Making a Statement!
How “Fuck The Police” came about.
Reasons behind “Fuck the Police”…
On the night of March 3, 1991, a man by the name of Rodney King was severely beaten by a group of Caucasian police officers. This particular police brutality was shown to the public eye from a video a local shot from his balcony. African Americans world wide were sick and tired of police brutality. Many people participated in riots in which were aimed to get the police back for the cruel punishment that was given to not only Rodney King but other black men that were terrorized by the legal system in the United States of America.
N.W.A. ( Niggas With Attitude)
The recording artist N.W.A. (Niggas With Attitude), were one of the most notorious gangsta rap groups in America. Coming of out the city of Compton, California, N.W.A. saw many acts of brutal activity. Whether it was black on black crime, police brutality, or being stereotyped by the legal system, they faced it all. N.W.A. expressed there feelings through there songs in a vulgar but very passionate way. The Gangsta rap artist rapped as if they wanted their audience to really see what went on everyday in the streets of Compton.
Why make “Fuck the Police”?
Fuck the police was a statement. Basically meaning just what the title states Fuck the Police! The communities nationwide were sick and tired of police brutality and being stereotyped by the legal system, just because they were African American, who lived in the “ghetto”, and wore Levi’s, baseball caps, and chains. N.W.A. made a response to these actions by writing and producing “Fuck the Police.”
“Fuck the Police” starts off with a skit with N.W.A. acting out the process that takes place in the court of law. As Dr. Dre asks Ice Cube to “take the stand”, Ice Cube swears to tell the truth, nothing but the truth and the whole truth. Then suddenly burst into the first line of the songs stating “Fuck tha police
Comin straight from the underground
Young nigga got it bad cuz I’m brown
And not the other color so police think
They have the authority to kill a minority”
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With this first stanza alone, Ice Cube relates to his audience what the police is doing in Compton, and also around the United States of America. Basically in a more broken down way Ice Cube is saying,
Fuck the police,
Coming from the hood,
I get treated with no respect because I’m black and not white,
so the police think they can kill my people because of our color and their stereotypes.
In the way Ice Cube flows makes the words sound better, but the meaning will always stick. Because of N.W.A., “Fuck the Police” became an immense statement, that spoke loudly to the police and legal system that the people were tired. Things had to change.
