N.W.A. Recall Nearly Touring With Guns N’ Roses + The Time Axl Rose Rapped in Front of Them
Members of hip-hop legends N.W.A. recently came together to reminisce about their second and final studio album, N---az4Life (aka Efil4zaggin). While talking to Rolling Stone, MC Ren brought up the time N.W.A. hung out with Guns N’ Roses and Axl Rose rapped for hip-hop’s men in black.
Guns N’ Roses and N.W.A. blew up almost simultaneously, conquering the worlds of rock and rap, respectively, with the release of their respective debut albums. It turns out both groups were fans of each other, with N.W.A. famously penning the track “Appetite for Destruction” on their sophomore album. “I came up with that from Guns N’ Roses,” MC Ren says.
"We hung out with them one time,” Ren continues. “They had a show at the Forum in Inglewood, and we went to hang out with them before and after the show. We had heard that Axl was an N.W.A fan." DJ Yella adds, “I remember having a headache for three days, that music was so loud.”
When Axl and N.W.A. finally met face-to-face, the Guns N’ Roses singer actually demonstrated his rhyming skills for the group. "I remember talking to Axl backstage in the dressing room and he started rapping. I can't remember how it went, but he busted a rhyme,” recalls MC Ren.
Guns N’ Roses and N.W.A. almost did a few shows together, which would have brought Los Angeles’ two most dangerous acts together on one stage. "We were supposed to do a couple of shows with them, but our manager got too greedy," Yella says. "They wanted to give us $25,000 for 10 minutes, but our management wanted $50,000 so it didn't work. We might have ended up doing a whole bunch of shows with them."
Check out the full interview with N.W.A.’s MC Ren and DJ Yella over at Rolling Stone. Guns N’ Roses will conquer North America once again for the remainder of 2017, beginning another string of massive tour dates on July 27.
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