In the process, they became arena-filling superstars and launched a new genre-gangsta rap-that paved the way for Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar and everyone in between.ĭuring their heyday in the late 1980s and early '90s, there was no Internet to search for similar acts, so fans relied on fanzines, underground radio, club DJs, word of mouth, cassette tape trading and other creative promotional means to find new artists. They pissed off politicians, cops and parents coast to coast, were threatened by the FBI and were boycotted and targeted by Congress and censorship crusaders. They weren't known as 'The World's Most Dangerous Group' for nothing. Rap Brown and Tookie Williams into a visceral, speaker-rattling spectacle of urban funk and controversy. They took inner city rage and gangsta culture mainstream, melding Zapp, George Clinton, H.

Dre, DJ Yella, MC Ren and the late Eazy-E, N.W.A not only sold millions of records but their shocking success propelled the entire gangsta rap movement to stratospheric levels and changed American pop culture forever. But when it comes to industry success, cultural impact, lasting musical legacy and sheer rock 'n' roll rebelliousness, the hall certainly got it right by inducting the Compton rap crew.Ĭonsisting of Ice Cube, Dr. N.W.A will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, likely angering and annoying many a rock purist.

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