Eve's After Dark
Social Relation:
Opened in 1979, Eve's After Dark was known as a high-class club that became a fixture on the dance map of Los Angeles. The after-hours club was located within the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County which allowed the club to operate outside the rules of Los Angeles city and stay open till 5 in the morning.
The 1970s era of disco music began to play out and mobile DJs begun to take over the promotional dance circuit. A former B-boy Alonzo Williams traded in his dance gear and transitioned into mobile DJing within the Los Angeles dance circuit. Williams began DJing dances under the name Disco Construction. By late 1979, Alonzo had taken over ownership and Friday night DJing duties at Eve's After Dark.
In order to share in the club's DJ duties and large demand Alonzo Williams created a crew of DJs, known as the World Class Wreckin' Cru. The group got their name for the large amount of equipment they had to tear down and haul after each show. The original Wreckin' Cru consisted of Alonzo, Antoine "DJ Yella" Caraby, DJ Cli-N-Tel, DJ Unknown, and Andre "Dr. Dre" Young. With a R&B national hit in 1988 (Turn Out the Lights), Alonzo secured a recording contract with CBS Records for his group and used the money to build a recording studio in the back of the club.
Hiphop Outcome:
Not only was Eve's After Dark a breeding ground for DJs and dance fixture within the dance community but it also served as a springboard for East Coast rappers. The Los Angeles club also booked many other acts including the first L.A.-area appearance of New York rappers Kurtis Blow and Run D.M.C. Yet, every weekend Eve's After Dark become a social melting pot for early rap music, up and coming DJs, young entrepreneurs, and Hiphop culture in Los Angeles.
During his high school years, O'Shea Jackson would rock the microphone at the nightclub as the rapper Ice Cube with a group called C.I.A. (Criminals In Action). At this time, Ice Cube encouraged by Dr.Dre began to spit sex rhymes over popular rap songs to shock and excite crowds. Thus, Run D.M.C.'s "My Adidas" became "My Penis." While, on weekends Eric "Eazy-E" Wright was in the crowd of Eve's After Dark searching for new rap talent. At the same time, Eazy-E would catch DJ Yella and Dr. Dre spinning records for local legends the World Class Wreckin' Cru.
The clubs recording studio featured an old four-track deck and quickly became a music laboratory for Dr. Dre, the World Class Wreckin' Cru, and others. In 1987, the back room recording studio became the starting point for "gangsta rap" and West Coast Hiphop.
One night, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E were in the studio with a stack of rhymes that Ice Cube had penned. Eazy-E bought recording time for an East Coast duo called HBO that Dr. Dre had found. But, when the New York duo got into the studio, they balked at the West Coast-flavored track and rhymes and declined to record Ice Cube's song.
Instead, Dr. Dre urged Eazy-E to pick up the microphone and rap lyrics to a song detailing the day-in-the-life tale of a Compton gangster, it was "Boyz-N-the-Hood." Hiphop changed forever.
You know how many nights I heard them sparks echo in tha park?/Around this time I was spinnin' records at Eve's After Dark...Dr. Dre on Issues (Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre LP)