Long before Dr. Dre helped define 90s hip-hop with his otherworldly production, he was in an electro-rap group in the 80s called the World Class Wreckin’ Cru. Throughout the years, he’s been reluctant to even discuss these origins. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. If anything, it shows how one can change and find themselves in changing times, rather than being left behind and forgotten. Because that’s exactly what could’ve happened with Dre. Instead, he decided to help make beats for his friend, Eazy E, as a favor that helped him in more ways than one.
In the early 80s, World Class Wreckin’ Cru formed, debuting in the West Coast club scene. The group released a few minor hits in the early 80s, including “Surgery”, which Dre would later refer to as “corny”. Despite this, the group signed to a major-label record deal in 1985 with Epic Records. Despite Dre’s embarrassment about this era, his production potential showed on their 1985 album World Class and Rapped In Romance in 1986. The group penned a local hit, “Turn Off The Lights”, in 1986.
Much of Dr. Dre’s embarrassment about the group stems from the group’s outfits. They wore flashy outfits, with shimmering jackets and mock stethoscopes when mixing and scratching during sets. As gangsta rap emerged in the late 80s and early 90s, street cred was everything. That’s what bothered Dr. Dre so much in later years. He feared it’d come back to haunt him, and it did.
Creating N.W.A.
In 1986, everything changed when Dr. Dre was arrested for a third time for missed court appearances and multiple traffic violations. In the past, he had relied on band leader DJ Alonzo Williams to bail him out. This time, Alonzo refused. Dr. Dre then reached out to Eric “Eazy-E” Wright, whom he’d worked with previously on side projects. In exchange for bail, Dre had to become a producer for Wright’s new record label, Ruthless Records.
Upon working with Eazy-E at Ruthless, Dre felt inspired to shift his production into new terrain with a new group. Soon after, Eazy-E and Ruthless co-founder Jerry Heller brought together Arabian Prince, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella, who Dre had worked with in World Class Wreckin’ Cru, to form N.W.A.
Following the band’s first release, a collaboration with The Posse, the group was on a fast track to reinvent the rap game. They did just that with their debut album Straight Outta Compton in 1989, and the rest is history. Even though Dr. Dre probably wishes he could erase some of that early history.
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