N.W.A

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风格: #硬核说唱　#西岸说唱　#老派说唱
地区: United States of America 美国

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N.W.A，全称Niggaz Wit Attitudes，是一支来自加州，康普顿的嘻哈音乐团体，由Ice Cube，MC Ren，Dr. Dre，DJ Yella，Eazy-E，Arabian Prince组成。被认为是演绎了匪帮说唱（Gangsta Rap）的精华。这一被滚石杂志评为第83名美国全时间最佳艺术家的传奇般的团体创建于1986年，于1991年解散。在这期间，他们在美国本土卖出了超过九百万张专辑，包括几张白金销量唱片和开创了康普顿“说唱中心”的《Straight Outta Compton》。N.W.A被多数主流电台抵制，甚至因辱骂警察令FBI和警方感到愤怒。1991年，团队因经济问题导致成员离去，并最终解散。

N.W.A.乐队的一群人不仅改变了西海岸说唱音乐的面貌，也改变了hip-hop帝国本身的样子。他们完全摒弃了西海岸流行音乐的元素，改而采用了一种更为缓慢、沉重的音乐节奏，甚至连同西海岸相对的东海岸风格也未能与之相比。他们的音乐中充满了暴力、内幕、毒品交易等内容，乐队的作词人爱斯·库柏·尼加兹（Ice Cube Niggaz）称其为“现实说唱音乐”，乐队的另两位成员是“德瑞博士”（Dr. Dre）——安德烈·扬（Andre Young）和耶拉（Yella）——安东尼·卡莱比（Antoine Carraby）。在此前由MC Ren——洛伦佐·帕特森（Lorenzo Patterson）和库柏等人组成的World Class Wreckin' Cru乐队中，扬和卡莱比就相当活跃，小有名气。德瑞和库柏还曾为Eazy-E——埃里克·赖特（Eric Wright）创作过歌曲。而Eazy-E一度靠贩卖毒品赚来的钱成立了Ruthless唱片公司。他们一开始的作品《Boyz-N-The Hood》，是为一个Ruthless公司的歌手量身定作，却遭到该人的摒弃。Eazy于是决定，自己来参与说唱配乐，因此催生了N.W.A.五人乐队。乐队成立之初，队伍非常松散，以致于第二张唱片——里程牌式的《Straight Outta Compton》录制期间，有一半的工作人员都不在。而美国的联邦调查局（F.B.I.）也一度对该专辑中的歌曲《Fuck Tha Police》大提抗议，这首歌是N.W.A.给一直以来朋克摇滚那蔑视一切、令人厌恶形象的一个具有黑色幽默的回应。在乐队的下一张LP问世之前，库柏指责经理人杰瑞·赫尔勒（Jerry Heller）苛扣他的版权费，两人产生纠纷，他因此退出。

乐界对N.W.A.本身的争议很多，但是乐队在解散前，却已经有一张EP大碟和一张白金专辑在手。乐队不仅在唱片制作上极为大胆，而且为德瑞、库柏和Eazy各自的歌唱事业指明了发展方向。1995年Eazy死于爱滋病，德瑞则成了说唱派最著名的制作人，库柏在90年代的说唱界继续着他那与众不同、始终如一的音乐事业。

N.W.A, the unapologetically violent and sexist pioneers of gangsta rap, are in many ways the most notorious group in the history of rap. Emerging in the late 80s, when Public Enemy had rewritten the rules of hardcore rap by proving that it could be intelligent, revolutionary, and socially aware, N.W.A capitalized on PEs sonic breakthroughs while ignoring their message. Instead, the five-piece crew celebrated the violence and hedonism of the criminal life, capturing it all in blunt, harsh language. Initially, the groups relentless attack appeared to be serious, vital commentary, and it even provoked the FBI to caution N.W.As record company, but following Ice Cubes departure in late 1989, the group began to turn to self-parody. With his high-pitched whine, Eazy-Es urban nightmares now seemed like comic book fantasies, but ones that fulfilled the fantasies of the teenage white suburbanites who had become their core audience, and the group became more popular than ever. Nevertheless, clashing egos prevented the band from recording a third album, and they fell apart once producer Dr. Dre left for a solo career in 1992. Although the group was no longer active, their influence — from their funky, bass-driven beats to their exaggerated lyrics — was evident throughout the 90s.

Ironically, in their original incarnation N.W.A were hardly revolutionary. Eazy-E (born Eric Wright), a former drug dealer who started Ruthless Records with money he earned by pushing, was attempting to start a rap empire by building a roster of successful rap artists. However, he wasnt having much success until Dr. Dre (born Andre Young) — a member of the World Class Wreckin Cru — and Ice Cube (born OShea Jackson) began writing songs for Ruthless. Eazy tried to give one of the duos songs, Boyz-n-the Hood, to Ruthless signees HBO, and when the group refused, Eazy formed N.W.A — an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude — with Dre and Cube, adding World Class Wreckin Cru member DJ Yella (born Antoine Carraby), the Arabian Prince, and the D.O.C. to the group.

N.W.As first album, N.W.A. and the Posse, was a party-oriented jam record that largely went ignored upon its 1987 release. In the following year, the group added MC Ren (born Lorenzo Patterson) and revamped their sound, bringing in many of the noisy, extreme sonic innovations of Public Enemy and adopting a self-consciously violent and dangerous lyrical stance. Late in 1988, N.W.A delivered Straight Outta Compton, a vicious hardcore record that became an underground hit with virtually no support from radio, the press, or MTV. N.W.A became notorious for their hardcore lyrics, especially those of Fuck tha Police, which resulted in the FBI sending a warning letter to Ruthless and its parent company, Priority, suggesting that the group should watch their step.

Most of the groups political threat left with Cube when he departed in late 1989 amid many financial disagreements. A nasty feud between N.W.A and the departed rapper began that would culminate with Cubes No Vaseline, an attack on the groups management released on his 1991 Death Certificate album. By the time the song was released, N.W.A, for all intents and purposes, was finished.

In the two years between Cubes departure and the groups dissolution, N.W.A was dominated by Eazys near-parodic lyrics and Dres increasingly subtle and complex productions. The group quickly released an EP, 100 Miles and Runnin, in 1990 before following it up early the next year with Efil4zaggin (Niggaz 4 Life spelled backward). Efil4zaggin was teeming with dense, funky soundscapes and ridiculously violent and misogynist lyrics. Naturally, the lyrics provoked outrage from many critics and conservative watchdogs, but that only increased the groups predominately male, white suburban audience. Even though the group was at the peak of their popularity, Dre began to make efforts to leave the crew, due to conflicting egos and what he perceived as an unfair record deal.

Dre left the group to form Death Row Records with Suge Knight in early 1992. According to legend, Knight threatened to kill N.W.As manager Jerry Heller if he refused to let Dre out of his contract. Over the next few years, Dre and Eazy engaged in a highly publicized feud, which included both of the rappers attacking each other on their respective solo albums. Ren and Yella both released solo albums, which were largely ignored, and Eazy continued to record albums that turned him into a complete self-parody until his tragic death from AIDS in March 1995. Before he died, Dre and Cube both made amends with Eazy. With his first solo album, 1992s The Chronic, Dre established himself as the premier hip-hop producer of the mid-90s, setting the pace for much of hardcore rap with its elastic bass and deep, rolling grooves. Gangsta rap established itself as the most popular form of hip-hop during the 90s — in other words, N.W.As amoralistic, hedonistic stance temporarily triumphed over the socially conscious, self-award hip-hop of Public Enemy, and it completely rewrote the rules of hip-hop for the 90s.

N.W.A

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