N.W.A. (Short for Niggaz Wit Attitudes1 2 or Niggaz With Attitude3, which in Spanish was to be translated in both cases by "Blacks with Attitude") was an American hip hop group from Compton, California, and is widely considered to be one of the Pioneering groups in the formation of the subgenre musical gangsta rap.
Their activity lasted from 1986 to 1991, time in which they were involved in the controversy as a consequence of the explicit nature of their letters, being for that reason prohibited in a great part of the mainstream radio stations of the USA, even going as far to cancel some of His tours. In spite of this, the group managed to sell more than 10 million discs only in the United States.
The original members of the group were Arabian Prince, DJ Yella, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube and MC Ren. Arabian Prince embarked on a solo career in 1989 and Ice Cube left the group in December of that year as a result of royalties within the group. Several of these musicians would make platinum records during their solo careers during the 1990s.
Their debut album Straight Outta Compton ushered in the new era of gangsta rap as both their production and social theme in the lyrics were revolutionary within the genre.