N.W.A.: Efil4zaggin [HIP-O]

Why you'll love it

This Ruthless and Priority reissue puts the original 1991 running order back on vinyl. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and climbed to No. 1 the following week.

About the album

By 1991 N.W.A. were down to four: Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, MC Ren and DJ Yella, with Ice Cube gone and plenty of the album aimed squarely at him. The D.O.C. was back beside Dre helping shape the writing, and the group came out harder, louder and more confrontational than ever. Within months Dre and The D.O.C. would leave to start Death Row Records, so this is the last word from the crew that put Compton on the map.

The real draw is the production. Dre and Yella stack heavy metal riffs, layered funk samples, P-Funk style introductions and a dose of reggae into dense, restless tracks, and even critics who had plenty to say about the lyrics called the beats peerless. "Alwayz Into Somethin'" rides a slow, woozy synth line, "Appetite For Destruction" hits like an alarm going off, and "Approach To Danger" is an eerie, half-spoken creeper. All three got videos, later gathered on a home video about the making of the album.

It's a loud, uncompromising snapshot of West Coast rap at the end of one era and the start of the next, and fair warning, it is every bit as explicit as its reputation. The cover prints the title backwards, presumably so you'd need a mirror; we find a turntable works just as well.

Also at Kops: more N.W.A. on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On Ruthless / Priority (cat# B0022482-01), a reissue of the 1991 album.