Above The Law - Vocally Pimpin' (July 16, 1991)

In researching artist discographies for this very blog, I came across a somewhat surprising consistency: nearly every artist affiliated with N.W.A. has released an EP early in their career. At this point, you should have already read about Eazy-E and Ice Cube's shorter sophomore selections. MC Ren's solo debut was an EP, as well (one which we'll get to in due time). Of the main members of N.W.A. that actually matter, only Dr. Dre seems to have bypassed the EP as a quick means to an end, but when you look at it, nothing that he does can ever be considered quick, since he's only released two solo albums in the past sixteen years. (Fucking Eazy-E has released more albums than that, and the guy is dead.) I will note, for the record, that DJ Yella, who was a founding member of the crew even if his contribution was constantly overshadowed by the good Doctor, managed to release a full album as his debut shortly after Eric Wright's passing, but since he didn't actually rap on it, it doesn't count.

Above The Law - Livin' Like Hustlers (February 20, 1990)

Remember Ruthless Records? I certainly don't, and I've written about them for the past few months. But that particular record label, allegedly funded by drug money and co-owned by a white guy whose specialty was screwing young African-American men out of their songwriting royalties, cemented its place in hip hop history by unleashing N.W.A. onto the musical atmosphere. Group members Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, DJ Yella, and ringleader Eazy-E (I left Arabian Prince out for a reason, folks) created a storm of controversy and a slew of copycats in their wake, so it would only make sense that Eazy would go out of his way to sign one of those such groups.