Last Week
Well, with three hours left, unless the Fear of a Black Planet fan club finds this blog and drastically changes the outcome, It Takes a Nation of Millions.....will have won in a landslide. I can't say I'm surprised about it winning, but I'm kind of surprised by the large margin of victory. I guess I did "underestimate" something as one of the comments left mentioned, and that is the greatness or It Takes a Nation..., or maybe I simply forgot. None the less, the nation has spoken, and it was unanimous. Let's hope this week is a little more exciting.
Final Verdict 93-24 "It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back"
This Week
I started reading "Have Gun, Will Travel" by Ronin Ro this week past week. It details the rise and fall of Death Row Records. I'm way late on reading this book, and while it's not the best written book I've ever read, the story itself is a fascinating one. The second chapter deals with Dr. Dre and N.W.A., which is kind of the reason this week's "This or That" is pitting NWA's first album, Straight Outta Compton and their second album, Efil4Zaggin (not counting the 100 Miles & Running EP) against each other. I've been trying to think how I first heard of NWA, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I want to say I heard of NWA before the "Yo! MTV Raps" days, quite possibly off of the liner notes for Ice-T's Rhymes Pay LP. I had NWA & The Posse before both either the Eazy solo album, or obviously the first legit NWA solo album. Regardless of how I heard about them, they were quite influential on my early listening habits. Coming out of my lily white suburbs, the things NWA was talking about, even on that NWA & The Posse album were shocking, but intriguing to say the least. We'd (meaning me and my friends) would snatch up Eazy E's Eazy-Duz-It when it dropped the winter of '88. Although I was pretty hard into the east coast music at that time, NWA would join Ice-T and Too Short as west coast artists that got a lot of play in my Walkman. I'm sure I was drawn to them for the same reason a lot of kids in my place were, also for the same reasons I was drawn to last week's group, Public Enemy. It was rebellious, daring, shocking, and sounded amazing.
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton Vs. Efil4zaggin
Straight Outta Compton
NWA burst on the scene in the spring of '89 after releasing a compilation album with their homies (NWA & The Posse) and Eazy's solo album the fall of '88. But it would be Straight Outta Compton that would shake the hip hop world down to it's very last compound. The album would propel the west coast gang life into the American mainstream. One could argue, they were the west coast versions of Run DMC in that they kicked the door wide open for the west coast and "reality rap". Yes, Ice-T had already done Rhyme Pays, and did quite well with it, but it was NWA that made middle America stand up and take notice of what was happening in the neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles. With the their topics of drive-bys, police brutality, and the gang life, NWA soon become a favorite of many suburbanites, which drove Straight Outta Compton's sales over the two million mark, unheard of at the time.
Straight Outta Compton leads off with one of the greatest trios of songs found on any hip hop album ever made. We are warned that we are "....about to witness the strength of street knowledge", then the drums kick in. By this time, we were already familiar with Dre and his production skills, if not from his World Class Wreckin' Cru days, surely from the Eazy E solo album. Dre's production on Straight Outta Compton the album was bare bones in the approach and the title track was no different. The drums hit hard as the kick from a twelve gauge shotgun and the rest is just drenched in west coast funk. The F.B.I.'s favorite song, "F--k Tha Police", leads off all-time follows come batting in the two spot. Dre ruled the drums back then as another ruff drum track kicks in. Coupled with a couple different guitar loops, it's the perfect backdrop for Ren, Cube and Eazy to kick one of the most prophetic jams ever. They were one of the first to tell the world of the injustices found in LA by it's police department. "Gangsta Gangsta", the third song found on side A, found Dre lacing some more bangin' drums. Dre's production showed that the west coast could do more than the electro beats found early on in the west, as the production found on Straight Outta Compton is straight up, in ya face, bangin' music. Dre would change his style many times during his long and illustrious career, but this is where it all started.
Even today, the west isn't known for it's lyrics. It's known for it's funk drenched music and it's shocking images that are conveyed through the lyrics, but a lot of times the quality of their lyrics are lost in all the other traits. But with NWA, you had one of the best lyricists on either coast in Ice Cube. Cube painted portraits, directed movies and capture images with his lyrics. On the track "Dopeman", a personal favorite of mine, Cube paints the life of a big wheelin' drug dealin' neighborhood drug dealer. It's shocking when hearing it for the first time when you come from a little white town:
It was once said by a man who couldn't quit
”Dopeman, please, can I have another hit?
The dopeman said: “Cluck, I don't give a shit
If your girl kneels down, and sucks my dick!
It all happened and the guy tried to choke her
Nigga living in cash, ain’t nothing but a smoker
That's the way it goes, that's the name of the game
Young brother getting over by slangin’ caine
Gold around his neck 14 k, has it
Bitches sucking on his dick, 24-7
Plus he's makin’ money keepin’ the base heads waiting
Rollin 6-4 with the fresh-ass daytons
Livin’ in Compton, California, CA
His Uzi up your ass if he don't get paid
Nigga begging for credit, he's knockin’ out teeth
Clockin’ much dollars on the 1st and 15th kay shizze is a real fuckin g
Big lot of money, nothing less than a twenty
Yo, you want a five-oh, the dopeman got plenty
To be a dopeman, boy, you must qualify
Don't get high, off your own supply
From a kid to a G, it's all about money
10-piece, 4-10, base pipe comes free
If people out there ain't hip to the fact
If you see somebody gettin’ money 4 crack,
He's the....Dopeman
Ren played Robin to Cube's batman and in some cases does just as good of a job on the track as his reputed lyrical superior. I've long thought that Ren was severely overlooked in the kind of way that Steve Young was when he was Joe Montana's back up on the dynasty teams of the Niners. In fact, when Ren & Dre come together on "Compton's In The House" as sort of a west coast Run DMC as they go back and forth answering each others rhymes and just kicking lyrics together. While Dre isn't known for being a great MC, for suitable reasons, he handles his own through out the album and on the track. Ren with his deep voice though lives up to his name of "Villain In Black":
MC Ren is the mothafuckin coroner
Im gettin rid of mothafuckaz as if they was a foreigner
Show no crip(?) to pretend when Im seen
I punch you can block it but Im a still get in
This aint a tko in the first
But its some shit from a nigga in black its much worse
Then a beatin from Tyson cuz Ren is not nice and
Your ass is better off just rollin a dice and
Findin you a number for luck
Cuz you all need it when you see I dont give a fuck
My identity, and the shit is gettin shown
Without a video Im still gettin on
Im at a show then my picture is takin
One click of the flash and punk niggaz are breakin
To the door, tryin to join my fan club
Lipstickin over one of my dubs
And its the minimal scratch for the moment
Until I fuck up the so called opponet
Thats standing in the zone of the twilight
Sayin how in de fuck did he get mixed up in my fight
It wasnt a mistake, it was a set-up
So until Im finished poppin my lyrics you should shut up
And dont attempt to speak
Because its bad enough you rollin up shit quick
With a nigga like ren about the hit
Now lemme hear you mothafuckaz talk some more shit
Im a bust your ass in your mouth,
Yo, unless youre sayin comptons in de house
Straight Outta Compton is a certified classic in the hip hop circles and rightfully so. It was the first of it's kind to hit the mainstream America, even though none of the first singles were given radio play and MTV banned the "Straight Outta Compton" video. This album has many memories for myself and could be the pinpoint of where the gangster rap kicked off and would take over for a few years in the early 90's. A classic album that will always bein the top 20 albums of all-times.
Efil4Zaggin
A group that had sold 2 million albums of their debut album loses their chief lyricists, who is not only the front man, but the man who writes lyrics for two of the other members and still becomes the first hip hop group to ever debut an album on the top spot of the Billboard album charts really has something going for them. Efil4Zaggin did just that, it debuted on the top spot for album sales, a first for a hip hop group. The album is a lot different that it's predecessor both musically and lyrically. While they did lose Cube and his song writing abilities, they still had the DOC who would take on full responsibility along with Ren for Eazy and Dre's lyrics. Musically, Dre produced a banger, something that I think musically is slept on more than it should be.
The production found on Efil4Zaggin is like night and day compared to the production found on Straight Outta Compton. Dre improved in leaps and bounds on the production tip on the album. The album's dark and menacing beats are freakin' genius and should be compared to those found on The Chronic in my opinion. It's easily one of my favorite produced albums of all-time. After one of the greatest intros in hip hop history in which Above The Law kicks off the album basically daring anyone to come at "The world's most dangerous group", "Real Niggaz Don't Die", comes in all it's hardness, with bells, electric guitars and boomin' kick drums. I've always been a sucka for anything using a electric guitar and Dre just hooks this up perfectly in that aspect. The bells also add that dark edge to the track. The kick is just a deep boom in a car with a properly hooked up system, the track is a sonic masterpiece and just sets the tone of what to expect from Dre. "Alwayz Into Somethin'" is another Dre classic, you can hear early G-Funk influences found in the track in the form of the rollin' siren over a funk guitar loop. "Appetite for Destruction" brings in pulsating synth sound that reminds one of a horror flick as Dre, Ren, and Eazy bring the heat on clearly one of the album's best tracks. My personal favorite is a track that is kind of lost in the back of the album (I don't particularly care for the track sequencing on the album). "Approach To Danger" has some nasty ass bass that can only truly be appreciated in a car with a monster system. The bass drops on this track alone could wake up a deaf person. Dre also uses more precursor G-funk sounds on this as well. He would also alter the vocal sounds as it sounds like Dre and gang are rapping in a tunnel. As I've mentioned previously, this album is tops on my favorite produced hip hop albums, there is just so many creative musical backdrops on this album, it's hard not to call it a masterpiece.
With Cube being gone, Dre had to step up his lyrical game more. Once again, Dre is NOT an MC, he is a producer first and foremost. On the 100 Miles & Runnin' EP, heads were treated to a different Dre, as he changed up his tone and his delivery from Straight Outta Compton. Check his performance on "Real N----z", which was originally on 100 Miles and Runnin for proof. On Efil4Zaggin, it wasn't as much of a change, but it was still noticeable. Eazy of course wasn't an MC at all, but he was always able to do a well enough it didn't distract from the overall product (reportedly this was through Dre's studio presence and editing). His verse on "Appetite for Destruction" was always one of my favorites from him:
Check it out y'all, in de house y'all
So I can show and flow and let the people know
So won't you ease on down to the yellow brick road to Compton
But first let me tell you somethin' -
I possess the 10 commandments of the Hip Hop Thugster,
Known as a thief and murderer :
First one - Alibi a nigga with an attitude
Gotta get respected, break your mothafuckin' neck
Second one - Allwayz gotta fuck outta wedlock
I like it when the pussy goes snap crackle and pop
Number three - I'm a gangsta fanatic
smoke any foolz tryin' to cause some static
Number four - Here's what's in store
A crazy-ass nigga that remains hard core
Fifth one - My killings just begun
I pulled out my gun, now they keep me on the run
Step six - Hmmm, it's kinda tricky - Can't forget that I'm mothafuckin' chickenshit
To the ones who tries to play the E - By the time you reach Seven you'll be 6 feet deep
Number eight - Make no mistake,
Move real sneaky and you're bound to catch yo' pray
Ninth one - I gotta be raw, fuck any brain-washing man made law
Last but not least, I must be real - Number ten - is my appetite to ki...
Ren was solid as Ren always was. He didn't grab his time to shine as well as he should have, but he didn't falter either. His booming voice is still one of my favorites in hip hop. There wasn't one thing he really excelled in, he wasn't great at telling stories, he wasn't the most braggadocios MC to be found, he wasn't going to take anyone out with his lyrical prowess. Lyrically, the crew got it done. The second half of the album was filled with tracks like "Automobile", which admittedly got a lot of play from us 18 year old high school seniors. Anyone that likes the album can't say that they haven't song along to that song. It might have taken away from some of the album in the end though.The Verdict
When I started writing this, I didn't really know which way I was going to go. For the longest time, I would have wholeheartedly said Straight Outta Compton, but the past four or five years, I keep listening to Efil4Zaggin and keep thinking what a piece of production it truly is. Dre really came into his own on this album.
Each album isn't without it's faults. Straight Outta Compton has those tracks that you always forget are included on the album. I mean, really, how many people ever play the last two tracks ("Quiet On Tha Set" and "Somethin 2 Dance 2") on the album? I will if I'm not thinking about it, but too often I've take the album out after "Dopeman". And playing devil's advocate here because I really hate when someone says an album from the 80's sounds "dated", but if you weren't listening to hip hop when this album dropped, you could say this does sound dated. The middle part of Efil4Zaggin gets drug down with overly sexists songs, violent tales against women, and becomes somewhat one dimensional. Don't get me wrong, at my young age, I loved tracks like "Automobile" (I'm guilty of still liking it in particular settings), "She Swallowed It", and "I'd Rather Fuck You", all which were favorites of my friends and I to go cruisin' with downtown on a Friday night. But in my older and (somewhat) wiser age, I think these songs take away from the overall quality of the album. Two or at the most three of these tracks would have been fine, but not six (including skits) tracks found in a row. Also, the absence of Ice Cube DID take away from the groups overall talent. Sorry, Dre filling in for Ice Cube is like Toni Kukoc stepping in for Michael Jordan back in the day. It just wasn't the same.
When it all comes down to it, we once again have two classic albums from one of the most important groups in hip hop history. NWA can be credited(blamed) for many of the subgenres and topics found in hip hop even today. They can be credited for bringing reality rap to the mainstream masses. They forced the east to take the west seriously. Both albums accomplished what they were intended to do, but in the end I have to give the narrow margin to Straight Outta Compton despite the superiorly produced Efil4Zaggin.
Winner: Straight Outta Compton
14 comments:
I think you have summed up both albums fairly and I have to agree with just about everything you say.
You're so right about the production of Efil4Zaggin - it sounds fantastic. I remember taking my copy around to a friend who had a very nice and expensive turntable , pre amp and power amp stereo system. All hip hop sounded crap on this system, until we played this one. I couldn't believe how great it sounded - the sound had "depth" even maybe a soul to it. It sounded so frigging good, I had a new respect for the album and Dre - musically. I'll never forget that day. It was the day I realized Hip Hop production and it's associated sound engineering had finally matured.
My vote? Their first because it changed everything in Hip Hop, for better and for worse. And unfortunately in hindsight, it was probably the beginning of the end of Hip Hop.
Lyricallly and topic wise, it's "Straight Outta Compton" but production wise it's "Efil4Zaggin". Dre's beats sounded better on that album than they did on The Chronic.
Vincent
thimk.wordpress.com
For all the reasons stated so far, it's STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON absolutely. This record (for better or for worse) set the standard for all gangsta rap to follow and arguably forced the east coast to step up their production game as well. The production might sound dated, but the shit sure sounded right in 1989 when I was in high school.
Production-wise, it's a given that EFIL4ZAGGIN is superior, but it's a little unfair to compare the two. Dre had grown by leaps and bounds as a producer by that point and so had technology. You could say that on both albums Dre represented the peak of hip hop production at that particular time.
Oh yeah, and EFIL4ZAGGIN is embarassingly misogynist to the point of psychotic, which is pretty impossible to justify, then or now. Ghetto reporting it ain't. But the first half of this record? Still fucking amazing.
Yep everythings been said.
N4L is let down by the shitty Find Em, Automobile, Don't Bite It and Days of Way Back.
Straight Outta Compton is as clear-cut the winner here as PE's It Takes A Nation.. Both are seminal albums for those respective groups. NWA was the PE of the west coast.
However, that said I agree with those that said that the music production was better on Efil4Zaggin.
But the simple fact is that on SOC, NWA was in their prime, especially with Cube still part of the group.
Oh and also Travis in the Dopeman lyrics there's a line after "Clockin’ much dollars on the 1st and 15th" that reads "kay shizze is a real fuckin g" and that sure as fuck ain't in the lyrics! lol
The debate between these two albums is like a reflection of recent history of "reality rap" music.
SOC had a lyrical director in Ice Cube. Cube was admittedly not a hard core gangbanger, but a creative writer from south central that I believe at one point was enrolled at Arizona State. He wrote about the plight of his generation with an observant eye and a pen that balanced compassion and frustration. There was a consciousness in his stories, which became evident when he went solo. SOC was what was right with "reality rap", as it was presented with perspective and didn't straight up glorify the shit that goes on.
N4L was the beginning of the beginning as well as the beginning of the end. The beginning of the beginning meaning it was the true starting point for hip hop music having commercial/chart expectations, the starting point for hip hop music SOUNDING great production-wise and not just grimey gritty shit. I consider it the beginning of the end because once you removed Cube and inserted commercial expectations and Eazy/Heller in creative control, the group lost any sense of social perspective. N4L is blatantly ignorant (lyrically), and actually went against alot of the ideas in SOC. The settings and characters are the same, the soundtrack is better, but the soul, the thoughts, the humanity, all left when O'Shea Jackson left. N4L marked the beginning of the de-humanization of rappers, more specifically, the de-humanization of gangsta rap. Say some crazy outlandish ignorant shit over crispy production to scare the parents and intrigue the kiddies. Companies sell the image, aspiring rappers become the image, Willie Lynch in the house.
With all that said, I'm a Californian that was in middle school and high school when these albums came out. I own both but Straight Outta Compton is by far the better album to me because it has the one thing that Efil4Zaggin lacks; soul, humanity.
Efil4Zaggin...this record holds a special place in my heart, one of the first albums i can remember that was more reminiscient of a movie than music, with its cartoonish violence and themes, and i appreciate their gall, because that's always one of the knocks against this record, but i'm like, why can't music be like that, while i'm sure EVERYBODY has seen a movie or a few that's on par or worse with the overall feeling of the record. plus, the beats? the beats are fuckin fantastic. dre took all the overused breaks of the day and 1. used them to perfection and 2. made them sound so...BIGGER than maybe anybody had previously; then there is all the layering, all the...i hate to say this word, but it's the only one i can think of, 'musicality'. so dope.
to this day the first album is still growing on me, i like certain songs more than i like the album as a whole. to be completely honest, i prefer "100 Miles And Runnin"...lol
@Omen, damn dude, you break these down better than I do. I agree with just about everything you said.
@Benovite, I swear every week I read over those lyrics (I get them from the lyric sites) and everyweek someone catches smething I didn't. I gotta stop doing these at midnight on Sunday nights
Well Well Well Omen that was a great synopsis and Trav as always great respectable opinions!!I always wanted opinions from those that resided on the West coast at the time.When this album dropped I relly didn't know who the hell it was I was gettin flowed in a schoolyard with my boys at the time and a cat rolled up to the traffic light playing Straight out of Compton and a few of my boys started repeating lyrics, I said who is that? they said N.W. A. I said get the f*** out of here!! The same mother f****** that made N.W. A. and the Posse? They said yeah!!I said that's out now they said yeah and I went and bought a bootleg copy on tape that was the thing then and I for one was not paying money for any West coast artist until I listened to that tape!!That summer was blazing and yeah Niggaz4 life had it's heat I just don't think it compares to Straight out of Compton this was historic and different when it came out all jaws dropped 4 real, it was at the drop of this album that the West Coast had done came up 4 real!!
no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no
While Niggaz has great production (watching Dre finally show he has learned A LOT behind the boards), Compton is UNTOUCHABLE. The places that Compton has taken us to. Us being the hip hop/rap nation. It opened doors that no other album could have opened. For all the younger readers of this blog. Compton trumps everything else NWA did, sorry, thats the facts jack. But I realize that most people that read this blog are quite a bit younger then me (I said most not ALL). If you were to hear both albums for the first time 5 to 10 years ago sure Niggaz is a way better album musically. But, Travis has allowed the argument to encompass more than just the music. This album knocked down walls in rap music, helping it to advance further than any other album ever has or ever will. It made platinum stars out of all 5 members and even it's 6th un-acknowledged member DOC who played a big part in writing the songs with Cube.
I would also like to say that I think Trav did a great job at breaking down the albums as he always did. But he forgot one little piece , hindsight 20/20 aside, Eazy-E was by far the biggest star of the group. Eazy-E at the time was the hardest guy in the game. Forget all the stuff we know about him now, back then he was where it was at! Granted he wasn't much on the rapping skills, but Dre and the rest of the crew pulled the most of his talents allowing him to be the Paul McCartney to the rest of the band's Beatles.
accolades for this album:
In 2003, the TV network, VH1, named Straight Outta Compton the 62nd greatest album of all time. It was ranked ten in Spin magazine's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005". In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source magazine's 100 Best Rap Albums. It is the group's only album on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (ranked #144), and when comedian Chris Rock wrote an article for the magazine about the 25 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of all time in 2005, Straight Outta Compton was number one on his list. The album was also ranked the 130th best album of all time by Acclaimedmusic.net. In 2006, the album was listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The same year, TIME Magazine ranked it as one of the 100 greatest albums of all time. Q magazine voted it one of the 'Top 50 Titles Of 1989. Alternative Press (7/95, p.88) ranked it #45 in AP's list of the 'Top 99 Of '85-'95'. Vibe (12/99, p.164) included it in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century.
B i can't agree more but the hell with them band wagon ass wanna be aknowledging hip hop associations it's in the hood rankings and that's what counts because at that time none of them gave them the heroes welcome in fact the were the new Public Enemies as far as most were concerned topping P.E. as the most feared artist in the game!!Remember they gave recognition to what they called gangster rap, not that they were the first but the first to recognized on that level and that is what Straight out of Compton did but above all that West coast artist had been nameless before that in comparison to the industry dominated East Coast then finally an album drops where the lyrical skills matches the production Awesome totally Awesome!!!!!LOL
Totally agree with Omen and his observations on exactly how important Cube was to the NWA equation. After Cube left, NWA became cartoonish. Not like Cube was the frontman, it was all about Eazy E. Which sorta begs the question: if Cube stayed with NWA would they have became as commercial and big as they did?
Would America have accepted two jheri curls in one angry black group?
While I prefer SOC over N4L, I can't emphasis enough how much of an impact that first NWA EP had on America. I'm not talking about the NWA & Posse collection that came later, but the EP that had 8-Ball, Dopeman, Panic Zone and the radio versions.
As a matter of fact, I'd narrow it down to the huge impact the tracks 8-Ball and Dopeman had on music and society.
I remember walking around L.A. and people would be carrying that EP under their arms as if it were clothing. I also remember hearing about how much that EP totally fucked the east coat up in terms of the 'oh shit!' factor.
Speaking for myself, I'm probably in the minority but I personally think NOTHING can touch 8-Ball and Dopeman in terms of production, dopeness and just plain hardness(you know, like that shit is hard!- 80's terminology).
There was a certain spirit and mixture to those two tracks that NWA would never duplicate again. And it came from being new, young, raw, creative and having a lot of members(as evidenced in the album cover and the various background voices you heard in the tracks).
And that EP album cover was classick, although I do like the SOC album cover as well.
I could go on and on about this stuff but I got work to do. ;)
I actually found the "Straight outta Compton" tape on the street all mashed up I regonized the title "f*ck the police" so I took it home and repaired it and couldnt stop playing it for weeks months years...lol
MC Ren was/is always my fav wit his deep voice an no bs rhymes , isn't Arabian Prince on the cover of "SOC", what was his part of the group ?? could never figure that out...
Efil4zaggin is a dooope album and i agree with the other comments bout the insane production but I gotta go wit the debut on this one . But the 1oo miles n runnin EP is pure crack also ! :)
The SOC cover is a trippy thing because you have NWA before they adopted the all-back Raiders/Kings dress code.
Yella was still wearing a beret for fux sake. Everyone was still wearing their own shit. Arabian Prince is a holdover from the first EP/cover. I think he also did work on Something 2 Dance 2 on the SOC album. He was also on the Gangsta Gangsta 12 inch cover. But after SOC he was gone with a solo career. He probably didn't dig the entire move to gangsta music and away from electro dance tracks.
Thing is before the album came out, I thought I would hear something on SOC that would rival, if not surpass, what I heard in 8-Ball and Dopeman on the EP, so to a certain extent I was disappointed. But not much. Cube still made it fun to be a gangsta and the combination of him, Dre and Eazy was akin to rap's version of the Beatles.
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