Niggaz4Life

Niggaz4Life
Studio album by N.W.A
Released	May 28, 1991
Recorded	July 1990–March 1991
Genre	Gangsta rap, G-funk
Length	76:13 (2003 re-release)
Label	Ruthless/Priority
Producer	Dr. Dre, DJ Yella
N.W.A chronology
100 Miles and Runnin' (1990) Niggaz4life (1991) Greatest Hits (1996)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Blender	[2]
Pitchfork Media	(8.8/10)[3]
RapReviews	(9/10)[4]
Robert Christgau	(C-)[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]

Niggaz4Life is the second 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 #1.

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.

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 "Kamurshol" 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 had to be edited out as Straight Out of 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.

In comparison to its predecessor, the album was also heavier on misogyny, which it became notorious for. The album's final nine songs were laden with more sexist profanity and references to various sexual acts; provoking the ire of the PMRC,^[8] liberal and conservative politicians, and civil rights activist C. Delores Tucker.^[9]

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

Track listing

Original version
No.	Title	Performer(s)	Length
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"	(interlude)	0:53
5.	"Appetite for Destruction"	Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, MC Ren	3:22
6.	"Don't Drink That Wine"	(interlude)	1:07
7.	"Alwayz into Somethin'" (featuring Admiral D.)	Dr. Dre, MC Ren	4:25
8.	"Message to B.A." (diss to Ice Cube)	(interlude)	0:48
9.	"Real Niggaz" (diss to Ice Cube) (originally on 100 Miles and Runnin')	Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, MC Ren	4:27
10.	"To Kill a Hooker"	(interlude)	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 Capital Punishment Organization)	Eazy-E	3:57
16.	"Approach to Danger"	Dr. Dre, MC Ren, Eazy-E	2:45
17.	"1-900-2-Compton"	(interlude)	1:27
18.	"The Dayz of Wayback" (featuring Admiral D.)	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

• "Die Nigger!!!" by The Last Poets
• "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
• "Niggers Are Scared of a Revolution" by The Last Poets
• "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
• "If It Ain't Ruff " by N.W.A.

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
• "Just Wanna Make A Dream Come True" by Mass Production

Real Niggaz

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

To Kill a Hooker

• "Can't Stay Away" by Bootsy Collins

One Less Bitch

• "Zimba Ku" by Black Heat
• "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
• "That Girl is a Slut" by Just-Ice

I'd Rather Fuck You

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

Approach to Danger

• "A.J. Scratch" by Kurtis Blow
• "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
• "On the Ill Tip" by LL Cool J

Chart positions

Album

Year	Chart	Chart positions
1991	Billboard 200	#1
1991	Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	#2

Singles

Year	Song	Chart positions
		Billboard Hot 100	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Chart	Hot Rap Tracks
1991	"Appetite for Destruction"	-	#45	#2
1991	"Alwayz into Somethin'"	-	#37	#1

Billboard 200 chronology

U.S. Billboard 200
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29
Position (from 06/15/1991)	2	1	3	6	7	9	10	13	16	18	18	20	18	19	23	33	35	39	48	58	65	66	74	80	104	112	111	138	138
Week	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44
Position (from 01/04/1992)	148	93	109	132	120	128	124	128	165	161	172	172	186	196	185

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Blender review
3. ^ Pitchfork Media Review
4. ^ RapReviews review
5. ^ Robert Christgau review
6. ^ Rolling Stone review
7. ^ Rolling Stone review
8. ^ [1]
9. ^ [2]

Preceded by Spellbound by Paula Abdul

Billboard 200 number-one album June 22–28, 1991

Succeeded by Slave to the Grind by Skid Row