You're forgetting DJ Yella who's not only in this picture but a founding member of NWA and the man who shared production with Dre on all the early stuff
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Whatever Happened to N.W.A's Posse?
The Eazy-E True Hollywood (or True Compton) Stories behind the legendary L.A. hip-hop cover
KID DISASTER
AKA: Darryll Johnson, K-Dee
1987's N.W.A and the Posse
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Before the photo: Kid Disaster hooked up with N.W.A through Purple Ice, later known as Ice Cube, in high school. Disaster was a member of the group C.I.A. with Ice Cube and Sir Jinx .
In the photo: Kid Disaster is just another guy not drinking any of the booze. "It was funny because everybody brought 40s and no one really drunk 40s back then. We had to make it look like we drank some so we just opened them up and poured a little bit out," he tells me. "We were all virgins, man. We were all virgins that just happened to be in the music business and doing something. We were young, man, we were still in high school. We were just having fun, we never did think it was going to do what it did, and when it did it was like, 'wow.'"
After the photo: Disaster was featured in a verse on "Make It Ruff, Make It Smooth," off Cube's Lethal Injection album. He also worked for Cube's Street Knowledge Productions and released a solo album titled Ass, Gas or Cash (No One Rides for Free) in 1994. He became estranged from Cube in 1997 for reasons he doesn't know.
Now: K-Dee lives in L.A., and is in the trucking business. He's also still doing some radio work and performing live, including a recent concert with Michel'le, perhaps the ultimate hip-hop temptress, Dr. Dre's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his son Marcel.
CANDYMAN
AKA: Candell Manson
Before the photo: If anyone caught a break because of his place on the Posse record cover, it's Candyman. A classmate of Ice Cube during his time at Washington Preparatory, he was unaffiliated with the group at the time. DJ Scratch and Sir Jinx report Candell Manson was splitting time between their couches when he caught a ride to the photo shoot, and somehow landed a prime spot in the front row.
In the photo: Candyman has said the cover represents the group at its realest, before the development of the styles commonly associated with gangsta rap. Arabian Prince disagrees. "Candyman got lucky," he says. "At the time, honestly, we used to actually get mad at Candyman because we'd be out on tour and we'd come back in town and sometimes he'd be representing N.W.A and we were like, 'Eh, eh, eh, you're not actually in the group. You're on the cover but ... "
After the photo: Candyman's story is possibly the ultimate irony of the N.W.A and the Posse cover. Three years after the photo was taken, around the time N.W.A was releasing its hard-hitting 100 Miles and Runnin' EP, Candyman had a Top 10 hit with "Knockin' Boots," a fun little bit of early-'90s pop-rap. "Knockin' Boots" — the second-biggest hit on the topic of boot-knockin' released in the early '90s — took his Ain't No Shame in My Game album into Billboard's Top 200. Candy toured with Tone Loc and Milli Vanilli but couldn't follow up on his success. His sophomore effort, Playtime Is Over, only had one charting single, the incredibly odd "Oneighundredskytalkpinelevenotwosevenine." Candyman was dropped from his major-label contract soon after his third album and decided to go gangsta. The cover of his fourth record, 1995's Phukk Watcha Goin' Thru, depicted the rapper posing in front of gold rims wearing a cabbie hat.
Now: Candyman lives in Vegas and books parties. Considering the heated public feuds that divided loyalties between the superstars on the Posse cover — Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E — it's surprising that Candyman is probably the least popular person in this photo, dissed by several others pictured when he was mentioned. "Candyman always kinda thought his shit didn't stink," says one of the other guys from the cover. "He's still that way."
KRAZY D
AKA: Damon Trujillo, Culo Popper, Crazy D, Krazy Dee
Before the photo: Krazy D is from Huntington Park. He was a friend of Eric "Eazy-E" Wright. "I met Eazy the same day I met Dre [at Skateland in Compton, where Dre's old group the World Class performed]. Eazy and I became real good friends," Krazy D tells me. "Bottom line, I started selling dope. I was a rapper who became a dope dealer and he was a dope dealer who became a rapper, so we just kind of blended. Eazy and I were connected on the street, and it was pretty much that way even after I left the group." Krazy D calls himself an "original member" of N.W.A and has a writing credit on "Panic Zone," N.W.A's first single. He is also name-checked in "8 Ball": "Krazy D is down and in effect. We make hard-core jams, so fuck respect."
In the photo: As the only Latino ever photographed on a Niggaz With Attitude record, Krazy D stands out. Unlike MC Ren, Krazy D says he was actually a member of the group when the photo was taken. "The crazy part about that photo is that everybody that was there was there because they just kinda showed up, whether it was just giving someone a ride or whatever. I know MC Chip, him and Train had took Ren up there to be in the photo shoot. And Ren wasn't even in the group at the time of the photo shoot. There's this big whole thing about original members, with Ren and Yella, they came way after."
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