NWA Movement

F*** tha Police Music reflects who you are. In regards to this statement, every member in NWA was in a gang or involved with one at one point in their life. “F*** tha Police” by NWA caused an uproar when it was released because it used profoundly explicit lyrics and because it sent a disturbing message about violence, gangs, and police. Also living in South Central L.

A., it would not be a surprise to be involved with these things. I’d like to see just how the public reacted to such a song. Since rappers and the law tend to butt heads, I wanted to see what the laws reaction to such a song was. This article was written by Jeffrey Ressner of Rolling Stone. (Ressner) I found the FBI wrote a letter to the gang as a warning.

The letter claimed that the song “encourages violence against and disrespect for the law enforcement officer.” Also the FBI stated that “Music plays a significant role in society.” No member of NWA commented but Ice Cube called the track “revenge fantasy”. It was also stated that record chief Bryan Turner said “we don’t advocate violence in any way, shape, or form but we do advocate freedom of speech.” They can say whatever they want but it does not make it true. This type of music known as “gangster rap” had never been seen before.

The reactions among the consumers were very different. MTV banned this song , preventing it from being played, and did not promote it. It was also banned on radio stations across the U.S. and in Australia.

When the song was banned on the radio, it became more and more popular among the people who listened to this type of music. I found this information based on the article that Anthony M. Giovacchini wrote. “F*** tha Police” and a few other NWA hits changed rap music forever. How exactly did some lyrics manage that? Some say the lyrics were meaningful and somewhat prophetic. This song was a eye opening experience and changed a lot for some people.

People like to blame the L.A. riots, which were several years later, on this song but it had nothing to do with it. I found out that the point the song was trying to make was of racist police and unfairness in the law enforcement. This wasn’t truly recognized until the Rodney King situation. “F*** tha Police” was prophetic in that it foresaw problems and Rodney King and L.

A. riots were those problems. The song was popular for some audiences and the others were ashamed to call them Americans. As one of the Greatest Rap groups of all time it was apparent that NWA had made a statement and a change in music. All of this information I gathered I found in an article posted by Nathan S.

So the song did cause uproar when it released among the public. Some people reacted as expected by not listening to it and complaining that it was too explicit and sent a bad message. Others thought more of the song and liked it. The FBI did not take it too lightly though. Now when you listen to the song try and look deeper into the lyrics and see how you feel about it.

Every rap member in the group knows firsthand about the law and the life of gang members and how they are looked at. I think if a song like this came around again the reaction to the song and everything would be the same. It changed a lot of things including music and how people interpret songs.