Niggaz4Life is the second and final studio album by American hip-hop group N.W.A, released on May 28, 1991. It was their final album, as the group disbanded later the same year after the absences of Dr. Dre and songwriter and unofficial member of the group The D.O.C. who both left to form Death Row Records; the album features only four members of the original line-up, as Arabian Prince and Ice Cube had already left the group in early 1989 and late 1989 respectively. Niggaz4Life debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200, but in its second week peaked at number 1.
In 1992, several months after the release of the album, N.W.A released a video named Niggaz4Life: The Only Home Video, which chronicled the making of the album and its three music videos, "Alwayz into Somethin'", "Appetite for Destruction" and "Approach to Danger".
In 2002, the CD was re-released in two formats. Both had the EP 100 Miles and Runnin' appended to the end of the original track listing, but one was available with a DVD copy of Niggaz4Life: The Only Home Video.
In comparison to its predecessor, Niggaz4Life is heavier on misogyny, for which it became notorious. The songs on the album's second half featured more profanity, sexist themes, and references to various sexual acts, provoking the ire of the PMRC, liberal and conservative politicians, and civil rights activist C. Delores Tucker.
Contents
Songs
"Real Niggaz Don't Die" is a quaking tune that uses a descending heavy metal riff. It uses a soundbite of voices panning the group, before Yella counters with a diatribe aimed at "fake niggaz, house niggaz." Musical elements of "Appetite for Destruction" are comparable to Public Enemy's "Welcome to the Terrordome" (1990). Don't Drink That Wine" has undertones of doo-wop and concerns cocaine. "To Kill a Hooker", compared by reviewer Dele Fadele to a snuff film, features Dre and Yella describing in detail the gang rape and murder of a District Attorney's wife, presaging the stronger content of the album's second half. "Automobile", appearing halfway through side two, is considered by Smith to be the first of the album's 'surprises', as it is based around a rinky-dink piano and concerns "a frustrated fuck in the back seat of a car." "I'd Rather Fuck You",a crude pastiche of Philadelphia soul, is comparable to George Clinton and is similar to similar lustful soul songs, albeit delivered more explicitly. "Approach to Danger" was described by Smith as "an off-centre, eerie thing, all out-of-tune strings and dark, half-spoken delivery", and by critic Ray Suzuki as "essentially rapping over a Halloween FX record." "The Dayz of Wayback" is a tough track that portrays N.W.A. as the leaders of Compton's rap scene, punctuated by ragga intrusions "and a chaotic heap of noisy loops".
Critical reception
Upon release, Niggaz4Life generally polarized music critics, as many were divided over its lyrics especially in the 2nd half of the album. The Source declared it one of their albums of the year but more mainstream publications like Rolling Stone condemned the album. In a two star review (out of five), Rolling Stone critic Arion Berger attacked Niggaz4Life as "so hateful toward women, and in such a pathetic and sleazy manner, that it's simply tiresome." Mark Blackwell, of Spin magazine, similarly opined in his interview of N.W.A. that Niggaz4Life "wears thin pretty fast. The main problem is that the old 'niggas' and 'bitches' thing – whether offensive or not – is getting a little tired" before conceding that "Dre and Yella's production is peerless."
In a negative review, Newsweek deemed the album "by N.W.A standards, is a mediocre work, a retreat from cinematic storytelling into simple punk bluster." Time wrote, "N.W.A. raps nasty and righteous, with real ghetto heat, and doesn't give an inch," calling the album "incendiary" and "grotesque."
Although he enjoyed two songs, Andrew Smith of Melody Maker dismissed the album's lyrical boasts as unconvincing, moving "so far outside the confines of reality" that the group members "have made themselves into cartoon characters", adding that N.W.A. "sorely miss Ice Cube's intelligence" and have become "the Jimmy Greaves of rap." NME's Ian McCann similarly lamented the loss of Ice Cube, saying Niggaz4Life lacks "the tension" of Compton, but still deemed it "effective funk" and praised N.W.A.'s more adventurous beats, commenting that "[the] introductions take P-Funk chat circa 1974 to new levels and the samples on the songs proper are cleverly layered even when you've heard 'em before. McCann also felt parts of the album reveal "the rap-soul hybrid" of Dre's earlier group World Class Wreckin' Cru, due to Easy E's funk inflections and the greater emphasis on reggae than Compton, "but it's still played for laughs." Reviewing it for NME again, following its re-release in November 1991 after the legal victory, Dele Fadele panned N.W.A. for their commercial motivations, opining that Niggaz4life "isn't just obscene, it's positively subhuman", adding: "As if black people don't have enough problems with stereotypes, its portrayal of 'real niggaz' as pea-brained, amoral Neanderthals who think with their penises, hate everything about women but their reproductive organs, and enjoy nothing better than to kill their own type, is by turns amazing in its cruelty and sadder than dusk."
Accolades
Ranked #1 in The Source's Top 15 Albums of 1991 list in 1991
Ranked #7 in MTV's Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time list in 2005
"It seemed like the craziest shit in existence to me. When I heard Eazy-E do a country and western song [Automobile], I couldn't believe the audacity and creative genius. Then, when I looked at the album cover and they were all dead, with their spirits flying out of their bodies, and the title was printed backwards so you had to put it up to the mirror to read it the right way, I said, 'These motherfuckers are crazy!'" – Busta Rhymes
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard Top LPs chart. It went on to top the Billboard 200, allegedly gaining 954,000 sales in its first week becoming the first gangsta rap album to top the chart, and the first independently distributed album to top the chart.
Ban from sale in Britain and legal case
On June 4, 1991, thousands of copies of Niggaz4Life – reportedly either 12,000 or 23,000 in number – were seized by officers from the Obscene Publications Squad from PolyGram's distribution plant in Chadwell Heath, England, following a complaint to New Scotland Yard from a music retailer who had received an advance copy of the album from Island Records. Of the reported 12,000 copies, 5,750 were LPs, 5,191 were CDs and 1,406 were cassettes, and cost Island over £120,000 in stock. In the days that followed, reports emerged that further copies were seized by the police in the Swindon and Southampton branches of Our Price; following this, Our Price immediately withdrew the album from sale nationwide, fearing further legal action, with other music retailers looking to follow their example. By 22 June, it had been reported that the album was banned from all major British retailers,. The Obscene Publications Squad also sent a copy of the album was to be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, whose verdict would influence the squad on whether further action was necessary. This was considered an important test case with regards to the future of censorship and the British music industry.
At the time of the album's withdrawal from retailers, it was expected to enter the UK Albums Chart at number 16 or 17, but the forced withdrawal ensured it stalled outside the Top 20 at number 25. In the U.S., where the record was more successful, it escaped any similar censorship. Island Records, parent company of 4th & Broadway (whom released the album), sought legal advice in the face of possible charges for issuing an album of a "depraved and corrupt nature". Their head of press, Rob Partridge, criticized the country's obscenity laws as an "imprecise art" and stated what while many people would be offended by the lyrical content of Niggaz4life, audiences who buy N.W.A. releases would know what to expect from the album, and Island had added the warning "Not to be played in the presence of minors" on British copies, similar to the 'Parental Advisory' label on American copies. Those in the music industry who condemned the banning included Alternative Tentacles boss Bill Gilliam and singer Sinead O'Connor, the latter of whom said that "no one should have the right to decide what the general public listen to. In effect, what the authorities have done is ban the record without going through any sort of legal procedure." She noted that N.W.A.'s attitudes were not unique, adding that "[by] banning the LP, or any similar material, people are just becoming blind to the realities of life." On August 13, police applied to the Redbridge Magistrates Court hoping to destroy all remaining copies of the album, as per Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act, with a hearing set for September 4 that later adjourned until November 7. By August 27, Island criticized the British Phonographic Industry for failing to support them, saying their indifference proved that "the music industry is divided over the issue".
Track listing
Songwriting credits are adapted from the CD liner notes. All songs produced by Dr. Dre and DJ Yella.