100 Miles and Runnin'

Background

Prior to recording the EP, MC Ren, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, & DJ Yella had signed a long-term contract with the Ruthless Records label to be an official "N.W.A." group for $75,000 USD for work on Straight Outta Compton, this EP, advance & for their future work for Niggaz4life. However, member and lead vocalist Ice Cube refused the contract's terms and consequently separated himself from the group, which kicked off his solo career. It is the first record the group released after he left. This EP contains negative references towards him.

The title track "100 Miles and Runnin'" was the group's first track to gain radio airtime and appear on TV with its music video. Dr. Dre, who had just finished working with The D.O.C. and Above the Law, added atypical funky beats and the slow synth groove on "Just Don't Bite It". "Sa Prize, Pt. 2" is a sequel to the controversial "Fuck tha Police" from the Straight Outta Compton album.

The group makes a number of references to Ice Cube. On the title track, Dre states: "It started with five but yo, one couldn't take it / So now there's four 'cause the fifth couldn't make it". In "Real Niggaz" he is likened to Benedict Arnold, the proverbial American traitor, and MC Ren says, "Only reason niggaz pick up your record is cause they thought it was us", referring to Ice Cube's first solo album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, which had been released earlier that year. Ice Cube responded to these attacks on Death Certificate (1991) on a song named "No Vaseline".

Three songs from the EP, "100 Miles and Runnin'", "Just Don't Bite It", and "Real Niggaz", were later released on N.W.A's Greatest Hits. "Real Niggaz" also appears on N.W.A's final studio album, Efil4zaggin, a year later; the 2003 remastered edition of the album appended the rest of the EP to the track listing. "Just Don't Bite It" was later sampled in Eazy-E's solo track "Gimme That Nutt" as well as Sublime's song "Let's Go Get Stoned."

Reception

Although the album was released as an EP, it nevertheless hit the charts and sold over 500,000 copies, reaching Gold status on November 16, 1990, before reaching Platinum certification on September 16, 1992, for over 1 million copies sold.

Track listing

All songs produced by Dr. Dre and DJ Yella.

Personnel