Fuck tha Police
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"Fuck tha Police" is a protest song by the gangsta rap group N.W.A that appears on the album Straight Outta Compton. Despite not being a single, it ranked #417 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Since its release in 1988, the "Fuck the Police" slogan continues to influence pop culture today in the form of t-shirts, artwork, and even transitions into other genres as seen in Rage Against The Machine's version.[citation needed]
Story
Fuck tha Police is a mock court scene, in which the "police department" is put on trial, with Ice Cube, MC Ren, and Eazy-E playing the role of the prosecution. Judge "Dre" is presiding and the trial is described as being "N.W.A versus the police department". Rapped "testimonies" expressing anger at racism and police brutality in abrasive, violent language delivered by Ice Cube, MC Ren, and Eazy-E.
At the end of the song, "Judge Dre" delivers the verdict: "The jury has found you guilty of being a redneck, white bread, chickenshit motherfucker" —— "you" referring to a police officer who represents the Los Angeles Police Department. The police officer's reaction is: "But wait, that's a lie! That's a goddamn lie! I want justice! I want justice! Fuck you, you black motherfucker...!" as he is apparently being dragged out of the courtroom.
Impact
The song "Fuck tha Police", containing N.W.A's trademark inflammatory lyrics, stood out in particular from many of the songs on Straight Outta Compton. It highlights many of the tensions between black urban youth and the police (widespread resentment towards the LAPD boiled over 4 years later, in the 1992 Los Angeles riots following the Rodney King incident). The song also alleged that minorities in the police department betrayed their race, with lyrics such as:
But don't let it be a black and a white one
Cause they'll slam ya down to the street top
Black police showing out for the white cop
Especially controversial were the areas of the song that appear to condone violence towards police authorities; lines such as "I'm a sniper with a hell of a scope/Taking out a cop or two, they can't cope/with me" and "A sucka in a uniform waitin' to get shot/by me, or anotha nigga" directly reference the murder of police officers. The FBI and the U.S. Secret Service sent a letter to Ruthless Records informing the label of their displeasure with the song's message, and N.W.A were banned from performing at several venues.[citation needed]
This song has proven popular enough to be covered by such acts as Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, as well as gaining popularity with rock bands, including Dope, Soulfly and Rage Against the Machine. This song was included on N.W.A's Greatest Hits.
In 1989, Australian radio station Triple J had been playing "Fuck tha Police" for up to six months, before gaining the attention of Australian Broadcasting Corporation management who subsequently banned it. As a reaction the staff went on strike and put N.W.A's "Express Yourself" on continuous play for 24 hours, playing it roughly 360 times in a row. In 1996, during massive opposition street protests in Belgrade, Serbia, "Fuck tha Police", along with Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" was continually played for 2 days on a Belgrade radio station B92.
Kanye West alludes to the song in his single All Falls Down, "I say 'fuck the police', that's how I treat 'em". "Cop Killer", a song by Ice-T's rock group Body Count also contains the lyrics "fuck the police", as does "Still No Surrender" by Bone Thugs N Harmony and "Mrs. Officer" by Lil Wayne.
References
The lyrics are recited in a scene in Spike Lee's film Mo' Better Blues