Straight Out of Compton: Crazy brothas with money, attitude, genius, and the spirit of entrepreneurship

Dre, Ren, Cube, and Dj Yella also known as "NWA" (Niggas Wit Attitude) were a group of young men that lived and survived daily in the streets of South Central, Los Angeles. Their experience
may have been unique to the country, but not to the residents that learned how to survive in the harsh realities of urban life. Deindustrialization, poor public schools, and a meager outlook for employment was fertile ground for a growing epidemic to become big business. Crack cocaine.
Eric Wright, now known in the world as "Eazy-E" was like many
young African American men in the mid 1980's. Energetic, visionary, and a keen sense for business. He explored his love for the streets and the lifestyle they provided. From booming sound systems, old school low-riders, and high end imports, Eric wanted his success on the street reflected in the cars and other accessories that

screamed "I made it." Dr. Dre recognized the resources Eric garnered from street hustlin' and influenced him to invest into his boostrapping idea of starting his own recording imprint. Dr. Dre's indigenous street research from Djing exposed a cultural trend that was developing around West Coast Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap.   Ruthless Records was the imprint that harnessed Dr. Dre and Eazy E's vision of developing, marketing and selling Gangsta Rap Culture. Through various ideation stages and proof of concept strategies, music business veteran, Jerry Heller took notice of the venture and became a "knowledge resource investor" to scale up their idea.  Unfortunately, Ruthless Records business practices absorbed the creative properties of it's artists and caused Dr. Dre and Ice Cube to leave the label, and its founding product, the rap group NWA.

Entrepreneurship has been an integral part of Hip Hop from its inception. Eazy E started with a label imprint, but it was Dr. Dre that learned after several uncomfortable business decisions as an artist that it was time
for him start his own company, Aftermath, to manage his music career and pursue new opportunities that were more aligned with his vision.When you think about what was happening in the country during this period, where does engineering begin intersecting with youth popular culture and how did that moment pave the way for the engineering concepts to be realized today in the various fields we've discussed in class? Could BEATS exist without Ruthless Records, Death Row, or Aftermath? Could the engineering feats that have emerged from those moments in Hip Hop occurred without the artist or the culture? How would you approach or work with an artist from an engineering perspective? What would be your approach to get know or learn the culture and how would you link that to the design, build, and marketing strategies?