DJ YELLA

MC REN

MC Ren had a much less-celebrated solo career than most of his former bandmates in N.W.A., despite enjoying some commercial success. Born Lorenzo Patterson on June 14,1969, Ren was recruited to join N.W.A. in 1988 while still attending high school. He was a strong presence on the group's landmark Straight Outta Compton later that year, and also wrote several tracks for Eazy-E's solo debut, Eazy-Duz-It. Following 1991's Niggaz4Life, N.W.A. disbanded acrimoniously, and Ren stuck with Ruthless Records, kicking off his solo career with the six-song EP Kizz My Black Azz in 1992. It sold well, making the Top Ten on the R&B chart and nearly doing the same on the pop side. Ren subsequently converted to the Nation of Islam, which helped out relations with the remainder of N.W.A.; he patched up his differences with Ice Cube, and remained neutral in the heated feud between Dr. Dre and Eazy-E. Meanwhile, he released his first full-length album, Shock of the Hour, in 1993 (the original title, "Life Sentence," was changed following his conversion). It hit number one on the R&B charts and sold quite well for a brief window of time. Shaken by Eazy-E's death from AIDS, Ren returned in 1996 with The Villain in Black, which found him working a G-funk blueprint with help from Above the Law. It, too, made the R&B Top Ten, and sold respectably well without much airplay support. Ren further updated his sound on 1998's Ruthless for Life,

DR DRE

Dr. Dre (b. Andre Young, February 18, 1965) became involved in hip-hop during the early '80s, performing at house parties and clubs with the World Class Wreckin' Cru and long time friend Dj Yella around South Central Los Angeles, and making a handful of recordings along the way. In 1986, he met Ice Cube, and the two rappers began writing songs for Ruthless Records, a label started by former street pharmacist Eazy-E. Eazy tried to give one of the duo's songs, "Boyz N the Hood," to HBO, a group signed to Ruthless. When the group refused, Eazy formed NWA -- an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude -- with Dre and Cube, releasing their first album in 1987. A year later, 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.
 
  Dre's records with NWA celebrated the hedonistic, amoralistic side of gang life. Dre was never much of a rapper -- his rhymes were simple and his delivery was slow and clumsy -- but as a producer, he was extraordinary. With NWA he melded the noise collages of the Bomb Squad with funky rhythms. On his own, he reworked George Clinton's elastic funk into the self-styled G-Funk, a slow-rolling variation that relied more on sound than content..

 

EAZY-E

Eric "Eazy-E" Wright was born September 7th 1964, in Compton, CA, a rough part of the Los Angeles metro area that N.W.A. would later make notorious. A high school dropout, Wright turned to drug dealing to support himself, and eventually used the profits to start his own rap label, Ruthless Records. E discovered a major performing talent in the D.O.C. and recruited Ice Cube and Dr. Dre to write songs for his stable of artists. When their composition "Boyz-N-the Hood" was rejected by Ruthless signee HBO, Cube, Dre, Yella and E formed the first version of N.W.A. to record it themselves. Their first album, N.W.A. and the Posse, was released in 1987 and largely ignored; after a few tweaks of the lineup and the rough-edged subject matter, 1988's Straight Outta Compton made N.W.A. into superstars. E seized the opportunity to release a solo project later in the year, titled Eazy-Duz-It, which would be the only full-length album he would complete; it would sell well over two-million copies.
 
Whether as a member of N.W.A., a solo act, or a label head, Eazy-E was one of the most controversial figures in gangsta rap. While his technical skills as a rapper were never the greatest, his distinctive delivery (invariably described as a high-pitched whine), over-the-top lyrics, and undeniable charisma made him a star. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1995, and died March 26, 1995 and since been named the God Father of gangsta rap R.I.P Eazy.
 

ICE CUBE

Cube (born O'Shea Jackson) came from a surprisingly straight background. Raised in South Central Los Angles, where both of his parents had jobs at UCLA, Cube didn't become involved with b-boy culture until his late teens. He began writing raps while in high school, including "Boyz-n-the Hood." With his partner Sir Jinx, Cube began rapping in a duo called CIA at parties hosted by Dr. Dre, and he eventually met Eazy-E, then leading a group called HBO, through Dre. Eazy asked Cube to write a rap, and he presented them with "Boyz-n-the Hood," which was rejected. Cube decided to leave CIA, and he, Cube, Yella and Dre formed the first incarnation of N.W.A. Cube left to study architectural drafting at Phoenix, AZ, in 1987, returning the following year after he obtained a one-year degree. He arrived just in time for N.W.A.'s breakthrough album, Straight Outta Compton. Released late in 1988, Straight Outta Compton became an underground hit over the course of 1989, and its extreme lyrical content -- which was over-the-top both lyrically and politically -- attracted criticism, most notably from the FBI.