N.W.A. is arugably considered one of the most groundbreaking rap groups of all time – whether it’s their edgy lyrics or gritty view of the state of Black America, this group left an indelible mark on music for decades to come. Now they’re finally getting awarded for all their hard work.
On Saturday (Feb.3), some of music’s biggest stars came together to watch as the Recording Academy awarded their peers at its annual Special Merit Awards. N.W.A. were among the select few honored with this special award. Ice Cube, one of the group’s founding members, accepted the award on behalf of the group. Cube noted that when he and his groupmates started, he never imagined he would be onstage accepting the golden gramophone.
However, that’s just what happened, and he wasn’t alone: MC-Ren, DJ Yella, and the mother and son of late rapper Eazy-E also joined him onstage. However, Dr.Dre was noticeably absent.”My man, Dr. Dre, is not here. He wanted to make sure I let you know he’s not hating,” Ice Cube began. “He is a billionaire. He got sh*t to do.” Cube also thanked Dr.Dre for his “talent and leadership.” The rapper and actor also took the time to highlight Eazy-E’s vision and what he did for the group: “He’s the one who allowed us to do this type of music.”
Cube continued: “We knew when we started to do music in 1985, ’86, ’87 that a Grammy was not in the cards for us, with the type of music we was doing. We actually didn’t think we would ever even get on the radio. We was cool with that.” Toward the end of his speech, Ice Cube said that despite all the controversy the group experienced, watching music fans still enjoy their music decades later brings him joy.
“The whole world is singing our songs. No way in the world could we ever have predicted that. We just wanted to do our thing. What is shows is, when you do your thing, the world will come to you.” Along with the iconic West Coast group, R&B legend Gladys Knight, the iconic Gospel group, the Clark Sisters, and DJ Kool Herc, the man commonly credited for founding hip hop in the Bronx, were also honored.