N.W.A's DJ Yella on Thrilling Rock Hall Induction

N.W.A had been on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's ballot three times before, but 2015 was no ordinary year for the Compton rap collective, especially with the biopic, Straight Outta Compton, earning over $200 million and lots of Oscar buzz. After Kendrick Lamar's induction speech, the Compton rap legends – including Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren and DJ Yella – gave heartfelt induction speeches. Unfortunately they weren't able to perform together at the ceremony, but Yella (real name: Antoine Carraby) tells Rolling Stone that he wishes they had been able to celebrate with a reunion of some sort on stage at the event and he's looking forward to their show at Coachella.

How's it feel after being inducted?
Unreal. Wow. Amazing. We never even thought about a Hall of Fame. We never even thought about a gold record, tell you the truth. It’s amazing they picked us. You know? Wow. It’s amazing. We only did two albums. That’s the crazy part. I don’t know how many people in the [Rock Hall of Fame] have two albums, not very many. Everybody else does 30 albums, 20. Two albums, that’s it. Wow.

What’s the experience like? Have you met people here you haven’t met before?
Well, I’m seeing bands I’ve never seen before. Steve Miller, heard all. Fly, Deep Purple, heard them. I’m seeing iconic groups even before us: Rolling Stones, Beatles, Prince, Jimi Hendrix. It’s just amazing to be in the same family.

You performing, was that ever an option?
I was out of the country and Cube was out promoting a movie. We never had time. We wanted to really, really do the performance. I just got back a couple, two days ago. I was in Asia DJing, so. So we never. Everybody is like, oh.

Was it disappointing?
Yeah. As soon as I walked in, we should have. Something.

Who would have done Eazy’s part? Was that ever discussed?
We probably would have had a video tribute or something like that. I mean, we really wanted to. That’s what I’m saying, we really didn’t have no kind of time. Bad timing. We’re here. So we all made it. At least we got that.

The rumors of Eminem touring with you guys?
I don’t know. You never know. Cuz we, I’m doing a show, me, Ren and Cube at the Coachella out in Los Angeles and the next weekend after that. So that’s a big hundred-thousand people. So we doing that. You never know, the tour, you never know. Hopefully this sparks it. Let’s do it. We all wanted to perform. Wow. What a shame.

Yeah, after the movie and this.
Yeah. Wonderful.

Congrats man.
Thank you, Rolling Stone.