Backspin
Backspin: Eazy-E — Eazy-Duz-It (1988)
Gangsta gateway. (86/100)
Seven simple words opened a floodgate:
“Cruisin’ down the street in my six-fo’”
It wasn’t that “Boyz-N-The-Hood” unleashed gangsta rap on the world. With its whimsical delivery of vivid street vignettes, Eazy-E’s landmark 1987 single followed closely in the mold of proto-gangsta predecessors, like Schoolly D’s “Saturday Night” and Ice-T’s “6 in the Mornin’”. “Boyz-N-The-Hood” swung the gate in the opposite direction, inviting the world into gangsta rap.
“Boyz-N-The-Hood” is a shining example of the whole amounting to exponentially more than the sum of its parts. The raw simplicity of the minimalistic 808 beat paired with Eazy-E’s Mother Goose cadence ultimately proved the record’s greatest asset. Not only did it place the focus squarely on the world that Eazy was building, the repetitive rhythm and elementary rhyme schemes invited listeners from all walks of life to rap along.
The participatory element quickly transitioned the uninitiated from rubbernecking interlopers to enthusiastic co-conspirators in the gangsta underworld that would soon commandeer hip-hop and popular culture. As listeners rapped along, they absorbed the lingo, cultural signifiers, and attitude integral to understanding and…
