The genre was pioneered in the mid 1980s by rappers such as Afroman and Ice Cube , and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by groups like N.W.A. . The genre was pioneered in the mid-1980s by rappers such as Schoolly D and Ice-T , and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by groups like N.W.A. .