The Grammy Hall of Fame for musical recordings has been around for 44 years, and, including 2017’s new entries, will now boast an incredible 1038 songs in an incredible heritage list of sorts. Many of these are certified classics beyond just their melodies; they shaped political movements, whole genres, popular culture, social change and technological growth.

Similar to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a song has to be 25 years old to be inducted, meaning that R&R and Grammy inductions are often similar. N.W.A were inducted into the Hall of Fame back in April, which rounded off an incredible resurgence for the game-changing five-piece, who last year were the subject of blockbuster biopic Straight Outta Compton. 

2016 marked quarter-century anniversaries for a bunch of classics, notably including N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton, which remains as relevant ever 25 years on. It appears alongside Nirvana’s revolutionary Smells Like Teen Spirit as well as R.E.M for Losing My Religion. Household names Elvis, Bowie and the Jackson 5 were all listed, along with the Deep Purple track that every budding young guitarist will know how to play blindfolded and upside down, Smoke On The Water.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMZi25Pq3T8&w=560&h=315]

It’s also worth mentioning the theme song to Mission Impossible by Lalo Schifrin will also be inducted. Make of that what you will. Check out this lit live performance of said tune from the jazz-master general below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjgjU9C8UUc&w=560&h=315]

Grammy Hall of Fame inductees in alphabetical order:

Arlo Guthrie – “The City of New Orleans”
The Beach Boys – “I Get Around”
Billie Holiday – Lady Sings the Blues
Blind Willie McTell – “Statesboro Blues”
Bonnie Raitt – “I Can’t Make Your Love Me”
Cab Calloway And His Orchestra – “(Hep-Hep!) The Jumpin’ Jive”
David Bowie – “Changes”
Deep Purple – “Smoke of the Water”
Dion – “The Wanderer”
Elvis Presley – “Jailhouse Rock”
The Everly Brothers – “Wake Up Little Susie”
Jackson 5 – “ABC”
Lalo Schifrin – “Mission Impossible”
Lesley Gore – “You Don’t Own Me”
Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra – “When the Saints Go Marching In”
Merle Haggard – Okie From Muskogee
Mills Brothers – “You Always Hurt the One You Love”
Mississippi John Hurt – “Stack O’Lee Blues”
N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton
Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Prince – Sign ‘O’ the Times
R.E.M. – “Losing My Religion”
Rod Stewart – “Maggie May”
Sly & The Family Stone – “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”
Sonny & Cher – “I Got You Babe”

Image: Grammy

One of the most formidable and influential hip-hop groups of all time, N.W.A paved the way in so may ways, not just for rappers, but for the whole hip-hop and music industry. 2015 saw the release of their blockbuster biopic Straight Outta Compton, and earlier this year, the group achieved the incredible accolade of being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, one of the only hip-hop groups to ever receive this coveted recognition.

Along with Ice Cube, Dr Dre, MC Ren and Eazy-E, DJ Yella, who had previously worked with Dre in World Class Wreckin’ Cru, N.W.A brought the world’s attention to the streets, to hip-hop, and to a life and environment formerly unexplored by so many, particularly through songs like Fuck tha Police, which controversially highlighted issues like racial profiling and police brutality.

I recently interviewed DJ Yella about the group’s legacy and hip-hop today, Yella cites artists like Kendrick Lamar and The Game as the new generation of influential rappers from Compton. However, he continues to say that he’s unsatisfied with the state of hip-hop today, claiming it to all be sounding the same, and that “nobody has their own style.” I have republished a few of these questions below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMZi25Pq3T8

What are your thoughts on the legacy N.W.A left for hip-hop today?

It’s crazy because we didn’t even think about nothing like this, we just made music we liked. It’s amazing how it affected so many up and coming artists and how we opened the doors for so many of them like Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, The Game, the list goes on.

As someone who helped to shape it, what do you make of the current state of hip-hop and its future?

Right now it’s the same thing going on. Not too many groups, just solo artists or guest appearances. Music right now is just sounding the same. Not much separation. It seems like nobody has their own style like it was back in the day but hip-hop is still here to stay.

 

What did it mean to come from Compton when N.W.A first began, and how is it different today? 

In the beginning, Compton didn’t mean nothing to nobody, it was like a bad name. It was a name people was scared of and scared to come visit. So we had to change it to something good. So now Kendrick Lamar and The Game put Compton back on the map.

The internet has certainly affected how hip-hop and music in general is created and released today. Has that allowed hip-hop to become greater, or has it lost some of what once made it so important?

The internet has changed music. Not just hip-hop but all music. It’s made it bigger, stronger but the only down fall is that it seems like it’s starting to be more artists than fans because it’s so easy to make songs now anywhere, in your bedroom, in your garage, wherever. There’s not many big studios no more.

A young N.W.A. Image: Very Smart Brothas

A young N.W.A. Image: Very Smart Brothas

 

 

 

 

It’s interesting, but I suppose not all that unsurprising, that someone as timelessly influential as a member of N.W.A should view hip-hop as having plateaued today, particularly considering his awareness of how much the internet and technology has changed the industry and music in general. While he considers the internet’s downfall to be that more people are able to make music, and therefore there are more artists than fans, shouldn’t this mean that there’s more diversity, more creativity, more voices and more individuality out there? Sure, more music means there’s more to sift through to find amazing music, but that’s not a bad thing.

It’s not uncommon for previous generations, not just of hip-hop but literally anything, to be wary of how things have changed, or to turn a blind eye to new generations entirely. If you don’t want to listen to newer voices, that’s fine – but that’s different from claiming they don’t have their own style or that it all sounds the same. It’s true that Eminem, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent were influenced by N.W.A, and it’s true that Kendrick and Game are waving the Compton flag today, but what’s also true is that hip-hop, and N.W.A’s legacy, has spread far, far beyond those borders and those sounds.

Music today has not only been influenced by Yella, Cube, Dre, Ren and Eazy-E, but has gone on to expand and grow beyond anything they might have imagined. Artists are cultivating remarkably diverse, beautiful, intelligent, fun music that absolutely does not all sound the same. Lyrically and musically, there’s never been more to pick from. That should be cherished, not ignored.

Republished with permission from Indie Shuffle.

Image: Oxford Art Factory

Ice Cube, of N.W.A. fame, refuses to be pressured into not performing the seminal rap crew’s (in)famous hit Fuck Tha Police even in the wake of multiple shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge.

The success of the 2015 Ice Cube biopic Straight Outta Compton has generated a flurry of new interest in N.W.A., and MC Ren and DJ Yella both joined Cube on stage during his Coachella gig earlier in the year to perform the aforementioned song along with other N.W.A. hits. Their influential song is still extremely powerful today, and just as controversial. Just last year a DJ was fined $50 for playing the track as police scattered party-goers. Fuck Tha Police could be seen as inciting violence against police officers, and is potentially even more volatile given the massive spike of racially charged tension the last few weeks have brought.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jOqOlETcRU

While many members of the musical community have been offering heartfelt tributes and calling for change and reform, Ice Cube is not feeling any heat. In an extremely brief interview with TMZ at an airport baggage collect, the rapper expressed surprise at the idea of pulling the track from his sets, stating “I ain’t gonna change nothing I do, cause I ain’t doing nothing wrong.” Which could sound a little like a cop-out.

Now I’m certainly not saying that rap music or “rap culture” is inciting violence, or that Ice Cube is responsible for the actions of a crazed gunman, but the statement that “I ain’t doing nothing wrong” offers one of two scenarios: 1) Ice Cube is ignoring the wider social and human consequences of music, or 2) He’s choosing to keep the song because the message is too vital to cut.

Let’s look at 1, briefly. Like it or not, cultural statements such as Fuck Tha Police have a wider influence in society. Hell, N.W.A.’s entire shtick was (aside from being great) politically charged rap. It’s one of the reasons we love Kendrick Lamar so much; because he manages to meld musical brilliance with phenomenal social commentary. So if it is 1), it seems a little irresponsible.

It’s Ice Cube’s choice though. If he is choosing to keep the track because he feels the message of frustration at racial targeting by law enforcement is too important to cut, I respect that. One of the hardest things to do as an activist is to stay on message, even when the alleged consequences of that become painfully real. And honestly, it is a little hard to imagine that a major member of one of the most political rap groups in history is ignoring the social factors of music.

Indeed, Cube isn’t doing anything wrong, seeing as the two attacks on police came in the wake of the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of law enforcement. I guess it’s hard to have an in-depth and philosophical conversation about the ethics of such a decision at an airport baggage claim with a TMZ reporter when all you want to do is get to your hotel. But there is a dialogue to be had.

Image: Mass Appeal

In January of this year, Ice Cube revealed on The Talk that he was “going to try to bring the members of N.W.A. together and join me onstage [at Coachella].” Cube wanted to “give everybody a little history lesson on Ice Cube and N.W.A., Westside Connection, everything I’ve been doing over the years.”

Ice Cube has made good on those statements, and last week he brought MC Ren and DJ Yella out on stage to perform Straight Outta Compton, Dopeman (with son and film likeness O’Shea Jackson Jr.) and the notorious Fuck Tha Police, which Cube was warned about performing. N.W.A. were told not to perform Fuck Tha Police back in the ‘80s and now almost 30 years on, the song still holds its power.

Despite three out of the four remaining members of N.W.A. performing some of their classics, fans wanted more. This weekend, Cube brought out MC Ren and DJ Yella again for Straight Outta Compton, before bringing Lil Eazy-E out for a rendition of his father Eazy-E’s classic, Boyz-N-The-Hood. Showing that he had not Forgot About Dre, Cube then asked, “Is there a doctor in the motherfucking house?” Seconds later, Dr. Dre emerged from backstage, and for the first time in 27 years all remaining members of N.W.A. were on stage together.

https://youtu.be/2b7zgHu-SX0

Although it wasn’t the reunion we were all hoping for, as they didn’t perform any N.W.A. songs once Dre graced the stage, it gives hope for die hard West Coast fans like myself that this is the start of something – potentially a N.W.A. tour?

Dre performed Still Dre and the Tupac classic, California Love, but wasn’t the only surprise up Cube’s sleeve, as his set also featured WC from Westside Connection to perform Why We Thugs, and The Game came out for Don’t Trip.

To close the set (which he dedicated to the late Prince), Cube brought out Compton’s current finest Kendrick Lamar to perform his megahit Alright. Kendrick Lamar inducted N.W.A. into the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame a few weeks ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwfy-CTILKA

Image: Twitter

Today has marked an incredible moment for hip-hop: N.W.A have been inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Kendrick Lamar.

Kendrick Lamar is easily one of, if not the most important rapper around today. He is certainly the perfect man for the job of inducting N.W.A, whom he has long stated to have been a major influence on his own career, and on hip-hop as a whole. He’s also collaborated with both Dr Dre and Ice Cube, penned a tribute to Eazy-E, and last year he conducted an extensive interview with the group for Billboard.

All four surviving members of N.W.A – Ice Cube, Dr Dre, DJ Yella and MC Ren – were at the ceremony to receive the coveted recognition. Below, you can read Lamar’s entire induction speech, which tells the powerful story of each member, and talks about the impact and relevance of N.W.A to Lamar personally, to hip-hop, to music as a whole, and the cultural and social impact of the undisputed legends.

N.W.A, man. I said, N.W.A, man! What it do, boy. The world’s most dangerous group. It’s five members that I can recall having pivotal roles while forming this type of Voltron, y’all.

First off, DJ Yella Ye. Ah? Ah? Hip-hop, we in Compton. His personality, charisma not only poured out into the company that was around him, but it shown whenever he got behind the turntables in production, providing some of the illest breaks, cuts, scratching, that only the most elite – I said elite – Compton MCs can spit over, you dig that? Any time my boy Yella dropped that needle, you know it’s time to get busy, right? Right?

MC Ren, the motherfucking – can I cuss? MC Ren, the motherfucking villain! The name is just not self-proclaimed. It was proven every single time he stepped behind that microphone. Hardcore lyrics that not only made you jump out your seat, but feel like you’re getting your motherfucking head pushed through the speakers, you dig that? A true code red every time we heard a rhyme, you dig that, so it was nothing but honesty, spoken from a true tone of a Compton resident: MC Ren, believe that, boy. 100. Yessir.

Cube! Where y’all at? I said Ice Cube? Storytelling genius. Every bar had us hanging over our seats. Punchline, delivery, detailed imagery made you get just a small glimpse of how it was growing up in the city of Compton, you dig what I’m saying? Cube was always proving to be one of the greatest MCs to ever step behind the mic, and on a personal level, my debut album, you was the blueprint on how I went to approach it. That’s for real, you dig what I’m saying, so salute to that. That’s 100.
Doc Dre! Dr. Dre! The scientist! The perfectionist. The producer extraordinaire. My mentor, you dig what I’m saying? This dude here taught me a lot as far as never being satisfied with the work you do, on and off the record. Whether I’m on the mic, whether I’m out in life, in general, always taught me that. Number two, make sure you take care of your music and your family each and every single day. I never forget the words, you dig what I’m saying? Since the first day meeting me, you always gave me the energy, saying “Superstar!” You never called me Kendrick Lamar. So that gave me the belief in what I was doing, and also gave me the energy of knowing I was doing it right, and then I became. I appreciate you for that, every time.

With that being said, not only on a personal level, when I met Dre, it was way before I actually met him personally, it was on the music, you get what I’m saying? So let me say this. Dre has provided N.W.A with unapologetic production made on high-level soundtracks for hardcore lyrics. You could never press play without having an extra pair of Kenwood speakers. You know what I’m talking about, woofers! You know what I’m saying? Tweeters! You understand when I’m having ’em blown out. Every single hi-hat, snare make you break your neck! I believe Andre to be one of the greatest producers of our time, and still to this day. Believe that. That’s real.

Last but not least, the legendary, the late great Eric “Eazy-E” Wright. He was a true mastermind. A businessman, an incredible entertainer. His persona was unmatched. His confidence spoke with abundance. His high-pitched tone spoke to nations around the world, y’all. There was no better voice to put across than Eazy-E. He is the gatekeeper of reality rap. He’s the reason why I’m proud to stand on this stage and rep Compton. He’s the reason why we’re proud to have songs like “Dope Man,” “Express Yourself.” I said, “Fuck tha Police,” “Express Yourself”! “Boyz-n-the-Hood.” These are the records that made L.A. known all across the world. It was dubbed gangsta rap, but what it was for me was an intimate look at what was actually happening in our community in Los Angeles, and in Compton in particular.

Chuck D once said rap and hip-hop was the black CNN. N.W.A represent that to the fullest, am I right? Bringing inner city life to the forefront and making the world pay attention to our realities. Even myself, I look around and I’ve seen people N.W.A spoke for, whether it was my cousin, whether it was my uncle, they were Compton Crip or Piru, they was all influenced. That’s real, y’all probably don’t know about that – y’all looking at me like I’m crazy. But they know! It was all influence, and it all had a deep impression. What they know is a big misconception. The impression was just that they’re trying to kill people. To be clear, to be very clear, the fact that a famous group can look just like one of us and dress like one of us, talk like one of us, proved to every single kid in the ghetto that you can be successful and still have importance while doing it.
That was N.W.A. That was their true message. And I know each and every one of them said they never wanted to be role models, but look … The first time I see Eazy bust through that screen out the jail cell on stage on “We Want Eazy,” I felt like every single one of them was black superheroes where I come from. Because it shows, like I said, people from our community can be on that television screen, be on awards, and still have their voice and be real to themselves. So make some noise for that because that’s the realest thing.

But as you know the history, a lot of people said it was too gangster. It was too much for them. But for me, it was honest. So I’m going to put it like this. Being gangster symbolizes a hustle that you can change your reality. The true meaning of gangster, being able to show what it takes to be the world’s biggest music group. Being gangster is forming iconic labels: Ruthless Records, Death Row, Aftermath Records. Being gangster is breaking out to become a movie star, a movie producer, and having your own son play you as a retrospect to your career, Straight Outta Compton. Being gangster changed the way people listened to music. Being so obsessed with sound that you create your own headphones and force people and fans around the world to listen to deep, intricate sounds the way you outta hear, you dig? Being gangster is partnering with the biggest tech companies and launching groundbreaking music on a whole other platform. So now after 30 years of being heard, being gangster is being inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Ladies and gentleman, without further ado, my good homies, N.W.A! What’s up!

Transcript courtesy of Rolling Stone

Image: Twitter / Rock Hall
 

In an historic moment for the hip-hop world, Straight Outta Compton legends NWA have just been inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. All four surviving members – Ice Cube, Dr Dre, DJ Yella and MC Ren were in tow, along with family and friends, notably including the mother of the late Eazy-E. They were inducted by the only man fit for the job: Kendrick Lamar.

The ceremony had been preceded by the news that NWA were not going to be performing on the night. Speaking to the New York Times, Ice Cube said, “Nah, we’re not performing. I guess we really didn’t feel like we were supported enough to do the best show we could put on… We wanted to do it on a whole other level, and that just couldn’t happen. But we’re totally honoured, humbled and appreciative to the Hall for even just considering us, inducting us and inviting us.”

Lamar delivered a powerful speech, introducing each N.W.A member separately, and talking about their impact – both globally and on a personal scale. “Chuck D once said rap and hip-hop was the black CNN. N.W.A represent that to the fullest, am I right? Bringing inner city life to the forefront and making the world pay attention to our realities. Even myself, I look around and I’ve seen people N.W.A spoke for, whether it was my cousin, whether it was my uncle, they were Compton Crip or Piru, they was all influenced. That’s real, y’all probably don’t know about that – y’all looking at me like I’m crazy. But they know! It was all influence, and it all had a deep impression. What they know is a big misconception. The impression was just that they’re trying to kill people. To be clear, to be very clear, the fact that a famous group can look just like one of us and dress like one of us, talk like one of us, proved to every single kid in the ghetto that you can be successful and still have importance while doing it.” (via Rolling Stone)

Check out some social media highlights from the momentous occasion:

Some see the addition of a hip-hop crew to the HoF as inappropriate, but many of us obviously disagree, and see as much merit in N.W.A as we do any of the rock acts inducted at the same time. Gene Simmons of Kiss recently made some stupid comments about the death of rap, and why it’s not as good as rock, but MC Ren was having none of it (and neither were we):

https://twitter.com/YohanaDesta/status/718616514539167745

https://twitter.com/YohanaDesta/status/718615889667604480

https://twitter.com/YohanaDesta/status/718613416542384129

Image: Twitter

Michael Fitzgerald, the judge presiding over former N.W.A manager Jerry Heller’s lawsuit against the 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton has said Heller will face difficulty winning the case.

Image: Hello Giggles

Heller is in the process of attempting to sue almost everyone involved with the making of the film, including Ice Cube and Dr. Dre over the portrayal of him which he claims makes him seem like a ‘sleazy manager’ and “is littered with false statements that harm [his] reputation … and deter third persons from associating or dealing with him.” He claims he did not give permission for the makers of the film to use his name and that they have copied scenes directly from his 2007 book Ruthless: A Memoir. He is seeking $110 million dollars in damages citing defamation, copyright infringement and misappropriation of likeness.

“Mr. Heller is clearly a sophisticated and wealthy man,” said Fitzgerald, “He’s written this book. They’ve made this movie … in the ’80s, as an old white guy, I was aware of N.W.A. As the case goes forward, Mr. Heller is going to have some real trouble here.”

The case recently survived a dismissal motion from Universal and the other defendants whose lawyers say the first amended complaint that was filed in January is “a hodgepodge of conclusory allegations and subjective interpretations of the film,” because nothing says N.W.A like using the word “hodgepodge”. They also mentioned that Heller should read the disclaimer that says the film is a ‘dramatisation’.

Despite his misgivings, Fitzgerald has agreed to let the case go ahead and give Heller’s lawyers one last crack to present a second and final amended complaint before the 25th of April.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrlLcb7zYmw

Images: Business Insider, Hello Giggles

On October 17 last year, Kashawn Harris, otherwise known as DJ Boogy, played NWA‘s notorious anthem Fuck Tha Police, while police officers tried to scatter an overcapacity crowd in a small Massachusetts pub. That decision landed him in court with a $50 fine for disorderly conduct.

Local police officer Juanita Mejias, who tried to shut the music down wrote in the official report, “I believed at that time the combination of alcohol, the excessive amount of people in the bar and the song that the DJ chose to play at that time was an intentional act by the DJ to incite the crowd which showed a reckless disregard for public safety.”

While it may have been an error of judgement Harris told MassLive he had no intention of inciting a riot, saying “it was just college kids having fun” and that it is frustrating they would think otherwise. “That’s not my background, that’s not where I come from.” He went on to claim that he already had the song cued up and had played a snippet prior to the police entering the venue.

The infamous song has had a long stream of controversy and censorship since its 1988 release, from the FBI sending the group itself a threatening letter of disapproval, to Triple J being banned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1989 after playing the track for six months. Therefore given its shaky past, this incident, while overstated, is no surprise.

It’s also now only a month away until Kendrick Lamar inducts N.W.A into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a move which as Ice Cube said to Rolling Stone, will solidify and legitimatise the group’s mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M8vei3L0L8

Image: Consequence of Sound

It makes complete sense when you think about it, but it is nevertheless exciting to hear the news that Kendrick Lamar will reportedly have the wonderful job of inducting hip-hop legends N.W.A into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year.

Many have spent a great deal of the past year assessing Kendrick’s influence on hip-hop today, and many have described him as something of a successor to the influential Compton crew, one of the first to truly put a spotlight on socially and politically-informed hip-hop.

As pointed out by Complex, the Hall of Fame have announced that Kendrick, along with Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 and The Black Keys will be “special guests” at the ceremony, inducting N.W.A, alongside Cheap Trick, Deep Purple, Chicago and Steve Miller.

So, while it’s not technically confirmed that Kendrick will be inducting Ice Cube and co., it seems fairly likely. I don’t think that Rob Thomas is that much of a Straight Outta Compton fan, but you never know, I guess?

When the news was revealed back in December, it was lauded as an incredibly important moment for hip-hop, given that they’re only the fifth ever hip-hop act to be inducted, following on from Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, Run D.M.C, The Beastie Boys and Public Enemy.

It’s really exciting to see another hip-hop act receive this kind of recognition, but it’s not enough. Hip-hop Hall Of Fame, anyone?

This year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 8. If you happen to be in Brooklyn, you can purchase tickets to the event here.

Below, watch Kendrick Lamar interviewing N.W.A ahead of last year’s blockbuster biopic, Straight Outta Compton. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJyss8iTWVw

Image: BangRadio

Aside from being far and away the highest grossing festival on the entire planet, annual California valley extravaganza Coachella is well-renowned for being the stage where grudges get quashed and reunions you’d never have thought would happen definitely happen. If one O’Shea Jackson, the artist known as Ice Cube gets his druthers this year, we may see a reunion of gangsta rap godfathers N.W.A.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GP5XRcN6T8

With nostalgia for the original group at an all-time high following the smash success of the Cube-helmed biopic Straight Outta Compton in 2015 and an already amazing semi-reunion that took place at the B.E.T. Awards last year (see above), it seems Ice Cube is still very much keen to bring as close an N.W.A. experience to a new generation of fans as he possibly can, stating his intentions to reunite the group as part of his own performance this year’s Coachella in an appearance on The Talk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntlFZMbRmjM

If that was tl;dw, Ice Cube stated:

“I’m trying to bring the members of N.W.A together (to) come with me on the stage. Give everybody a little history lesson on Ice Cube and N.W.A Westside Connection”

It could be just a throwaway comment at this point, and no other members of N.W.A. have put forth further comment at this time, but one would think it wouldn’t be too difficult to get MC Ren and DJ Yella, both a part of the BET Awards reunion, involved. Eazy-E having passed away in 1995 would still not prove to be too big an obstacle either. Should Ice Cube choose to go that route, astounding computer imagery has been used at Coachella in the past to bring Tupac Shakur back to the stage.

The real coup here would be convincing Dr. Dre to ride with the group again. He helped produce Straight Outta Compton and released his long, long (LONG) anticipated third album in support of it, last year’s smash hit Compton, but he was conspicuously absent during the BET Awards reunion and seems more focused on his corporate career than on any type of performing, with Compton being widely recognised as his final album.

Whether Dre decides to participate or not, any sort of N.W.A. mini-reunion would serve only to further drum up hype for this year’s already much-anticipated festival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQoCSwzM-Ho

Coachella was the site for reunions by Outkast, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, Big Audio Dynamite, Jane’s Addiction, Siouxie And The Banshees, Iggy Pop And The Stooges, Pixies, Rage Against The Machine, the Jesus And Mary Chain, The Verve, Faith No More and Pavement as well as playing host to an LCD Soundsystem reunion to come in 2016 and perhaps the biggest reunion in its history, that of Guns N’ Roses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGbrFmPBV0Y

Coachella is also famous for surprise appearances, artists like Madonna, who crashed Drake‘s stage with notorious results and Jay-Z and Puff Daddy joining Nas onstage just a few of the many guests to crash the party and leave the audience in awe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FEjjdMAiT8

Whatever happens, we’re looking forward to it immensely. Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival runs from April 15-17 and 22-24.