Ice Cube, Run DMC, and the Time N.W.A Got Booed Offstage at the Apollo

We all have to start somewhere.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Back in the late '80s, before they dropped their classic debut album Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A. was still waiting in the wings. They had yet to make an impact similar to Run D.M.C. and Big Daddy Kane, the big names of the day.

During this time, N.W.A. was invited to what Ice Cube remembers as a "new music seminar" at NYC's famed Apollo Theater. On our latest episode of What Had Happened Was, he tells us what happened next, and it wasn't good. The West Coasters and their jheri curls were booed offstage, but just as they were ready to write the whole thing off as a wash, a chance meeting with Run D.M.C. in the elevator changed their minds. A few years later, Ice Cube returned to the Apollo and got a very different reception. Watch the new episode above, and look out for more stories every Wednesday by subscribing to P&P on YouTube.

Latest in Music