Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
Beat the crowd
10 questions No timer
47 free N.W.A trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
40 free N.W.A trivia questions with answers. N.W.A were only active from 1987 to 1991, and this quiz covers every year of it and everything that came after. Forty questions on the group from Compton: how Eazy-E and Jerry Heller built Ruthless Records, the $12,000 album that got a letter from the FBI, why Arabian Prince and then Ice Cube walked, the answer records, Efil4zaggin's chart first, Dre's move to Death Row, Eazy-E's death, and the reunions, inductions and biopic that followed. It starts with questions anyone who has heard 'Straight Outta Compton' can answer (the members, the city, the label) and works up to details for real heads: which member's father was a radio host, who produced J.J. Fad, how many adult films DJ Yella says he made, and how long a British jury took to clear the last album. Free to use for a hip-hop quiz night. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the group, its members, its albums and the film, and each question carries its source. No recycled listicle errors.
30 of 47 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What does the abbreviation N.W.A stand for?
Niggaz Wit Attitudes
Niggaz Wit Attitudes: the Compton group formed in 1987 around Eazy-E, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube and broke up in 1991.
Q 02Which member co-founded Ruthless Records with manager Jerry Heller and assembled the group?
Eazy-E
Eazy-E, born Eric Wright, founded Ruthless Records in 1987 with Jerry Heller as partner and manager, bankrolling it with drug-dealing money; he is often called the Godfather of Gangsta Rap.
Q 03Which member joined last, in mid-1988, as the sixth man?
MC Ren
MC Ren (Lorenzo Patterson), a Compton friend of Eazy-E, joined in 1988 as the sixth member and wrote much of Eazy-E's solo album Eazy-Duz-It.
Q 04What was the group's first release, a 1987 compilation that reached number 39 on the R&B chart?
N.W.A. and the Posse
N.W.A. and the Posse, a November 1987 Macola Records compilation of early Ruthless tracks, preceded the official 1988 debut Straight Outta Compton.
Q 05Roughly how much did it cost to record Straight Outta Compton at Audio Achievements in Torrance?
$12,000
About $12,000: Dr. Dre produced it at Audio Achievements in Torrance in roughly six weeks in 1988, a fraction of a major-label budget.
Q 06What US sales level did the RIAA certify for Straight Outta Compton in 2015?
Three million
Three million: the RIAA certified Straight Outta Compton triple platinum in 2015, the year of the biopic, despite almost no radio play and MTV's refusal to air the title track's video.
Q 07Which song prompted an FBI warning letter to Ruthless and Priority Records in 1989?
Fuck tha Police
Fuck tha Police: FBI assistant director Milt Ahlerich's August 1989 letter to Priority Records cited 78 officers slain in the line of duty in 1988; the letter was later displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Q 08In the mock trial framing N.W.A's anti-police anthem, which member plays the judge?
Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre presides as 'Judge Dre' in the track's courtroom framing, with Ice Cube, MC Ren and Eazy-E taking the stand as witnesses against the police.
Q 09Which founding member left N.W.A over royalties around the time of Straight Outta Compton?
Arabian Prince
Arabian Prince (Kim Nazel), an electro producer on the early Ruthless records, left over money and does not appear at all in the 2015 biopic.
Q 10Which pop-rap hit did Arabian Prince produce for the Ruthless girl group J.J. Fad?
Supersonic
Supersonic, J.J. Fad's 1988 Ruthless hit co-produced by Arabian Prince with Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, earned a Grammy nomination and helped fund the label's early days.
Q 11Why did Ice Cube leave N.W.A in late 1989?
A dispute over royalties
A dispute over royalties: Ice Cube, who had written much of Straight Outta Compton and Eazy-Duz-It, felt underpaid by manager Jerry Heller and left in December 1989.
Q 12Which Eazy-E track, written by Ice Cube and produced by Dre, helped establish gangsta rap in California?
Boyz-n-the-Hood
Boyz-n-the-Hood, written by Ice Cube for the New York group HBO, who rejected it, became Eazy-E's 1987 debut single once Dr. Dre produced it.
Q 13Ice Cube recorded his 1990 solo debut AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted in New York with which production team?
The Bomb Squad
Q 21Before N.W.A, Dr. Dre and DJ Yella were members of which electro group?
World Class Wreckin' Cru
World Class Wreckin' Cru, Alonzo Williams's electro outfit, put out its debut album World Class on Kru-Cut Records in 1985 with Dre and Yella in the lineup.
Q 22How much did Apple agree to pay for Dr. Dre's Beats in 2014?
$3 billion
$3 billion: Apple bought Beats Electronics and Beats Music in May 2014 for $2.6 billion in cash plus $400 million in stock, its largest acquisition at the time.
Q 23Eazy-E drew criticism in March 1991 for attending a lunch hosted by which politician?
George H. W. Bush
The Bomb Squad, Public Enemy's production team of Hank and Keith Shocklee and Eric Sadler, made AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted with Ice Cube in New York in 1990.
Q 14What was the title of Ice Cube's 1991 diss track answering N.W.A's insults?
No Vaseline
No Vaseline, closing Ice Cube's 1991 album Death Certificate, answered the jabs on 100 Miles and Runnin' and Niggaz4Life, attacking the group and Jerry Heller.
Q 15The video for the group's 1990 single '100 Miles and Runnin'' showed the remaining members where?
In a jail cell
It was Dr. Dre's last uptempo production before he turned to the slower G-funk sound.
Q 16What chart milestone did the group's 1991 release Niggaz4Life achieve?
First gangsta rap LP to top the Billboard 200
First gangsta rap LP to top the Billboard 200: Niggaz4Life debuted at number two in June 1991 and rose to number one the following week, early in the SoundScan era.
Q 17How is the title of Niggaz4Life printed on its cover?
Backwards, to be read in a mirror
Backwards, to be read in a mirror: the cover lettering reads 'Efil4zaggin', which is why the album is often listed under that reversed title.
Q 18Which basketball star's nickname inspired Dr. Dre's stage name?
Julius Erving
Julius Erving: Andre Young took 'Dr. Dre' from Erving's 'Dr. J' nickname while DJing at the Compton club Eve After Dark in the early 1980s.
Q 19Which label did Dr. Dre help found after leaving Ruthless in 1991?
Death Row Records
Death Row Records, founded in 1991 with Suge Knight; Knight pressured Eazy-E into releasing Dre from his Ruthless contract, and Dre's Aftermath followed only in 1996.
Q 20Which 1992 Death Row release, Dre's solo debut, opened the feud with Eazy-E?
The Chronic
The Chronic, released in December 1992, carried 'Fuck wit Dre Day', which mocked Eazy-E as 'Sleazy-E' and opened the feud.
George H. W. Bush: Eazy-E accepted an invitation to a March 1991 Republican Senatorial Inner Circle lunch in Washington hosted by the president, baffling fans and the group.
Q 24How long after his AIDS diagnosis did Eazy-E die, on March 26, 1995?
One month
One month: Eazy-E was admitted to Cedars-Sinai in late February 1995 with what he thought was asthma, announced his AIDS diagnosis on March 16, and died on March 26.
Q 25Who plays Eazy-E in the 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton?
Jason Mitchell
Jason Mitchell played Eazy-E in the 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton, opposite Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre; Mitchell went on to Mudbound and Detroit in 2017.
Q 26Which Ruthless group, mentored by Eazy-E, dedicated the single 'Tha Crossroads' to his memory?
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, the Cleveland group Eazy-E signed to Ruthless in 1993, reworked 'Tha Crossroads' as a tribute after his death; it won the 1997 Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
Q 27What was the title of MC Ren's platinum-selling 1992 solo EP?
Kizz My Black Azz
Kizz My Black Azz, released on Ruthless in June 1992, went platinum and preceded Ren's full-length debut Shock of the Hour in 1993.
Q 28After his music career, DJ Yella says he produced more than 300 of what?
Adult films
Adult films: after his only solo album, One Mo Nigga ta Go (1996), DJ Yella moved into pornography, directing and producing some 300 titles.
Q 29Which 1990 EP did Ice Cube release months after AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted?
Kill at Will
Kill at Will, released in December 1990, was Ice Cube's first EP and included 'Jackin' for Beats' and 'Dead Homiez'.
Q 30In which year was N.W.A inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
2016
2016: after nominations in 2013, 2014 and 2015, N.W.A were inducted on April 8, 2016, with Kendrick Lamar doing the honours.