{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = N.W.A. and the Posse | type = compilation | artist = N.W.A | cover = Nwafirstalbum.jpg | alt = | caption = (L-R) Top: DJ Train (obscured), Sir Jinx; Middle: MC Chip, MC Ren, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, K-Dee, Ice Cube, Arabian Prince, DJ Scratch; Bottom: Krazy Dee, Candyman. | released = November 6, 1987 <small>(original)</small><br />November 13, 1989 <small>(reissue)</small> | recorded = | studio = | genre = {{hlist|West Coast hip-hop|gangsta rap|electro-funk}} | length = 46:26 | label = {{hlist|Macola (original)|Ruthless (reissue)|Priority (reissue)}} | producer = * Dr. Dre * Arabian Prince | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = Straight Outta Compton | next_year = 1989 | misc = {{Singles | name = N.W.A. And The Posse | type = compilation | single1 = Boyz-n-the-Hood | single1date = March 3, 1987 | single2 = Panic Zone | single2date = August 13, 1987 }} }} {{Music ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=":12"/> |rev2 = ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' |rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="RS">{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |pages=512–513}}</ref> | rev3 = ''Spin Alternative Record Guide'' | rev3score = 4/10<ref>{{cite book|chapter=N.W.A|first=Greg|last=Sandow|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|editor1-first=Eric|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor2-first=Craig|editor2-last=Marks|publisher=Vintage Books|year=1995|isbn=0-679-75574-8|pages=277–278}}</ref> }} '''''N.W.A. and the Posse''''' is a compilation album, re-releasing N.W.A and associated groups' underground rap songs from the Los Angeles area's rap scene on November 6, 1987.<ref>Robin D. G. Kelley, "Kickin' reality, kickin' ballistics: Gangsta rap and postindustrial Los Angeles", in William Eric Perkins, ed., ''Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture'' (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996), [https://books.google.com/books?id=zGC_ZNOrKDwC&pg=PA120 p 128].</ref><ref name=":10">Roni Sarig, ''Third Coast: Outkast, Timbaland, and How Hip-hop Became a Southern Thing'' (Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=OEY849PmL10C&dq=Fila+Fresh+Crew&pg=PT41 indexing "Fila Fresh Crew"].</ref> It is regarded as American rap group N.W.A's first but neglected album;<ref name=":02">Stephen Thomas Erlewine, [https://www.allmusic.com/artist/nwa-mn0000314793/biography "N.W.A: Biography"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113163327/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/nwa-mn0000314793/biography |date=November 13, 2020 }}, ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited 26 Apr 2020.</ref><ref name=":12">Alex Henderson, [https://www.allmusic.com/album/nwa-and-the-posse-mw0000654860 "N.W.A: ''N.W.A and the Posse''"], ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited 26 Apr 2020.</ref><ref name=":2">Jerry Heller with Gil Reavill, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jsn3pM18uJcC&q=%22N.W.A+and+the+Posse%22 Ruthless: A Memoir]'' (New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2007).</ref> N.W.A's authorized debut studio album, rather, is ''Straight Outta Compton'', released in January 1989. Whereas ''Straight Outta Compton'' was certified platinum, one million copies sold that July, ''N.W.A. and the Posse'' was certified gold, half as many copies sold, in April 1994.<ref>Gold & Platinum search, [https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=N.W.A.+and+the+Posse "N.W.A. & the Posse"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617205324/https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=N.W.A.+and+the+Posse |date=June 17, 2021 }}, Recording Industry Association of America website, visited 26 Apr 2020.</ref>
==Backstory== Originally not N.W.A.'s intended album release, the ''Posse'' 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.'s EP titled ''N.W.A.'', that Macola had distributed for Ruthless Records, a record label set up by N.W.A.'s Eazy-E.<ref name=":12"/><ref name=":3">David Diallo, "Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg", in Mickey Hess, ed., Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2007), pp [https://books.google.com/books?id=LldOLnIQ66cC&dq=Eazy&pg=PA321 321] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920002921/https://books.google.com/books?id=LldOLnIQ66cC&dq=Eazy&pg=PA321 |date=September 20, 2023 }}–[https://books.google.com/books?id=LldOLnIQ66cC&dq=Straight+Outta+Compton+album&pg=PA322 322].</ref>
Six of the 11 tracks on the ''N.W.A And The Posse'' album are from then-N.W.A. members: Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Arabian Prince. MC Ren and DJ Yella were not yet in N.W.A, however the former does appear on the cover photograph. One track is of Microphone Mike, later called Myka 9, along with Rappinstine, a traveling faction of the DJ crew World Class Wreckin' Cru, whose core had yielded N.W.A.'s Dr. Dre and DJ Yella.
Four of the ''Posse'' album's tracks are from the Fila Fresh Crew,<ref name=":10" /> a rap crew including Doc-T, who soon renamed himself The D.O.C.<ref name=":12"/> 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.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":6" /> 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's ''Straight Outta Compton'' album hit.<ref name=":02"/><ref name=":12"/><ref name=":6">Gerrick D. Kennedy, ''Parental Discretion Is Advised: The Rise of N.W.A. and the Dawn of Gangsta Rap'' (New York: Atria Books, 2017), [https://books.google.com/books?id=t_euDgAAQBAJ&dq=Eazy+Dre+Cube&pg=PA86 pp 85–86] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920002915/https://books.google.com/books?id=t_euDgAAQBAJ&dq=Eazy+Dre+Cube&pg=PA86 |date=September 20, 2023 }}.</ref> In November 1989, after the commercial success of ''Straight Outta Compton'' that same year, Ruthless' distributor Priority Records re-issued the ''N.W.A And The Posse'' album with the track "A Bitch iz a Bitch" replacing "Scream".<ref name=":12"/>
== Macola == The World Class Wreckin' Cru', including future N.W.A members Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, led by Grandmaster Lonzo, along with C.I.A which included future member Ice Cube were signed to Lonzo's label Kru-Cut Records, a sublabel of Macola Records, the area's leading independent distributor of rap records.<ref name=":4">David Diallo, ch 10 "From electro-rap to G-funk: A social history of rap music in Los Angeles and Compton, California", in Mickey Hess, ed., ''Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide'', Volume 1: ''East Coast and West Coast'' (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2010), [https://books.google.com/books?id=XkCncJ7j744C&q=CBS+World+Class p 233] on World Class Wreckin' Cru, [https://books.google.com/books?id=XkCncJ7j744C&q=Eazy-E pp 234–238] on N.W.A.</ref> The success of Eazy’s single "Boyz-n-the-Hood" prompted Eazy's call for an N.W.A EP, distributed by Macola.<ref name=":6" /> The EP's five songs included Eazy and Cube on "Dopeman", Eazy on "8 Ball", and Arabian's production "Panic Zone."<ref name=":6" />
After the release of the EP, N.W.A left Macola and signed to Priority. Macola was unhappy with the departure and wanted to cash in on the group. They took the songs from Eazy's "Boyz-n-the-Hood" single as well as the N.W.A EP and combined them with other songs from related groups that Macola had in their library. this resulted in the ''N.W.A and the Posse'' album.
== Cover photo == 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 a Hollywood alleyway near Macola's office.<ref name=":5">Martin Cizmar, [https://www.laweekly.com/whatever-happened-to-n-w-as-posse "Whatever happened to N.W.A's posse?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121023737/https://www.laweekly.com/whatever-happened-to-n-w-as-posse/ |date=January 21, 2021 }}, ''LA Weekly'', 6 May 2010.</ref><ref name=":6" /> Reportedly, some who were photographed wound up there by merely driving or accompanying another.<ref name=":5" /> Future N.W.A rapper MC Ren, living near Eazy, although photographed, was not yet in N.W.A.<ref name=":5" /> On the other hand, DJ Yella is absent<ref>In the photo, the five, eventual N.W.A members are side by side in the center: Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Arabian Prince, and MC Ren. Otherwise, there are seven others. Two of them had already formed, with Ice Cube, the rap trio C.I.A.: Anthony "Sir Jinx" Wheaton and Darryll "Kid Disaster" or "K-Dee" Johnson. Another two were in another rap group, CPO: Clarence "DJ Train" Lars and Granville "MC Chip" Moton. Also, there are LaMont "DJ Scratch" or "King Scratch" Burnett, Candell "Candyman" Manson, and Damon "Krazy D" Trujillo. For backstory and developments on each, see Martin Cizmar, [https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/nwa-and-the-posse-where-are-the-12-guys-from-nwas-first-album-cover-now-6614704 "''N.W.A. and the Posse'': Where are the 12 guys from N.W.A's first album cover now?"], ''Phoenix New Times'', 15 Mar 2010.</ref> 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).<ref name = "DJ Yella Interview">{{cite web |title=DJ Yella: Eazy E Wasn't a Natural Rapper, He Had to Be Coached |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaRqdspVNdo |website=YouTube |access-date=24 May 2023 |language=English |date=19 August 2015}}</ref> Rapper Candyman is also in the photo, bottom right kneeling down.
== Track list == All songs produced by Dr. Dre and Arabian Prince. {{Track listing | headline = N.W.A. and the Posse track listing | extra_column = Performers | total_length = 46:26 | title1 = Boyz-n-the-Hood | extra1 = Eazy-E | length1 = 5:37 | title2 = 8 Ball | writer2 = Ice Cube | extra2 = N.W.A. | length2 = 4:26 | title3 = Dunk the Funk | writer3 = {{hlist|Dr. Rock|Fresh K|The D.O.C.}} | extra3 = Fila Fresh Crew featuring The D.O.C. | length3 = 5:01 | title4 = Scream | writer4 = {{hlist|M. "Microphone Mike" Troy|Rappinstine}} | extra4 = {{hlist|M. "Microphone Mike" Troy|Rappinstine}} | length4 = 3:18 | title5 = Drink It Up | writer5 = {{hlist|Dr. Rock|Fresh K|The D.O.C.}} | extra5 = Fila Fresh Crew featuring The D.O.C. | length5 = 4:45 | title6 = Panic Zone | extra6 = N.W.A. | length6 = 3:33 | writer6 = {{hlist|Arabian Prince|Krazy Dee|Dr. Dre}} | title7 = L.A. Is the Place | writer7 = Ice Cube | extra7 = {{hlist|Eazy-E|Ron-De-Vu}} | length7 = 4:31 | title8 = Dope Man | writer8 = Ice Cube | extra8 = N.W.A. | length8 = 6:16 | title9 = Tuffest Man Alive featuring The D.O.C. | writer9 = {{hlist|Dr. Rock|Fresh K|The D.O.C.}} | extra9 = Fila Fresh Crew featuring The D.O.C. | length9 = 2:16 | title10 = Fat Girl | writer10 = Ice Cube | extra10 = {{hlist|Eazy-E|Ron-De-Vu}} | length10 = 2:45 | title11 = 3 the Hard Way | writer11 = {{hlist|Dr. Rock|Fresh K|The D.O.C.}} | extra11 = Fila Fresh Crew featuring The D.O.C. | length11 = 4:10 | all_writing = | writer1 = Ice Cube }}
{{Track listing | headline = 1989 reissue, replacing "Scream" | extra_column = Performers | title4 = A Bitch iz a Bitch | writer4 = Ice Cube | extra4 = N.W.A. | length4 = 3:10 }}
'''Notes''' *''Panic Zone'' and ''Dope Man'' contains uncredited vocals from Krazy Dee
==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=N.W.A. & The Posse|title=N.W.A. and the Posse|award=Gold|relyear=1989|certyear=1994|refname=RIAA}} {{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
{{N.W.A}} {{Authority control}}
Category:N.W.A albums Category:Albums produced by Dr. Dre Category:1987 compilation albums Category:Ruthless Records compilation albums Category:Gangsta rap compilation albums