
Original Gangstas
The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap
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Narrated by:
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J.D. Jackson
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By:
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Ben Westhoff
About this listen
"Raw, authoritative, and unflinching ... An elaborately detailed, darkly surprising, definitive history of the LA gangsta rap era."—Kirkus, starred review
A monumental, revealing narrative history about the legendary group of artists at the forefront of West Coast hip-hop: Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur.
Amid rising gang violence, the crack epidemic, and police brutality, a group of unlikely voices cut through the chaos of late 1980s Los Angeles: N.W.A. Led by a drug dealer, a glammed-up producer, and a high school kid, N.W.A. gave voice to disenfranchised African Americans across the country. And they quickly redefined pop culture across the world.
Their names remain as popular as ever: Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube. Dre soon joined forces with Suge Knight to create the combustible Death Row Records, which in turn transformed Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur into superstars.
Ben Westhoff explores how this group of artists shifted the balance of hip-hop from New York to Los Angeles. He shows how N.W.A.'s shocking success lead to rivalries between members, record labels, and eventually a war between East Coast and West Coast factions. In the process, hip-hop burst into mainstream America at a time of immense social change, and became the most dominant musical movement of the last thirty years. At gangsta rap's peak, two of its biggest names—Tupac and Biggie Smalls—were murdered, leaving the surviving artists to forge peace before the genre annihilated itself.
Featuring extensive investigative reporting, interviews with the principal players, and dozens of never-before-told stories, Original Gangstas is a groundbreaking addition to the history of popular music.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2016 Ben Westhoff (P)2016 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"I trust Ben Westhoff. I trust him to report a story and I trust him to tell a story, and that's exactly what he's done here in Original Gangstas. He's taken what's always felt like an almost impossibly knotted string of storylines and plot points in gangsta rap, the most turbulent version of the most popular music on the planet, and turned them into an airtight and unflinching book. Original Gangstas is as resolute as the people and ideas it sets out to profile, and that is no small feat."—Shea Serrano, New York Times bestselling author of The Rap Year Book
"Scrupulously researched with many incisive revelations, this may be the best book ever written about the hip hop world."—S. Leigh Savidge, Academy Award nominee and co-writer of Straight Outta Compton
"A provocative, multifaceted portrait of essential rap pioneers who ushered the hip-hop music scene to greatness.... As raw, authoritative, and unflinching as the music his narrative chronicles, Westhoff comprehensively uncovers the factual roots of the gangsta rap movement and admirably credits those whose footprints paved the way for the younger rappers emerging today.... An elaborately detailed, darkly surprising, definitive history of the LA gangsta rap era."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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Spies, codes, and guerrillas played unprecedentedly critical roles in the Second World War, exploited by every nation in the struggle to gain secret knowledge of its foes, and to sow havoc behind the fronts. In The Secret War, Max Hastings presents a worldwide cast of characters and some extraordinary sagas of intelligence and resistance, to create a new perspective on the greatest conflict in history.
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Better read than listened to
- By B. In -t Veld on 03-25-17
By: Max Hastings
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The Spy Who Knew Too Much
- An Ex-CIA Officer’s Quest Through a Legacy of Betrayal
- By: Howard Blum
- Narrated by: Steve Hendrickson
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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On a sunlit morning in September 1978, a sloop drifts aimlessly across the Chesapeake Bay. The cabin reveals signs of a struggle, and “classified” documents, live 9 mm cartridges, and a top-secret “burst” satellite communications transmitter are discovered aboard. But where is the boat’s owner, former CIA officer John Paisley? One man may hold the key to finding out. Tennent “Pete” Bagley was once a rising star in America’s spy aristocracy, and many expected he’d eventually become CIA director.
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The, too long, story of an obsession
- By Tony on 10-30-22
By: Howard Blum
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We Promised You a Great Main Event
- An Unauthorized WWE History
- By: Bill Hanstock
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In We Promised You a Great Main Event, longtime sports journalist Bill Hanstock pulls back the curtain to give a smart fan’s account of WWE and Vince McMahon’s journey to the top. Untangling the truth behind the official WWE storyline, Hanstock does a deep dive into key moments of the company’s history, from the behind-the-scenes drama at the Montreal Screwjob, to the company’s handling of the Jimmy Snuka scandal, to the real story of the Monday Night Wars.
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Pronounce names correctly!
- By JLA4 on 12-29-20
By: Bill Hanstock
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Gay Bar
- Why We Went Out
- By: Jeremy Atherton Lin
- Narrated by: Jeremy Atherton Lin
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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In the era of Grindr and same-sex marriage, gay bars are closing down at an alarming rate. What, then, was the gay bar? Set between Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London, Gay Bar takes us on a time-traveling, transatlantic bar hop through pulsing nightclubs, after-work dives, hardcore leather bars, gay cafes, and saunas, asking what these places meant to their original clientele, what they meant to the author as a younger man, and what they mean now.
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Gay Bar : A Review
- By Anonymous User on 05-17-21
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Midnight in the Pacific
- Guadalcanal -- The World War II Battle That Turned the Tide of War
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Published on the 75th anniversary of the battle and utilizing vivid accounts written by the combatants at Guadalcanal, along with marine corps and army archives and oral histories, Midnight in the Pacific is both a sweeping narrative and a compelling drama of individual marines, soldiers, and sailors caught in the crosshairs of history.
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Don't start here or you'll be confused.
- By Doctor Bob on 08-13-17
By: Joseph Wheelan
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The Hidden History of the White House
- Power Struggles, Scandals, and Defining Moments
- By: Corey Mead
- Narrated by: Lindsay Graham, Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than two centuries, the White House in Washington, DC, has been the stage for some of the most climactic moments in American history. Its walls and portraits have witnessed fierce power struggles, history-altering decisions, shocking scandals, and intimate moments among the First Family, their guests, and the staff.
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They pieced a bunch of Wondery episodes together and it’s awful
- By Kim Dawe on 10-04-24
By: Corey Mead
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McMillions
- By: James Lee Hernandez, Brian Lazarte
- Narrated by: Brian Lazarte, James Lee Hernandez
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In March of 2001, Federal prosecutor Mark Devereaux cold-called Rob Holm, the head of security for McDonald's Corporation. Without explanation, Devereaux asked that Holm and several other McDonald's senior executives plan a visit to the Jacksonville, Florida, FBI, and tell no one about their intended destination. It wasn't up for discussion. Upon their arrival, Devereaux watched them closely, looking at body language, checking for tells. To him, they were all potential suspects.
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Loved the juicy bonus material to the series!!
- By Anonymous User on 01-24-25
By: James Lee Hernandez, and others
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60 Songs That Explain the '90s
- By: Rob Harvilla
- Narrated by: Rob Harvilla
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The 1990s were a chaotic and utterly magical time for music, a confounding barrage of genres and lifestyles and superstars, from grunge to hip-hop, from sumptuous R&B to rambunctious ska-punk, from Axl to Kurt to Missy to Santana to Tupac to Britney. In 60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE '90s, Ringer music critic Rob Harvilla reimagines all the earwormy, iconic hits Gen Xers pine for with vivid historical storytelling, sharp critical analysis, rampant loopiness, and wryly personal ruminations on the most bizarre, joyous, and inescapable songs from a decade we both regret entirely and miss desperately.
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My Personal View-Harvilla Rules!
- By Qtsbuster on 11-18-23
By: Rob Harvilla
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The Wrong Stuff
- How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned
- By: John Strausbaugh
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In the wake of World War II, with America ascendant and the Soviet Union devastated by the conflict, the Space Race should have been over before it started. But the underdog Soviets scored a series of victories—starting with the 1957 launch of Sputnik and continuing in the years following--that seemed to achieve the impossible. It was proof, it seemed, that the USSR had manpower and collective will that went beyond America's material advantages. They had asserted themselves as a world power. But in The Wrong Stuff, John Strausbaugh tells a different story.
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Perfection
- By Wilhelm on 05-08-25
By: John Strausbaugh
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The Last Folk Hero
- The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 22 hrs
- Unabridged
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From the mid-1980s into the early 1990s, the greatest athlete of all time streaked across American sports and popular culture. Stadiums struggled to contain him. Clocks failed to capture his speed. His strength was legendary. His power unmatched. Video game makers turned him into an invincible character—and they were dead-on. He climbed (and walked across) walls, splintered baseball bats over his knee, turned oncoming tacklers into ground meat.
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If you are a sports fan and over 35 years old, you have to listen/read this. Awesome!
- By betty sammons on 06-29-23
By: Jeff Pearlman
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Dereliction of Duty
- Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
- By: H. R. McMaster
- Narrated by: H. R. McMaster
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Dereliction of Duty is a stunning analysis of how and why the United States became involved in an all-out and disastrous war in Southeast Asia. Fully and convincingly researched, based on transcripts and personal accounts of crucial meetings, confrontations, and decisions, it is the only book that fully re-creates what happened and why. McMaster pinpoints the policies and decisions that got the United States into the morass and reveals who made these decisions and the motives behind them, disproving the published theories of other historians and excuses of the participants.
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Rough narration
- By AC Griffin on 12-04-19
By: H. R. McMaster
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Lie to Me
- By: J. T. Ellison
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson, Saskia Maarleveld, Sarah Naughton, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Sutton and Ethan Montclair's idyllic life is not as it appears. They seem made for each other, but the truth is ugly. Consumed by professional and personal betrayals and financial woes, the two both love and hate each other. As tensions mount, Sutton disappears, leaving behind a note saying not to look for her. Ethan finds himself the target of vicious gossip as friends, family, and the media speculate on what really happened to Sutton Montclair.
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Sharp Psychological Thriller - 4 Amazing Narrators
- By Erryn Barratt on 09-07-17
By: J. T. Ellison
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The History of Gangster Rap
- From Schoolly D to Kendrick Lamar, the Rise of a Great American Art Form
- By: Soren Baker, Xzibit - foreword
- Narrated by: James Shippy, Soren Baker
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The History of Gangster Rap is a deep dive into one of the most fascinating subgenres of any music category to date. Sixteen detailed chapters, organized chronologically, examine the evolution of gangster rap, its main players, and the culture that created this revolutionary music. From still-swirling conspiracy theories about the murders of Biggie and Tupac to the release of the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton, the era of gangster rap is one that fascinates music junkies and remains at the forefront of pop culture.
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Brilliant chronicle
- By R. C. DeJesus on 03-12-21
By: Soren Baker, and others
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Where Tyranny Begins
- The Justice Department, the FBI, and the War on Democracy
- By: David Rohde
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In Where Tyranny Begins, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Rohde investigates the strategies Trump systematically used to turn the country's two most powerful law-enforcement agencies into his personal political weapons. Rohde also reveals how, during the Biden years, Justice Department non-partisan 1970s norms that Attorney General Merrick Garland reinforced inadvertently helped Trump, and could fail to deliver a trial and legal accountability by Election Day 2024.
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Review of why we fired trump
- By ludlow on 09-24-24
By: David Rohde
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LAbyrinth
- The True Story of City of Lies, the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. and the Implication of the Los Angeles Police Department
- By: Randall Sullivan
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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Acclaimed journalist Randall Sullivan follows Russell Poole, a highly decorated LAPD detective who in 1997 was called to investigate a controversial cop-on-cop shooting, eventually to discover that the officer killed was tied to Marion “Suge” Knight’s notorious gangsta rap label, Death Row Records. During his investigation, Poole came to realize that a growing cadre of black officers were allied not only with Death Row, but with the murderous Bloods street gang. And incredibly, Poole began to uncover evidence that at least some of these “gangsta cops” may have been involved in the murders of rap superstars Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.
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Racist And Inaccurate Trash
- By T Spencer on 12-25-19
By: Randall Sullivan
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Bloodlands
- Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
- By: Timothy Snyder
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 19 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Bloodlands is a new kind of European history, presenting the mass murders committed by the Nazi and Stalinist regimes as two aspects of a single history, in the time and place where they occurred: between Germany and Russia, when Hitler and Stalin both held power. Assiduously researched, deeply humane, and utterly definitive, Bloodlands will be required listening for anyone seeking to understand the central tragedy of modern history.
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a warning for the future
- By judith on 11-06-19
By: Timothy Snyder
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Dawn
- By: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Julienne Irons
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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When Lilith lyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. She discovers that the Oankali—a seemingly benevolent alien race—intervened in the fate of the humanity hundreds of years ago, saving everyone who survived a nuclear war from a dying, ruined Earth and then putting them into a deep sleep. After learning all they could about Earth and its beings, the Oankali healed the planet, cured cancer, increased human strength, and they now want Lilith to lead her people back to Earth—but salvation comes at a price.
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Too Sexual
- By Amazon Customer on 08-29-23
What listeners say about Original Gangstas
Highly rated for:
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- Siobhan Ricci
- 06-27-21
Best rap history book on Audible
Original Gangstas is a great book and the best choice on this platform for hip hop history. I’ve read ones I’ve liked more that aren’t on Audible, such as, Have Gun Will Travel, as well as documentaries like Welcome to Death Row, or Murder Rap, if you’re interest is in the Biggie and Pac killings. That being said this book delivers on what it promises, the history of west coast rap, from the birth to the downfall, everything is covered. The NWA portion was sluggish at times though. Legit book!
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- Anonymous User
- 02-05-19
Epic.
I absolutely love this! I was just telling a friend about this and how Shakespearean this whole tale is. If This Were to be presented as a lost work, people would absolutely clamor to the storyline and characters. Sadly, many who would enjoy such a tale, will dismiss this based off of cultural biases where the stigma of gangster rap is concerned. I would strongly recommend that anyone who enjoys a fantastic Tale of Triumph and tragedy give this book it's due and your undivided attention.
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- Josh
- 10-08-18
Dense, fun book about Rap History.
To start off, I am not a huge fan of rap. Never have, Never been. I was actually requested this by the Last Podcast on the Left. It does a very good job of helping you understand what was going on with the rap scene before, during and after Gangsta Rap. It also gives every artist it can (including Shug) some form of humanity. Come for the stories of Bigge and Pac, stay for the conspiracy theories.
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- Clayton Burton
- 09-04-20
great book, check out fentanyl inc
this is a great book and captured my attention like a movie. ben wrote fentanyl, inc. READ IT TOO
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- Anonymous User
- 08-21-20
Would listen again.
really cool hearing the back story on this group. All have done some bad things but, I really gained a whole new respect for Eazy E. already recommended to a friend.
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- Rob
- 11-20-18
Outstanding!
Very much enjoyed the behind the scenes trip back down memory lane. The Narrator did an excellent job of keeping me engaged throughout the entire story. I really enjoyed this book.
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-07-22
Absolutely fantastic.
A fantastic story told incredibly vividly. Was interested to learn more about Tupac but the entire book was highly interesting and I found myself soaking everything up about things I kinda already knew but also things I knew next to nothing about. Fantastic.
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- JPALJ
- 05-14-22
it's about time . . .
this art form, and these artists, the underlying culture, and the incredible contributions not just to american, but worldwide culture, begin to get their due.. this book is a good start
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- SHANE CLAY
- 09-09-17
GREAT
5 STARS I really enjoyed this book. I'll definitely listen to it again in the future.
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- Morgan Benson
- 08-21-18
Well researched and compelling
This book provides a well researched and compelling look at gangster rap on the west coast as it came about in the mid to late 80s up to mid to late 90s. This book really excels at cutting through the media narrative about who these people are and tells the straight facts. A lot of people in the gangster rap scene are artists who have very little or none legitimate claim to being gangsters, criminals, and gang members but often have to embody that persona for their music.
You get to learn about the real lives and people behind the music in both a sympathetic but also critical way. The writer doesn't moralize about the genre at length but largely provides an unbiased prospective and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions. If this genre of music in an interest of you I would highly recommend this book.
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