N.W.A

USA, 1987–1991

Compton group of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella. Straight Outta Compton (1988) set hard funk samples against first-person accounts of policing and street life, and established gangsta rap.

MusicRoots documents 2 artists who influenced N.W.A and 1 artist N.W.A influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced N.W.A?

• Parliament-Funkadelic — P-Funk was foundational to N.W.A's sound — they heavily sampled Parliament-Funkadelic's basslines and psychedelic riffs.
• James Brown — James Brown's funk breaks were core sampling material for N.W.A's productions, the rhythmic bedrock of their tracks.

Which artists did N.W.A influence?

• Bone Thugs-n-Harmony — N.W.A's Eazy-E signed Bone Thugs to Ruthless Records and mentored them, setting their Midwest flow against West Coast G-funk.