NWA isn't like most acts I've covered. Their career lasted just over four years; luckily we are not straight outta collecting concert posters. I like to think of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, MC Ren, and Arabian Prince as a shooting star. Their work ignited an entire sound that to this day is still extremely popular; unfortunately, infighting and label issues brought an untimely sputtering end to a Hall of Fame group.
A positive to such a short career is that there are only a few tours to try and collect. That might increase competition for said posters. However, there's also less of a likelihood that there were shows that fans are unaware of. NWA tours across the United States in particular are packed full of stories involving defiant local police departments.
Straight Outta Collecting NWA
As I stated above, there are not going to be a lot of posters to check for. One important thing to remember are reimagined posters that, while very interesting and cool, are not actual concert posters from the actual tours. One such example follows below.
This poster is definitely in the spirit of NWA. However, it is not an actual concert poster from the NWA era. While it retails for the same as reproduced concert posters at around $18, it isn't what you might be looking for as a collector. I like to think of it as an homage; it's definitely intriguing, but not an actual piece of the group's past.
There's nothing wrong with collecting this kind of poster. It's just important this kind of poster isn't official but rather inspired art. Today it looks like it could've been, though no doubt about it.
Finding the right posters
This poster is intriguing for two reasons. First, it's very representative of NWA's public persona in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Secondly, well-respected alternative concert poster artist Frank Kozik crafted this concert poster. This particular show unfolded at the Texas Expo Center of all places in 1989.
Think about that; imagine Texas Rangers or pretty much any other Texas police department hearing that the infamous Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and crew were in town. There's no way these cops didn't do their part to make it hard for LA's most popular Hip-Hop act at the time. I'd think any stories about their show(s) in Texas would definitely be kind of wild. Another important thing about this poster is how accessible it is: $50 for this poster is a pretty good find, especially since Frank Kozik signed this particular piece. Finding it is the hard part, as each website showing this poster has shown out of stock, unfortunately.
What's also kind of baffling is just how difficult it was for NWA to tour. I mean I definitely understand the importance of security at a venue. But to honestly dismiss work for local venue staff and security employees due to how a group criticizes law enforcement seems a bit much. No political stance here one way or the other. Kind of seems more harmful to overreact to music and art than to ignore it, but here we are.
If you are looking for NWA concert posters, it's a tough search. However, be careful what you do find; if it's actually from their four main years of existence, it's worthwhile to add it to your wall.
