N.W.A. - C.I.A. - Cru' in Action

[82_28]

The other night I was at my local watering hole. It occurred to me then that a "fun" song to put on the jukebox would be NWA's seminal gangsta rap hit "Gangsta Gangsta". Many of us hadn't heard it in a long time and growing up with a crazy skating crew back in the day, I actually have fond memories of that song. In fact, it is the only rap/hip-hop song I know all the lyrics to (that and "Fuck tha Police"). I can rattle 'em off like crazy -- I pissed my girlfriend off by singing it all day yesterday. It sticks in your head!

So fast forward. I began to reflect on how utterly quaint NWA sounds now. Just perfectly cute and harmless. Like seriously. Like that Horatio Sanz SNL rap skit (that I can't find a clip of). At the time, NWA was insanely controversial. We had the bubbling up of OJ, Rodney KING, The LA Riots, the Million Man March, but we also had like I said, the quaint little sounds by a group called Niggaz With Attitude. Then you can go into the phenomenon of the film "Boyz in the Hood" too. Weren't there shootings and stuff in theaters when it came out? I believe there were. All my friends and I wanted to see it. But because the news covered nothing but only gangstaz going to see it, our parents wouldn't let us until "things died down". Our parents were literally scared for our lives by going to see some movie. I remember they wondered why we would want to see a movie about black people in the ghetto. Things were much different then I suppose. "Christianity" was stupid, while now it is cool and covered in tattoos (think Stryper Stupid). Guns and Roses was out, while now it is retro cool. Etc etc.

So, I got Gangsta Gangsta rattling in my head all day yesterday and I begin to wonder WTF? Why does it sound so simple and groovy? Why does that song not surprise the older folks anymore? I could play that song for my dad now and he wouldn't even wince. Words of killing, raping, threatening -- things my parents would have SHUT DOWN right away with me as a kid, no longer faze them. Why? Why is it all so accepted now?

Then I flashed on topics I have never really gotten into -- such as the CIA importing crack cocaine to streets of South Cnetral, the fabled "ICE" street drug that was supposed to come way back when. And I wondered. . .

And wondered. . .

Was NWA a "psyop"?

Think of the things that one band was able to change about the world we live in now.

It has normalized the use of the word "n**ger"

It has made it possible that women no longer look after their "chastity" (not that it's my business anyways).

It has made it possible that men no longer respect women.

All pro athletes are either "gangsta" or hellaciously Christian now.

Many a corporate spinoff has been made possible. (GTA series, former Anti establishment rap stars going on to play police on TV, etc)

Then thinking of all this, I decide to do a little "research". What was Ice Cube's first band's name? Well, it is there in the thread title: Cru' in Action.

CIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=1665623

There is doubtlessly much more to be said on this, but I thought I would just throw it out there to see what others have to say.

And for the record, lest anybody accuse me of racism or something, Paris, Public Enemy and De la Soul in da house!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I11w-rl6 ... PL&index=4

[IanEye]

In March 1991, Eazy-E accepted an invitation to a lunch benefiting the Republican Senatorial Inner Circle, hosted by then-President George H. W. Bush.
A spokesman for the rapper claimed that Eazy-E supported Bush for overseeing Operation Desert Storm.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorkmaster ... 2/sizes/o/

[Percival]

IMO all pop stars are handled by intelligence community assets and are steered and guided in to certain directions throughout the course of their careers and are subsequently used, because of this, to bring about certain ends.


One of the greatest counter culture rebel heros of all time was knighted and is now Sir McCartney. These things happen for a reason, yea.

[§ê¢rꆧ]

Death Row Records and Jewish Defense League

During Dr. Dre’s departure from Ruthless Records, Heller and Ruthless director of business affairs Mike Klein sought assistance from the Jewish Defense League.[1] Said Klein: "The Defense League offered to provide bodyguards to Eazy-E when [Suge] Knight allegedly threatened him in the early 1990s." This provided Ruthless Records with muscle to enter into negotiations with Knight over Dr. Dre’s departure. While Knight sought an outright release from Ruthless Records for Dr. Dre, the JDL and Ruthless management were able to sit down with Knight and negotiate a release in which the record label would continue to receive money and publishing rights from future Dr. Dre projects. It was under these terms Dr. Dre left Ruthless Records and formed Death Row Records with Knight.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched a money laundering investigation, assuming that the JDL was extorting money from Ruthless Records. JDL spokesperson Irv Rubin issued a press release stating "There was nothing but a close, tight relationship" between Eazy-E and the League.

Heller explained JDL’s involvement with Ruthless for even more reasons than the FBI investigated. Heller claimed Eazy-E received death threats and it was discovered that he was on a Nazi skinhead hit list. Heller speculated that it may have been because of N.W.A.'s song Fuck tha Police. Heller said "It was no secret that in the aftermath of the Suge Knight shake down incident where Eazy was forced to sign over Dr. Dre, Michel'le, and The D.O.C., that Ruthless was protected by Israeli trained/connected security forces."[2] Heller maintains that Eazy E admired the JDL for their slogan "Never Again" and that he had plans to do a movie about the group.

Jerry Heller Wiki entry

I always thought Easy E and Jerry Heller made for an unholy marriage - can't remember where I read about this first, some time ago. When I first learned this, psyop crossed my mind, too... that's funny about Cube's first group, CIA, ha.

[Occult Means Hidden]

I think this is a side-effect of being original and being ahead of the curve. This makes one wonder if they knew-it-all-along because they were meant to, without maybe, the proper consideration of the way art can transcend.

Killing Joke may be the only musical act in history to have recorded a song in the King's chamber of the great Pyramid at Giza. Was it transcendent happenstance that allowed the dominoes to fall into place to communicate something, or was it a psyop?

If this makes sense. And not to say there haven't been unholy marriages in the pop culture scene. Ever see the documentary Biggie and Tupac?

[IanEye]

"A hit is a hit, and that's not a hit." - Hesh Rabkin

[§ê¢rꆧ]

Ever see the documentary Biggie and Tupac?

Funny, I just watched it last night on Hulu
http://www.hulu.com/watch/119017/biggie-and-tupac

[vince]

I'm a Prince Paul man, myself.

[beeline]

'It's not about a salary, it's all about reality.'

Could have been a psyop. I think some of the social ills you mentioned were already in full-swing before the release of Straight Outta Compton ('88). In fact, it wouldn't have been a record if there were no crack epidemic starting in '83-'84. 'Nigga' is most definitely a different word than 'nigger,' at least according to Ol' Dirty Bastard, however, most white people don't get this, and see the two as interchangable. I think the breakdown in the 'family unit' was well underway before then. And misogynists have been around since, well, forever.

But it would dovetail nicely with the Dark Alliance stuff, and that whole Laurel Canyon thread...if you look at it in that light, shit, the Agency was just warming up with the hippies...

Heh, my old roommate accidentally purchased the 'safe for kids' version of S.O.C., pretty funny to listen to with everything deleted from it.

[Bruce Dazzling]

82_28 wrote:

"So, I got Gangsta Gangsta rattling in my head all day yesterday and I begin to wonder WTF?

Why does it sound so simple and groovy?

Why does that song not surprise the older folks anymore? I could play that song for my dad now and he wouldn't even wince. Words of killing, raping, threatening -- things my parents would have SHUT DOWN right away with me as a kid, no longer faze them.

Why?

Why is it all so accepted now?"

[MinM]

A History Of The 'Big' Business Of Hip-Hop : NPR

rigorousintuition.ca - View topic - Hip Hop and Conspiracy Theory

[Nordic]

I have some pretty heavy first hand knowledge of Heller and his relationship with Eazy and ..... No.
Heller was an opportunist and got lucky. He promised Eazy jewish white-man deals and Eazy was looking for that. Eazy was a very shrewd businessman even though he could spend money like a rock star. The other guys didn't trust Heller and ultimately for good reason. Ice Cube was probabluy in high school for his CIA days, he was very young

[82_28]

I was thinking the other day that even 2Live Crew is even tame by today's standards anymore. That shit was nasty and unheard of back in the day.

[Nordic]

NWA broke through the race barrier nd shook people up because of that. Heller had a lot to do with that.

[justdrew]

I never trusted NWA

The real deal, Public Enemy

and Run-D.M.C.

There is a strain of thought out there, well established, that political rap was intentionally killed by pushing the 'gangster' stuff. I don't have any links putting that forth atm tho...

a great place to listen is:
Put The Needle On The Record with Billy Jam
Fridays 3pm - 6pm on WFMU