edit]
The music video starts with a black and white video of slaves working on a plantation. As they escape, the video transitions to the ghetto, as the band members walk through it and dance with the local residents. A 'No Rapping' sign is shown. A mounted officer (played by Skeeter Rader) enforces the law on the crowd. Occasionally band members are depicted rapping in a prison environment. Later on Dr. Dre plays the role of the US president. At one point he is talking on the phone with Mikhail Gorbachev, and a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. can be seen in the background. One of King's quotes, the famous 'I Have a Dream', also appears on a large sign that the band members walk through as the song properly begins. A parody of the assassination of John F. Kennedy follows. The video ends with Dr. Dre being executed in an electric chair. In the version appearing on the EMIYouTube channel and on N.W.A's official VEVO channel on YouTube, numerous parts are blurred out including logos and faces. Despite this, the complete uncensored video can still be found online.[8]
Cover versions and samples[edit]
German metal band Rammstein sampled the intro in their song 'Klavier' for the 1997 album Sehnsucht.[9]
Silkk the Shocker recorded a version of the song for the 1998 N.W.A tribute album, Straight Outta Compton: N.W.A 10th Anniversary Tribute. The recording was also was released as a single with a promotional music video.
Between the Rancid releases of ...And Out Come the Wolves and Life Won't Wait from 1995 to 1998, Tim Armstrong recorded a version of 'Express Yourself' with the band The Silencers on the Life Won't Wait demos. The first half of the demo consists of Rancid demos and the second half consists of The Silencers demos.
Stretch Arm Strong recorded a version of 'Express Yourself' for the 2003 album Engage.
Labrinth recorded a cover version of the song for his 2012 album Electronic Earth: the song was released as a single and reached the UK top 20.
The Basque band Negu Gorriak featured a Euskara language version, titled 'Adieraz zaitez', on their 1996 covers album Salam, agur.[10]
In Media[edit]
'Express Yourself' is featured in the video games Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, EA's Skate, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the in-game station Radio Los Santos.
Track listing[edit]
- 'Express Yourself' (Extended Mix) – 4:42
- 'Bonus Beats' – 3:03
- 'Straight Outta Compton' (Extended Mix) – 4:54
- 'A Bitch Iz a Bitch' – 3:10
Nwa Album Cover Template
Charts[edit]
| Chart (1989–90) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[11] | 96 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[12] | 26 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[13] | 45 |
| US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[14] | 2 |
Nwa Cover Album
Certifications[edit]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[15] | Silver | 200,000* |
*sales figures based on certification alone | ||
Nwa And The Posse
References[edit]
- ^'N.W.A* - Express Yourself'. Discogs.
- ^'The D.O.C. on Ice Cube Leaving NWA: Cube Was the Spirit'. YouTube. 2015-11-13. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
- ^'N.W.A's 'Express Yourself' - Discover the Sample Source'. WhoSampled.
- ^'N.W.A - Full Official Chart History'. Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ abCasimir, Paul Chamberlin and Jon (2015-09-02). 'Express yourself: The day Triple J played the same N.W.A. song 82 times in a row'. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
- ^Vincent, Peter (2014-04-28). 'Double J pays homage to past with Express Yourself stunt'. The Age. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
- ^'Express Yourself: Why Is Dig Music Playing The Same Song Over And Over? - Double J'.
- ^https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3vmzt The complete uncensored music video on Dailymotion.
- ^'Rammstein's 'Klavier' - Discover the Sample Source'. www.whosampled.com. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^'Salam, agur'. Negu Gorriak (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^'Australian-charts.com – N.W.A. – Express Yourself'. ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^'Official Singles Chart Top 100'. Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^'N.W.A Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)'. Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^'N.W.A Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)'. Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^'British single certifications – N.W.A – Express Yourself'. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 27, 2017.Select singles in the Format field.Select Silver in the Certification field.Type Express Yourself in the 'Search BPI Awards' field and then press Enter.
External links[edit]
- Music video on YouTube