King T picks his favourite NWA song of all time: “The most thought-provoking rap”
Compton lyricist King T, along with Ice-T and Kid Frost, is one of the West Coast figures who pioneered the genre of Gangsta rap in the mid-1980s and paved the way for the likes of Ice Cube and Eazy-E.
In 1988, the emcee released his debut album, Act A Fool. With hit singles such as ‘Act a Fool’, ‘Payback’s A Mutha’, ‘The Coolest’, and ‘Bass’, King T became a local hero in California and began promoting the iconic Los Angeles trio Tha Alkaholiks.
King T continued releasing music into the early 2000s, the last of which was 2002’s The Kingdom Come. As the local hero, he teamed up with producers such as Dr. Dre and DJ Quik. Furthermore, he continued to collaborate with other legends, including Ice-T, Too $hort, and even NWA’s MC Ren.
That said, King T is not only a fan of MC Ren but of every member of NWA, comprised of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, MC Ren, and Ice Cube, the Gangsta rap collective built on the foundations laid by King T in the ‘80s and, unlike the genre’s forefathers, achieved massive mainstream success.
In 2016, following the induction of N.W.A. into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, King T sat down with Billboard magazine to discuss his love of the group and rap music as a whole. Earlier that year, the frontman of Kiss, Gene Simmons, had said he was “looking forward to the death of rap,” and during their induction, MC Ren told the singer, “I want to say to Mr. Gene Simmons that hip-hop is here forever. We’re supposed to be here.”
While talking about the induction and the importance of NWA in his life, King T unveiled that ‘Fuck Tha Police’ was his favourite NW.A track of all time, stating, “[It’s] one of the most thought-provoking rap songs made.”
NWA released many hit songs, such as ‘Dopeman’ and ‘Boyz-N-The-Hood’ and as a result, ended up going nationwide with their music. They were unstoppable with vicious rappers like Ice Cube and mega-producers such as Dr Dre. However, one of their most controversial songs was ‘F*ck Tha Police’.
With such a large audience and such influence, the song caused grave concern and was not only banned from the radio but saw a letter sent to the crew’s record label, Priority Records from the FBI.
Although the group were banned from the radio, they continued to play it in their live performance set and although the establishment try to silence ‘F*ck Tha Police’ it remains one of NWA’s most classic tracks and a fan-favourite.