World Class Wreckin' Cru

World Class Wreckin' Cru recorded some solid West Coast electro with <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> in the production chair and hit the Billboard Hot 100 with the smooth love jam "Turn Off the Lights" during 1988 -- the same year <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dre</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A</a> delivered the gangsta rap landmark Straight Outta Compton. The group was formed by <a href="spotify:artist:1AAwwjFA9W4hk1ADiVutJl">Lonzo</a> (Alonzo Williams), owner of the Compton club Eve After Dark, who recruited a pair of popular local DJs, <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> and DJ Yella, along with <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dre</a>'s high school friend Cli-N-Tel. Early singles like "Surgery" and "Juice" -- many of them recorded at a four-track studio that was part of the Eve After Dark complex -- stood alongside work by <a href="spotify:artist:6GGVr7WgIWhsnJNdGyPklP">the Egyptian Lover</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1CgtnHjLV5B84Z0Lcfj9U5">L.A. Dream Team</a> as stellar examples of the fast-moving fusion of old-school rap and electro. But even as the World Class Wreckin' Cru became one of southern California's most popular rap acts, <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> and DJ Yella were pursuing other production opportunities, one of which came from a new label (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ruthless%22">Ruthless</a>) formed by <a href="spotify:artist:7B4hKK0S9QYnaoqa9OuwgX">Eazy-E</a>. Along with <a href="spotify:artist:3Mcii5XWf6E0lrY3Uky4cA">Ice Cube</a>, they wrote a single named "Boyz-n-the Hood" that was initially offered to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ruthless%22">Ruthless</a> act HBO, but later prompted the entire crew to form as <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A</a>. After street-level singles like "Dopeman" and "8 Ball" became huge local hits for <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A</a>, World Class Wreckin' Cru became less of a priority for both <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3EjdfGVvtZMsY8KwdS6SaK">Yella</a>. Even after "Turn Off the Lights" entered the R&B Top 40 in 1988, they continued with <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dre</a> also produced tracks for Wreckin' Cru member <a href="spotify:artist:4D0WfOUqTzqKysXt33VL3j">Michel'le</a>. Phases in Life, a World Class Wreckin' Cru LP released in 1990, was basically a solo release by <a href="spotify:artist:1AAwwjFA9W4hk1ADiVutJl">Lonzo</a>. ~ John Bush, Rovi