Episode #37 | 9.26.19
N.W.A (Pt. 1): Street Hustle, Reality Rap, and Culture Shifting Violence
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In this episode
N.W.A, the self-proclaimed, “most dangerous group in America” were seen as violent, thuggish, profanity spewing criminals but they had nothing on those who were sworn to serve and protect them in South Central, Los Angeles. The group’s hard-hitting beats and reality rhymes launched a “gangsta rap” trend in music that still thrives today and their album, Straight Outta Compton predicted one of the most notoriously violent events in American history.
Sources
Los Angeles Times: The moment N.W.A changed the music world
Parental Discretion Is Advised: The Rise of N.W.A and the Dawn of Gangsta Rap by Gerrick Kennedy
Straight Outta Compton directed by F. Gary Gray
Los Angeles Times: The Age of Hip-Hop, From the streets to cultural dominance
LA Weekly: 9 Truths Cut From Straight Outta Compton
Associated Press: Dr. Dre Sentenced to Eight Months in Jail
Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Music
Score by Jake Brennan.
Mixed and Engineered by Sean Cahalin.
Disgraceland theme song, "Crenshaw Space Boogie" written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak