N.W.A F**kin' Up Tha P.G. (N.W.A And The Posse - N.W.A)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	N.W.A And The Posse - N.W.A
Date:	30/05/09 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Classic material

Disadvantages: Electro-Hop isn't as strong

In 1987 the legendary West Coast Rap crew N.W.A., credited as one of the pioneers of the Gangsta Rap movement, dropped their self-entitled "N.W.A and the Posse" album as a compilation release which featured works form both the actual group (consisting of Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, DJ Yella and Ice Cube) but it also included work from associated groups, such as The Fila Fresh Crew (who included a young D.O.C.) and Arabian Prince.

1. "Boyz-in-the-Hood"

Getting the album underway, you have the leader of the group, Eazy-E kicking it with his hit debut with rhymes from Ice Cube. It is classic Gangsta Rap which went on to be sampled several times in both other N.W.A tracks and also in Mike Jones' "My '64", UGK's "Front, Back and Side To Side" and T.I.'s "Front Back" it shows that Eazy's legacy lives on to this day .

**Five Stars**

2. "8 Ball"

Remixed later for "Straight Outta Compton", this is a banger of a track which finds the group coming with their general sound with one which has them taking on some hardcore beats from Dre, who comes with hardcore backing with rough bass and a mean guitar riff guiding them through a tune which supports the progressive ways of their music.

**Five Stars**

3. "Dunk The Funk"

This is the first Fila Fresh crew cut on the album and it sees that as a change you get a track which appears to take on the exciting and lively ways which you would commonly associate with what you got at the time and a little early as they take on a style which sounds a lot more in tune with the East coast sound of the time whilst doing it all to the distinctive West Coast beats.

**Five Stars**

4. "A B***h Iz A B***h"

They do things in a plain and simple way as here you see that they give Ice Cube the chance to break out on this N.W.A his voice has the most power associated with it so it brings out the most in the music. It is a killer one, and one which supports the fact that this was a time which had great influence upon how explicit Gangsta Rap began subsequently.

**Five Stars**

5. "Drink It Up"

The Fila Fresh crew return for this one and you see that things take a bit of a shift as you hear them sampling the "Twist & Shout" and giving it a bit of an Electro-Hop makeover in order to put across the ways of South Central LA's club scene. It wasn't really flying for me, but at the time it was probably quite a funny one.

**One Star**

6. "Panic Zone"

The Electro-Hop style persist through this one as you find that Arabian Prince comes to aid in the music too in order to have the come up with the highest-quality material in this style as you hear that Dre makes full use of his past in the World Class Wreckin' Cru to throw down to something which would have made big things happen in its time (bit again, it's not really saying a lot now).

**Two Stars**

7. "L.A. Is The Place"

Here you find that they perform one which appears to bring a bit improvement out of the music as you see that Eazy restores control in the music and comes up with a killer jam which has him throwing down lots of killer rhymes as Dre' cuts things up in an Electro-inspired cut. However, I felt that it bared little resemblance to what you got in the two prior to it.

**Five Stars**

8. "Dopeman"

This is another classic jam which was later re-doe for their second, and here you find it in its purest form as you have Dre laying down some of the earlier G-Funk as he samples The Ohio Players' "Funky Worm" adn takes over the listener as Ice Cube rips the mic(rophone) apart with his hardcore deliver about his position in the 'hood as the local 'Dopeman'.

**Five Stars**

9. "Tuffest Man Alive"

In a relatively short one, you see that here with The Fila Fresh Crew back in effect, you see them getting down to more of what you got the first time around with them as they choose to go towards the Old School style of things in it and with the deep bass, it brings out the freshness in what they have to say as they go along.

**Five Stars**

10. "Fat Girl"

Utilising a little beatboxing to back him up, this is one which has Eazy-E doing things alone (with more rhymes form Cube) and you see that he just has fun with it and shows how well he can do things in the style of Slick Rick by telling an explicit story about his time spent with a female who fits the description given in the title.

**Five Stars**

11. "3 The Hard Way"

Ending the album off, this one is a funky groove to just bring out all the energy left out from the main body of the LP as The Fila Fresh get a chance to get down to what they do best for this one and show what an impact they can make in order to leave a strong lasting impression upon the listeners who experience the power of this record.

**Four Stars**

In spite of the fact that mid-way through the album they get down to some less appealing Electro-Hop and the like, the rest of the album makes up for this with a range of humorous and impactful Gangsta Rap cuts which bring out the best in all of the acts who participated, and has them give some degree of indication where things could go eventually with the newly-found West Coast Hip Hop movement.

Summary: N.W.A's debut album