Boyz-n-the-Hood Lyrics

Rappers gravitate toward numbers: 6-4 (Chevy Impala), 187 (murder), 5-O (the police), and here, an 8 ball (either a 40-ounce bottle of beer or 1/8 of an ounce of cocaine).

Building on references to other songs, this section of "Boyz-n-the-Hood" connects to an earlier N.W.A. song, "8 Ball," also rapped by Eazy.

"8 Ball" is another day-in-the-life journey following Eazy as he drinks a 40-ounce Olde English beer and gets into drunken highjinks. However, Eazy doesn't hesitate to show himself in a self-deprecating and negative view:

Olde English 800 cause that's my brand
Take it in a bottle, 40, quart, or can
Drink it like a madman, yes I do
F*** the police and a 5-O, too
Stepped in the park, I was drunk as hell 
Three b****es already said, "Eric, your breath smells!"
40 ounce in hand, that's what I got
"Yo man, you see Eazy hurlin' in the parking lot?"
Stepped on your foot, cold dissed your hoe
Asked her to dance and she said, "Hell no!"
Called her a b**** 'cause that's the rule
Boyz 'n the hood trying to keep me cool

The section of "Boyz-n-the-Hood" in which these lyrics appear may also contain the essence of the song.

It's implied that "the fellas out there, makin' that dollar" are dealing drugs. Eazy pulls up in his customized car, financed through the spoils of hood activities. He's greeted by his group of friends, just as you would be with your own clique. Nothing is questioned or given a second look. Eazy just pops the cap off his beer and joins in on the fun.

What appears in "8 Ball" as a funny and tense situation—balancing the ideas of the grotesque—has become normalized in "Boyz-n-the-Hood."

And that's the significance of the song. It's not "Boys in the Hood." It's "Boyz-n-the-Hood." Everything, even the title of the song, is askew, distorted into a unique reality that can only be understood and appreciated by its native inhabitants.