Christian A.

Casas

Documentary "N.W.A the World's Most Dangerous Group"

N.W.A The World's Most Dangerous Group" showcases the happenings of early Hip

Hop in the early 90s and its unexpected yet impactful effect it had on American culture. Mark

Ford both the director and writer of this documentary makes an important and efficient film that

introduces the audience of a group who once was and still is very alive in spirit. The significance

of this rap posse lies in the zeitgeist of when the music was released, dealing with such harsh

subjects such as life in the streets including, drug use, violence, paranoia, difficult upbringing

and last but the brutality that often occurred and was hidden or unaware of between the police

and lower class African American Citizens. This films takes and insightful and critical look at the

early 90s showing how art truly mirrors life and is vital to society in itself.

Mark Ford executes this brilliant film in a very simple yet effective way. This

documentary is mostly narrated by the comedian Chris Rock and is interjected with either clips

of what is being talked about to show the audience a visual representation and or is also

accompanied with interview clips of former musicians, people who were affected by the

movement first hand or by the Rappers themselves. Chris Rock as the narrator is the perfect pick.

A comedian who speaks up about what African Americans have to go through in their daily life

making it relatable to those outside of the bubble by making it humorous not only understands

the message the film is trying to evoke but also very much is living it in his daily life. The

inclusion of having the former members of NWA in the film is important to truly grasp the

meaning and importance behind the lyrics within the music. They add how none of them
expected such a riot over a couple of teens making music that appealed to them. However they

also mentioned how yet surprising the attention this group was able to obtain it was truly

necessary for an otherwise silenced society to share their opinions and beliefs.

Music is everything. Never before had there been music with such abrasive, violent

subject matter that didnt care for coddling and sweetening the message but instead its sole

purpose relied on exposing the truth to millions of listeners. In this analysis I will focus mostly

on one specific song to show how surprising and shocking the lyrics were to society during the

early 90s. The Documentary brings up F*ck tha police as the small current that broke the dam

unleashing a wave of countless other musicians, artists to express their situation truthfully to the

masses. F*ck tha Police is a protest song that was originally released on the Rap groups album

Straight outta Compton. Like mentioned previously throughout the essay it speaks upon police

brutality and racial profiling. With lines such as F*ck the police coming straight from the

underground ,A young nig*a got it bad cause I'm brown ,And not the other color so police think

They have the authority to kill a minority its no big surprise this garnered attention from not

only music listeners but by the FBI themselves. The documentary really emphasizes on how

fearless and ready for whatever came at them the NWA were. The group knew these lyrics

were unorthodox but frankly were exhausted of having to conform to this unjust treatment. No

art should be censored, music should not be different, to censor an artist is to take their freedom

of speech and dwindling down the creative source they have inside.

The documentary hits the past critically bringing up societal mistakes and occurrences

specifically those geared towards minorities. The film mentions numerous cases in which the

police were tried for unjust brutality in court but due to their superior position of that of the

accuser who more than likely was a poor citizen and had no chance to battle with the LAPD they
were left freely to do as they pleased. Communities which were inhabited mostly by minorities

often had the worse schools, hospitals, and infrastructure and were either ignored by the

government or were villainized by them. Kendrick Lamar a relevant rapper in todays culture and

who has cited The NWA as one of his biggest influences once said If I told you that a flower

bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it? meaning beauty emerges from such dark

circumstances and still continuously is attacked or interpreted as evil. Soon after, Gangster rap

emerged. Gangster Rap is a subgenre of Hip Hop that is often referred to as a musical mirror of

society, these songs influenced many African Americans to take a stand and protest. A very

famous event that occurred around these times were the LA Riots which started as a peaceful

event protesting the unfair treatment of the government towards minorities begun to swivel out

of control into a tragic, chaotic day in which people died, businesses were broke into and racial

connections were scarred. Eazy E the front man of the NWA was quoted saying it cant be a

revolution without bloodshed. Although unpleasing to hear it holds a lot of truth. Soon after

Americans began to stand up for their fellow hurt citizens and joined the protests. Slowly but

surely laws began being passed, protecting minorities. Although not solely done by The NWA

they had a definite impact on their community and were able to accomplish an enormous feat.

NWA has been broken up for almost 25 years but its spirit and what its stood for is very

much alive today. Modern musicians now freely are able to write and express themselves in a

large variety of ways, these rights were gained by the NWA and pioneers such as them that

fought hard for their art and believed in a brighter future. Music is juggernaut of a tool that

allows us to connect with our fellow humans no matter how different their circumstance may be.
 In Conclusion this documentary was great watch that not only speaks to the audience

about social issues and how they were solved by force and determination but they speak to our

inner artist that each one of us hold inside. By remembering to always staying true to what we

believe in we are able to accomplish amazing things. The documentary closes by reminding us to

always stay connected and ends with a message of union and appreciation for one another. Social

issues emerge today such as the distrust we have today for law enforcement and with it come a

new wave of artists that allow us to see the world for it truly is. Now more than ever we have to

remember our past in order to prevent previous mistakes. By remembering that us as citizens

wont be hurt with such treatment and wont be counted as ignorant and unknowing there is no

need to fear for we hold the biggest weapon of them all, expression.