It's been a minute since I blogged something from the west coast, and I've never really touched on one of the west's biggest names, N.W.A. And with all the current hype surrounding Kendrick Lamar, and Compton being put back on the hip hop map, it seemed like a good time to reflect on the history of the original dudes that made Compton famous (even if it was for all the wrong reasons).
I should also acknowledge that this month saw the 20th anniversary of Dr Dre's The Chronic LP.
This hour long documentary on N.W.A. begins by portraying the L.A. environment and music history that gave birth to the formation of the band. It then follows the groups journey into the mainstream, the controversy that followed, and ultimately the break up of the group and Eazy's death. That's all to be expected of a documentary like this, but they also cover stories like Eazy-E's intent to kill Suge Knight, so it's not entirely what you might expect!
Overall it serves as a good reminder of the music, the press coverage and what made N.W.A. so great, the controversy.
As with everything that was once controversial, it's comical to look back and contemplate what all the fuss was about. There's some good contributions from the band members along with Jerry Heller, Eazy's wife Tamica and The D.O.C.
Originally shown on VH1 and narrated by Chris Rock.
