Released: January 1, 1991

Songwriter: N.W.A

Producer: Dr. Dre DJ Yella

[Verse 1: Dr. Dre]
I got a taste for waste and a taste and a blood
Murder I heard her when she screamed the "Drop!"
'Cause her son caught the slug
Relate this to no choice
And listen to this straight-up man before they ban the voice
While I rhyme to the rhythm of a pop
Remember the first nigga that runs is the first to get shot
Whoever said that what I say and portray is negativity
Need to come kick it in the city with me
And find the black and crack de fact
And take that shit back
'Cause they don't wanna fuck with that
There's too many niggas they're tryin' to calm
If mothafuckaz could get it, nobody would've fuck with it
Appetite for destruction
For him to get a bit more shit he gotta commit
Murder in the first degree and manslaughter
Takin' the life of his wife and young daughter
A whole city of bitches that look sucked up
And the niggas is killin', it's straight fucked up
Whoever sayin' what I'm sayin is for greed
Then I ain't even what they're tryin' to feed
My appetite for destruction

"You guys know who I'm talkin' to"

[Verse 2: MC Ren]
The appetite is tremendous, so I'm gonna spin this
Drop up some violence because they ask me to end this
Some trouble that I cought 'cause I was noisy
A nigga tried to take advantage because of the kamikaze
He took a swing for my head, thought I was faded
Start runnin' for the door but the fucker never made it
The sound of the 9 went bang
And all over the wall was his mothafuckin' brain
'Cause I'm a nigga you can't sleep on
So set the alarm, 'cause I hit like a mothafuckin' bomb
I do damage with the 9 in my hand
But the average nigga that don’t know me don’t understand
I'm from the streets, so therefore
You know I don't care for a sucker that ain't down
With the real niggas, the niggas, the niggas
Yo, and after when the shit gotta go ain't even sober
Any time that the 9 wanna leave
I got a .38 hidden up the sleeve
And it's ready to go to war 'cause that's what it's here for
I shoot down a million niggas and shoot one more
And that's the million and one, they couldn't hang with the appetite, 'cause they wasn't rappin' right
So I had to destroy whoever was standin' in my presence
For fuckin' up the essence – appetite for destruction

[Interlude]
"Cops put a hurtin' on yo' ass, man
You know, they really degrade you
White folks don't believe that shit
They don't believe that cops degrade you
[Imitating white person] Oh come on, those people, those people are resisting arrest."

[Verse 3: Eazy-E]
Check it out, y'all, in the house, y'all
So I can show and flow and let the people know
So won't you ease on down to the yellow brick road
To Compton, but first let me tell you somethin'
I possess the 10 commandments of the hip-hop thugsta
Known as the thief and murderer
First one – honor thy nigga with an attitude
Gotta get respect or break your mothafuckin' neck
Second one – always gotta fuck out of wedlock
I like it when the pussy goes snap, crackle and pop
Number three – I'm a gangsta fanatic
I smoke any fools tryna 'cause some static
Number four – here's what's in store
A crazy-ass nigga that remains hardcore
Fifth one – my kill has just begun
I pull out my gun, that'll keep me on the run
Step six – hmmm, it's kinda tricky
Can't forget that I'm mothafuckin' chicken-shit
To the ones who tries to play the E
By the time you get to seven, you'll be six feet deep
Number eight – make no mistake
Move real sneaky and you're bound to catch your prey
Ninth one – I gotta be raw
Fuck any brainwashin' man-made law!
Last but not least, I must be real
Number ten – is my appetite to ki–

N.W.A

Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince initially formed the collective known as “the world’s most dangerous group,” N.W.A.—Niggaz With Attitudes.

Following Ice Cube’s stint in C.I.A. and Dre and Yella’s departure from the World Class Wreckin Cru, they got together with Compton hustler Eric “Eazy-E” Wright, who formed Ruthless Records and released Eazy’s single “Boyz n the Hood,” written by Cube and produced by Dre. A compilation entitled N.W.A. and the Posse was released in 1987 but the group’s seminal debut, Straight Outta Compton, was released on August 8, 1988. It led to the rise of gangsta rap and West Coast hip-hop in general with their tales of “reality rap” from the streets of Compton and South Central Los Angeles. Their song “Fuck tha Police” even put the group on the hit list of the FBI.

Arabian Prince was the first to leave the group in 1988 over a financial dispute. Ice Cube left N.W.A. in 1989 after his own financial dispute, leading to the other members to diss him on their subsequent the 1990 EP 100 Miles and Runnin' and EFIL4ZAGGIN, which was released in 1991 and peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The D.O.C., who contributed to Straight Outta Compton and was still recovering from a car accident that severly altered his strong voice, wrote more rhymes for Dr. Dre and Eazy-E on the EFIL4ZAGGIN album in attempt to fill the void left by Cube.