Niggaz4Life

Niggaz4Life
Studio album by N.W.A
Released	May 28, 1991
Recorded	July 1990-March 1991
Genre	Gangsta rap, G-Funk, West Coast hip hop
Length	76:13 (2003 re-release)
Label	Ruthless/Priority
Producer	Dr. Dre, DJ Yella
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Pitchfork Media (8.8/10) link Robert Christgau (C-) link Rolling Stone Jul 11, 1991 Rolling Stone Sep 30, 2002
N.W.A chronology
100 Miles and Runnin' (1990) Niggaz4life (1991) N.W.A Greatest Hits

Niggaz4Life (also known as Efil4zaggin), was the third and final studio album by Gangsta rap group N.W.A, released in 1991. It was their final album, as the group disbanded later the same year after the departure of Dr. Dre and songwriter The D.O.C. for Death Row Records; the album features only four members of the original line-up, as Ice Cube had already left the group in 1989. Niggaz4Life debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, but in its second week reached number one. The only other artist to do this is Michael Jackson .

In 1992, several months after the release of the album, N.W.A released a video entitled 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 2003, 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.

The title

On the cover the title appears as a mirror-image of the text "NIGGAZ4LIFE". The name of the new album had been revealed in "Kamurshul" from N.W.A's previous release 100 Miles and Runnin', but only by playing a vinyl copy backwards could the otherwise unintelligible sound be deciphered as "niggaz for life". Since the album contained the word "Nigga" in it, on some publications it has to be edited out as Straight Outta Compton 2.

While "Niggaz 4 Life" was the original title, it was likely changed on the cover to its reversed form due to political (and financial) considerations. The corruption of the word "nigga" as used in the album title was perhaps influenced by censorship measures in the US music industry introduced at the time. Controversy surrounding the content of heavy metal and hip hop music in general, in particular N.W.A, had been directed by Tipper Gore's Parents Music Resource Center, which had resulted in the adoption of self-censorship measures in the US music industry, including the Parental Advisory sticker. Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A's previous full-length, which also contained the song "Parental Discretion Iz Advised", was one of the first to be branded. By obfuscating the offensive word, the group were able to lever a small measure of artistic freedom. At the time of release, the album was removed from music stores in the United Kingdom. It was also rumoured - yet never confirmed - that the album cover was an actual murder scene.

It was the first album to top the Billboard charts with the word "nigga" in its title since Richard Pryor's Bicentennial Nigger in 1976.

Track listing

1. "Prelude" (featuring Above the Law) (Dr. Dre/MC Ren) – 2:27
2. "Real Niggaz Don't Die" (Dr. Dre/Eazy-E/MC Ren) – 3:40
3. "Niggaz 4 Life" (Eazy-E/Dr. Dre/MC Ren) – 4:58
4. "Protest" – 0:53
5. "Appetite For Destruction" (EazyE/Dr. Dre/MC Ren) – 3:22
6. "Don't Drink That Wine" – 1:07
7. "Alwayz Into Somethin'" (featuring Admiral D) (Dr. Dre/MC Ren) – 4:25
8. "Message to B.A." (diss to Ice Cube) – 0:48
9. "Real Niggaz" (diss to Ice Cube) (Dr. Dre/Eazy-E/MC Ren) – 4:27
10. "To Kill a Hooker" – 0:50
11. "One Less Bitch" (MC Ren/Dr. Dre) – 4:47
12. "Findum, Fuckum, and Flee" (Dr. Dre/Eazy-E/MC Ren) – 3:55
13. "Automobile" (Eazy-E/Dr. Dre) – 3:15
14. "She Swallowed It" (MC Ren) – 4:13
15. "I'd Rather Fuck You" (featuring CPO) (Eazy-E) – 3:57
16. "Approach to Danger" (Dr. Dre/MC Ren/Eazy-E) – 2:45
17. "1-900-2-Compton" – 1:27
18. "The Dayz of Wayback"(featuring Kokane) (Dr. Dre/MC Ren) – 4:15

Samples

Prelude

• "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" by Isaac Hayes

Real Niggaz Don't Die

• "UFO" by ESG
• "Different Strokes" by Syl Johnson
• "Die Nigger!!!" by The Last Poets
• "Rise Above" by Black Flag
• "Long Red" by Mountain
• "I Just Want to Celebrate" by Rare Earth
• "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss
• "Hook and Sling" by Eddie Bo
• "Big Beat" by Billy Squier

Niggaz 4 Life

• "Sir Nose d'Voidoffunk" by Parliament
• "N.T." by Kool & the Gang
• "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Gonna Go" by Curtis Mayfield
• "Cissy Strut" by The Meters
• "Fool Yourself" by Little Feat

Appetite For Destruction

• "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins
• "Funky Stuff" by Kool and the Gang
• "Niggers vs. the Police" by Richard Pryor

Don't Drink That Wine

• "I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)" by Parliament

Alwayz Into Somethin

• "Stoned to the Bone" by James Brown
• "Storm King" by Bob James
• "Sneakin' in the Back" by Tom Scott
• "Remember" by Jimi Hendrix
• "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss

Real Niggaz

• "Give it Up" by Kool & the Gang
• "Got to Be Real" by Cheryl Lynn

To Kill a Hooker

• "Can't Stay Away" by Bootsy Collins
• "Zimba Ku" by Black Heat

One Less Bitch

• "Funkin' 4 Jamaica" by Tom Browne
• "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Babe" by Barry White

Findum, Fuckum and Flee

• "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang

Automobile

• "My Automobile" by Parliament

She Swallowed It

• "Cardova" by The Meters
• "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Babe" by Barry White

I'd Rather Fuck You

• "I'd Rather Be with You" by Bootsy Collins

Approach to Danger

• "Get up & Get Down" by The Dramatics
• "Get Me Back on Time, Engine No. 9" by Wilson Pickett
• "God Made Me Funky" by The Headhunters
• "Scorpio" by Lalo Schifrin

1-900-2-COMPTON

• "P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)" by Parliament

The Dayz of Wayback

• "Troglodyte" by Jimmy Castor Bunch
• "Impeach the President" by The Honeydrippers
• "Players Balling (Players Doin' Their Own Thing)" by Ohio Players

Chart Positions

Album

Singles

Billboard 200 Chronology