POP/ROCK - June 6, 1991

N.W.A Banned in Britain: Some 5,000 copies of a new album by the controversial rap group N.W.A have been seized from a warehouse outside London under the Obscene Publications Act, Scotland Yard said Wednesday. A spokesman for Island Records, which released the album “Niggaz4life” in record stores Monday, said the company had been warned last week the seizure would take place. “A decision to release the record was taken,” said spokesman Neil Storey. “Island Records is not in the business of censoring its artists.” The record cover carries a printed warning to parents that the songs contain explicit lyrics--allegedly that encourage drug taking and sex with 14-year-olds--and should not be played in the presence of a minor. “It’s not a family record and everybody admits it goes up to the boundaries of good taste,” Storey said. “But this is a free country.”