{"id":81,"date":"2018-12-13T00:16:53","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T05:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-01\/?page_id=81"},"modified":"2018-12-13T00:47:32","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T05:47:32","slug":"n-w-a-and-100-miles-and-runnin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-01\/n-w-a-and-100-miles-and-runnin\/","title":{"rendered":"N.W.A. and &#8220;100 Miles and Runnin'&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">N.W.A.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">N.W.A. &#8212; an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude &#8212; emerged in the 1980s as pioneers of gangsta rap, a subgenre of hip hop characterized by its aggressive style. The group &#8212; composed of Los Angeles, California natives &#8212; was known for using violent and sexist raps to bluntly comment on the harsh reality of black inner city life. Their album <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Straight Outta Compton <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in 1988 even resulted in a warning from the FBI about their promotion of violence and disrespect toward law enforcement [1]. N.W.A. released \u201c100 Miles and Runnin\u2019\u201d in 1990 on the album <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">100 Miles and Runnin.\u2019 <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although the track dials back on bluntly sexist and profane language, it still explicitly references police brutality and the repression of black communities. And it does this by invoking a layer of sensationalism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"N.W.A. - 100 Miles And Runnin&#039;\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GiDti_Xnnmo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">N.W.A.&#8217;s &#8220;100 Miles and Runnin'&#8221; music video [2].<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><b>A step out of reality<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In \u201c100 Miles and Runnin,\u2019\u201d one way N.W.A. invokes a world outside of the bounds of reality is through sampling. Before proceeding, it is important to briefly look at the significance of sampling in hip hop. Sampling, the reuse of part of a sound recording, has historically been an element of the black musical tradition, intended to signify the African American musical lineage. Scholar Tricia Rose suggests that sampling is a type of cross-generational \u201c\u2018homage,\u2019 a \u2018means of archival research, a process of musical and cultural archeology\u2019\u201d [3]. DJs initially used turntables to bring in pre-recorded sounds and when affordable samplers became available in the late 80s, they began to loop, layer, and blend parts of songs to incorporate into their own. It is interesting to note that sampling is inherently futuristic. In transferring clips of music, or data, to new work, artists synthesize material and reconfigure its meaning. The act of generating new associations from previous material is essentially what leads to more advanced technological applications, as Chuck Galli points out in his analysis of hip hop futurism [4].<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">N.W.A.\u2019s use and placement of samples from Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cThriller\u201d and the 1979 film <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Warriors<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> signal a step away from reality. After Eazy E raps the third verse, there is an interlude that begins with sample from <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Warriors<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. An omniscient female narrator says, \u201cThis one goes out to the four brothers from Compton. You\u2019re almost there, but the FBI has a little message for you.\u201d Immediately after, we see the white FBI agent in the video laugh. His laugh is \u00a0sampled from Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cThriller,\u201d which in turn is layered over a sample from \u201cNowhere to Run\u201d by Martha and the Vandellas. Eazy E, who has been caught by the FBI, looks at the camera and smirks. \u201cNowhere to Run\u201d and the laugh from \u201cThriller\u201d come to an abrupt halt as Eazy E makes a break for it and ironically runs away. There are several things to unpack here. First, the \u201c100 Miles and Runnin\u2019\u201d narrative mirrors the storyline of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Warriors, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a movie about a gang trying to return to their home territory in Coney Island [5]. By mirroring the narrative of a fictional movie, N.W.A. become removed from reality. Additionally, the fact that Eazy E looks at the camera when he smirks shows how he steps out of the narrative to assure the audience that he is in control.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One aspect of this montage particularly speaks to N.W.A.\u2019s aim in stepping away from reality. The use of the villainous laugh from Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cThriller\u201d evokes a fantastical universe. The exaggerated laugh, which is that of Vincent Price, an American actor known for his work in horror films, evokes a theatrical and surrealist universe. But the source of the sample is significant, too. With his racial and sexual ambiguity, Jackson serves as an example of deconstructing reality and challenging perceptions [6]. Ruchi Mital even suggests that Jackson embodies the future, as he is able to transform himself into a \u201cpost-human\u201d performance. In his private life, she notes, Jackson spread rumors about himself to the media in order to control the creation of his own reality. Further, in his moonwalk, in which he appears to move forward but in fact moves backwards, Jackson becomes \u201cotherworldly, seemingly freed from the laws of motion\u201d [7]. The \u201cThriller\u201d music video epitomizes this step into the future, as Jackson transforms from human to werewolf. Although viewers can not know for certain whether N.W.A. consciously chose to sample Michael Jackson for these reasons, the laugh certainly propels the narrative outside of reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">N.W.A. further uses fast paced backbeats and extra musical sounds to create a sense of turbulence. By doing this, N.W.A. is ensuring that it is heard. The sounds of sirens, car screeches, gunshots, and turntable scratching, along with the emcees shouting their verses over the chaotic background sounds, create a sense of urgency. These features are characteristic of N.W.A.\u2019s sound and are representative of the violent conflict and tensions present in Compton at the time [8]. Chaos is further evoked at moments when certain sounds mirror the lyrics. For example, when Eazy E raps the line \u201cGot the stick and runnin\u2019 just to find the gun that started the clock,\u201d listeners hear the sound of a ticking clock. This enhances the urgency of the moment. N.W.A. inserts these sounds over a fast backbeat, sampled from James Brown\u2019s \u201cGive it Up or Turnit a Loose,\u201d a funk song released in 1969. The sense of exaggeration and sensationalism is reinforced through various visual components. For example, the police siren being dramatically placed on top of the police car in the forefront of the screen at the beginning of the video produces a exaggerated effect. Further, the explosion in the video, the quick cuts, and the blue filter placed over some shots further evoke chaos. In creating this chaotic space, N.W.A. are making sure that they are heard. In reality, they are physically constrained but in this sensationalized loud world, they are audibly in the forefront.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">__________________________________________<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[1] Erlewine, Stephen, \u201cN.W.A.: Biography,\u201d allmusic.com. Accessed Dec. 6, 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[2] N.W.A. Vevo. \u201cN.W.A. \u2013 100 Miles and Runnin\u2019\u201d. YouTube video, 5:02. Posted February, 2009. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GiDti_Xnnmo&amp;start_radio=1&amp;list=RDGiDti_Xnnmo\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GiDti_Xnnmo&amp;start_radio=1&amp;list=RDGiDti_Xnnmo<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[3] Perchard, Tom, \u201cHip Hop Samples Jazz: Dynamics of Cultural Memo y and Musical Tradition in the African American 1990s,\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">University of Illinois Press: American Music<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 29 (2011): p. 277-307.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[4] Galli, Chuck, \u201cHip-Hop Futurism: Remixing Afrofuturism and the Hermeneutics of Identity,\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rhode Island College<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (2009).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[5] Chesterton, George, \u201cOld music: 100 Miles and Runnin,\u2019\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Guardian, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">July 12, 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[6] Mercer, Kobena, \u201cMonster Metaphors: Notes on Michael Jackson\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thriller,\u201d<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Welcome to the Jungle, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Routledge, p. 35-50. 1994.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[7] <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mital, Ruchi, \u201cTomorrow Today: Michael Jackson as Science Fiction Character, Author, and Text,\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Michael Jackson: Grasping the Spectacle<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Burlington: Ashgate, p.131-144. 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[8] Kajikawa, Loren, \u201c\u2018Let Me Ride\u2019: Gangsta Rap\u2019s Drive into the Popular Mainstream,\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sounding Race in Rap Songs, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">University of California Press, p. 85-117. 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>N.W.A. N.W.A. &#8212; an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude &#8212; emerged in the 1980s as pioneers of gangsta rap, a subgenre of hip hop characterized&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-01\/n-w-a-and-100-miles-and-runnin\/\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">N.W.A. and &#8220;100 Miles and Runnin&#039;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4280,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-81","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/81","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4280"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/81\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}