| N.W.A. and the Posse | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | November 6, 1987(original) November 13, 1989(reissue) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 46:26 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | ||||
| N.W.A chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from N.W.A. And The Posse | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [2] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 4/10[3] |
N.W.A. and the Posse is acompilation album, re-releasingN.W.A and associated groups' underground rap songs from the Los Angeles area's rap scene on November 6, 1987.[4][5] It is regarded as American rap groupN.W.A's first but neglected album;[6][1][7] N.W.A's authorized debutstudio album, rather, isStraight Outta Compton, released in January 1989. Whereas theStraight album wascertified platinum, one million copies sold that July, thePosse album wascertified gold, half as many copies sold, in April 1994.[8]
Originally not N.W.A's intended album release, thePosse album was released by Macola Records—which was then the Los Angeles hip hop scene's main distributor—by collecting songs, mainly from N.W.A'sEP titledN.W.A, that Macola had distributed forRuthless Records, a record label set up by N.W.A'sEazy-E.[1][9]
Six of the 11 tracks on thePosse album are from then-N.W.A members:Eazy-E,Dr. Dre,Ice Cube andArabian Prince.MC Ren andDJ Yella were not yet in N.W.A, however the former does appear on the cover photograph. One track is of Microphone Mike, later calledMyka 9, along with Rappinstine, a traveling faction of the DJ crewWorld Class Wreckin' Cru, whose core had yielded N.W.A's Dr. Dre and DJ Yella.
Four of thePosse album's tracks are from theFila Fresh Crew,[5] a rap crew including Doc-T, who soon renamed himselfThe D.O.C.[1] Dr. Dre discovered them in Texas, where a DJ friend of his, Dr. Rock, had invited him to perform at a nightclub, where the Fila Fresh Crew was performing.[5][10] These four tracks had previously been distributed by Macola Records.
Macola omitted the N.W.A track "A Bitch iz a Bitch" (not included on the EP either) to favor party, electro sounds, like the "Panic Zone" track, that led the Los Angeles rap scene until N.W.A'sStraight album hit.[6][1][10] In November 1989, after the commercial success ofStraight Outta Compton that same year, Ruthless' distributorPriority Records re-issued thePosse album with the "Bitch" track replacing "Scream".[1]
The World Class Wreckin' Cru', including future N.W.A membersDr. Dre andDJ Yella, led by Grandmaster Lonzo, along with C.I.A which included future memberIce Cube were signed to Lonzo's label Kru-Cut Records, a sublabel of Macola Records, the area's leading independent distributor of rap records.[11] The success of Eazy’s single "Boyz-n-the-Hood" prompted Eazy's call for an N.W.A EP, distributed by Macola.[10] The EP's five songs included Eazy and Cube on "Dopeman", Eazy on "8 Ball", and Arabian's production "Panic Zone."[10]
After the release of the EP, N.W.A left Macola and signed to Priority. Macola wasn't too happy and wanted to cash in on the group so they took the songs from Eazy's "Boyz-n-the-Hood" single as well as the N.W.A EP and combined them with a bunch of random songs that Macola had in their library and this resulted in theN.W.A and the Posse album.
For the EP's cover photo which is the same cover used for the album, Eazy summoned N.W.A's members to pose for the camera in aHollywood alleyway near Macola's office.[12][10] Reportedly, some who were photographed wound up there by merely driving or accompanying another.[12] Future N.W.A rapperMC Ren, living near Eazy, although photographed, was not yet in N.W.A.[12] On the other hand,DJ Yella is absent[13] due to being sick on the day the photo was taken (although he also was not active within the group yet, just a close friend of Dre).[14] RapperCandyman is also in the photo, bottom right kneeling down.
All songs produced by eitherDr. Dre,Arabian Prince or both.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Boyz-n-the-Hood" | O'Shea Jackson | Eazy-E | 5:37 |
| 2. | "8 Ball" | O'Shea Jackson | N.W.A. | 4:26 |
| 3. | "Dunk the Funk" | The D.O.C. | Fila Fresh Crew | 5:01 |
| 4. | "Scream" |
|
| 3:18 |
| 5. | "Drink It Up" | The D.O.C. | Fila Fresh Crew | 4:45 |
| 6. | "Panic Zone" |
| 3:33 | |
| 7. | "L.A. Is the Place" |
|
| 4:31 |
| 8. | "Dope Man" |
|
| 6:16 |
| 9. | "Tuffest Man Alive" | The D.O.C. | Fila Fresh Crew | 2:16 |
| 10. | "Fat Girl" |
|
| 2:45 |
| 11. | "3 the Hard Way" | The D.O.C. | Fila Fresh Crew | 4:10 |
| Total length: | 46:26 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4. | "A Bitch iz a Bitch" | O'Shea Jackson | N.W.A. | 3:10 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[15] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
