In the mid-1980s, founding members Tha Chill and MC Eiht were writing raps and recording demo tapes (also called "hood tapes") in their spare time while gang bangin' in their hood in Compton, CA. Tha Chill and MC Eiht choose to leave that street corner hustle scene in Compton and start making money in a legit but fun way when they saw their long time friend MC Ren of the multi platinum West Coast hip hop group N.W.A started to create a huge street buzz in the Los Angeles County area by releasing records along with rapper Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and Arabian Prince. In 1987, while in Compton, The Unknown DJ was given one of these "hood tapes" by a friend and became very interested in the diverse style and rhyme schemes of the "Compton's Most Wanted" rap group. The Unknown DJ then took the "hood tape" to DJ Slip in Gardena, a city just south of Compton, who at the time was the owner of Los Angeles County's largest DJ Rental business called "Music People - DJ4HIRE".