My introduction to N.W.A. came through the lead single and title song from their album, Straight Outta Compton. Thanks to the Jukebox Network (for you youngins, Jukebox Network was a channel you could call and request to see your favorite music video for a small fee), the menacing mob dressed in all black, reppin’ Compton, jumped through my television screen and bumrushed my parents’ living room throughout the summer of 1988 with the album’s title track. Their gangsta persona, mixed with their violently brash rhymes backed by unsettling sirens and threatening drums, created an audio-visual experience that scared the shit out of me but also left me deeply intrigued. But before Straight Outta Compton existed, there was NWA And The Posse.

N.W.A. And The Posse is the official unofficial debut album from N.W.A. It’s a compilation project, originally released in 1987 by Macola Records (which was a small Los Angeles-based music label/distributor) featuring songs from N.W.A. and a few of their friends: The Fila Fresh Crew, Ron-De-Vu, and Arabian Prince, with all the production credit going to Dr. Dre. After the success of their first release on the Ruthless imprint, Straight Outta Compton (which reached platinum success just over a year after its release), Ruthless, with Priority as the distributor, would re-release NATP in 1989 with a few alterations to the track list, which is the version that I own (I’ll get more into the alterations later). The re-release cash grab worked for Ruthless, as NATP would earn a gold plaque in April of 1994.

Like me, I’m sure most of you didn’t know this album existed until well after SOC. And some of you probably didn’t know this album existed until now reading this write-up. Either way, I hope you enjoy walking with me through it as I experience it for the first time.

RIP to Eric “Eazy E” Wright and shoutout to Candyman for making the album cover. And why did they cover up DJ Train’s face like that?

Boyz-N-The Hood – The album starts with an Eazy-E solo joint. Mr. Wright spits what feels like twenty verses (it’s really only five), spinning serious subject matter into zany tales that cover everything from him killing his friend-turned-thieving fiend, domestic violence, and an angry chick shooting up a courtroom in an attempt to free her man who’s in police custody. Eric’s dark comedic hood antics are backed by a primitive drumbeat, a squeaky synth chord, and an aggressive guitar riff that was clearly influenced by LL’s “Rock The Bells.” The musical highlight comes in the form of a thunderous drum break during the hook, which sounds like it might have inspired The Neptunes’ “Grindin’” instrumental. Side note: The remix for this record was included on Eazy’s 1988 solo debut, Eazy-Duz-It, with the same instrumental but a new intro and an extra verse, adding an additional minute to the track’s runtime.

8 Ball – This record completes an album-opening Eazy-E double play. Our Jheri curled host sends this ode to his drink of choice, a vodka/Olde English concoction affectionately called 8-Ball. He starts things off with a subtle shot at the Beastie Boys and their “Brass Monkey” record (which rapped praises to their favorite libation, Olde E mixed with orange juice), then proceeds to get lit on 8-Ball and wreak havoc through the streets of Compton. Ironically, Dre’s trunk-rattling backdrop sounds influenced by the production sound of the very man who produced the Beastie Boys’ License To Ill album, Rick Rubin. N.W.A. would put the remix of this record on the Straight Outta Compton album, which pretty much uses the same instrumental, but Eazy’s rhymes are much dirtier. And shout out to Eazy for shouting out his ghostwriter, Ice Cube, on the final verse. If you tell the truth, they can’t use it against you later.

Dunk The Funk – Dre tops clunky drums with regally triumphant sounding synth chords as two-thirds of The Fila Fresh Crew, Doc-T (better known as The D.O.C.), and Fresh K make their first appearance of the evening. The D.O.C. shows glimpses of the monster emcee he would transform into a few years later on No One Can Do It Better, easily outshining Fresh K and Dre’s decent instrumental (the “Bombs away!” vocal snippet on the hook gets annoying as hell very fast).

A Bitch Iz A Bitch – Ice Cube makes his first appearance of the night, putting on his misogynist hat as he raps his definition of a “bitch,” which in a nutshell is a stuck-up, bougie gold diggin’ female who thinks her shit don’t stink. Cube hi-lariously clarifies that “the title bitch don’t apply to all women, but all women have a little bitch in ‘em.” Dre borrows the drums and a bass line from Joe Tex’s “Papa Was Too” to complete this playfully entertaining listen. Side note: The Macola pressing of NATP had a record called “Scream,” performed by the duo, Rappinstine and Microphone Mike (he would later change his moniker to Myka 9 that some of you may know from the Los Angeles-based collective, Freestyle Fellowship). The Ruthless reissue would remove “Scream” and replace it with “A Bitch Is A Bitch.” I’ve listened to “Scream” on YouTube a few times, and Ruthless made a wise decision by making that alteration.

Drink It Up – TFFC returns to center stage for this one. After a short Richard Pryor vocal snippet about winos, Dre interpolates “Twist And Shout” over 808 drums that The D.O.C. uses to amusingly croon about getting drunk, mimicking the screaming singing style that Ronald Isley used on The Isley Brothers 1962 rendition of the song (that John Lennon would copycat on The Beatles’ interpretation of the same song a year later). It’s a cute record that might provide a little comic relief the first few listens but not much after that.

Panic Zone – Dr. Dre cooks up a brilliant techno-electro groove that I’m sure was a sheer delight for West Coast poppers and lockers when it came out in the eighties. Arabian Prince (with an assist from Krazy Dee) hosts this three-and-half-minute trance-inducing experience, talking the listener through the frightening audio area that sounds like a darker version of “Planet Rock” on steroids.

L.A. Is The Place – Over pulsating drums and another hard guitar loop that sounds very similar to the one used on “Boyz-N-The-Hood,” Eazy-E and Ron-De-Vu express their love and admiration for Los Angeles. It’s not a terrible record, but no need to listen to it more than once.

Dope Man – This one begins with a crack fiend knocking on a drug dealer’s door (rightfully played by Eazy) in hopes of scoring a hit. Their exchange quickly gets interrupted by some man demanding that Dre “Kick in the bass!” and he gladly obliges. Along with the bangin’ bass line comes monster drums and the classic Ohio Players “Funky Worm” siren loop. After that incredible break, Ice Cube uses the next three verses to matter-of-factly break down the lifestyle of a dope dealer and some of the crackheads he serves. Cube also leaves room at the end of the third verse for the dope dealer (Eazy-E) to offer a rebuttal for “messin’ up people’s health.” Eazy gives no real justification and basically doubles down on his devilish deeds, selfishly boasting about the benefits that being a street pharmacist brings him (mainly money and pussy). Side note: The remix was included on Straight Outta Compton, which is pretty much the same as the original mix, minus the monster “Funky Worm” break, which adds an extra layer of hardness to the record.

Tuffest Man Alive – The D.O.C. goes dolo and throughout two verses, rips Dre’s bareboned drumbeat to shreds, leaving nothing left for Fresh K to do but talk shit to wack emcees at the end of the record like a little brother to his bully after his big bro knocked him out for stealing his little bro’s lunch money. This was hard. I have to add The Fila Fresh Crew’s Tuffest Man Alive EP to my want list.

Fat Girl – Eazy-E and Ron-De-Vu return as Ron provides a weak beatbox for Eazy to “tell you a tale bout this big fat hippo.” Eazy’s rhymes clearly poke fun at the big girl he raps about, but the beatbox feels like a subtle poke at the Fat Boys. There is no way this record would see the light of day in the ultra-sensitive climate we live in today. Unless, of course, Eazy’s rap was about a fat boy.

3 The Hard Way – N.W.A. and the Posse keep the jokes coming as the album ends with The D.O.C. playfully calling out three individuals: The Bad Breath Bandit, Promiscuous Tammy, and Sour Smelling Sue. The D.O.C. isn’t really known for comedic raps, and while I still prefer the stern fire-spittin’ version of our host, his lighthearted bars were slightly entertaining. I can’t say the same for Dre’s minuscule instrumental, though.

As I mentioned in the opening of this post, my introduction to N.W.A. was the Straight Outta Compton album. Our bad-attitude hosts spent most of SOC flexing their gangsta bravado, but it also had a decent share of playful banter. On N.W.A. And The Posse, the focus is reversed as it shows traces of the hardcore gangsta energy from the former, but most of the album is spent joking and partying. The frat-like festivities are led by Eazy-E, The D.O.C., and Ice Cube, as at least one of them appears on ten of the albums’ eleven tracks with Eazy entertaining as the gangsta prankster, while Cube and The Doc show early signs of the sharp emcees they would become in the near future (and despite the sticker on the album cover that advertises features from MC Ren, he never shows up to the party). On the production side, it’s clear Dre was still searching for his musical identity, as a large chunk of his work sounds like knockoff early Def Jam Rick Rubin beats. But even “soul-searching” Dre manages to catch a few bangers.

There’s an old saying, “To know your future, you must know your past,” and another popular one is “You have to know the past to understand the present.” Neither of those quotes really apply to this write-up, but I felt moved to say them, anyway. NATP is not a stellar compilation or essential listening, but it is a decent precursor to their landmark follow-up, and it gives an interesting glimpse into the beginning stages of some of hip-hop’s most legendary contributors.

-Deedub

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