straight outta compton

align="center" bgcolor="orange" colspan="3"\|Straight Outta Compton
lign="center" colspan="3"\|
lign="center" bgcolor="orange" colspan="3"\|LP by N.W.A.
lign="left" valign="top"\|Released	colspan="2" valign="top"\|1988
lign="left" valign="top"\|Recorded	colspan="2" valign="top"\|???
lign="left" valign="top"\|Genre	colspan="2" valign="top"\|Gangsta rap
lign="left" valign="top"\|Length	colspan="2" valign="top"\|77 min 31 s
lign="left" valign="top"\|Record label	colspan="2" valign="top"\|Priority
lign="left" valign="top"\|Producer	colspan="2" valign="top"\|Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Yella
gcolor="orange" colspan="3"\|Professional reviews
lign="left" valign="top"\|Allmusic.com	valign="top"\|5 stars out of 5	valign="top"\|link
lign="left" valign="top"\|Pitchforkmedia.com	valign="top"\|9.7 out of 10	valign="top"\|link
gcolor="orange" colspan="3"\|N.W.A. Chronology
align="top"\|N.W.A and the Posse (1987)	valign="top"\|Straight Outta Compton (1988)	valign="top"\|100 Miles and Runnin' (1990)

Straight Outta Compton is the 1988 (see 1988 in music) breakthrough album by N.W.A., released on Priority Records. The album was a surprise hit, as most music executives at the time viewed hip hop as a passing fad, and did not expect a hardcore gangsta rap album from the West Coast rap scene (all previous chart success in hip hop had been from the East Coast scene) to sell over 2.5 million copies with virtually no radio airplay and an MTV ban. The album has since been described as "a work of revolutionary genius, a painful scream from the bleak streets of black America and, more commonly, as reprehensible trash with no redeeming value"http://www.daveyd.com/nwalatimespt1.html. Straight Outta Compton 's unprecedented mainstream success set the sound for hip hop in the early 1990s. Angry, vitriolic lyrics and an almost-cartoonish level of violence made this album controversial upon its first release. This is especially true of "Fuck Tha Police", which caused law enforcement groups to protest the album. The Federal Bureau of Investigation sent a letter to N.W.A., explaining that the FBI did not appreciate the song's message:

Fuck tha police comin' straight from the underground

a young nigga's got it bad 'cause I'm brown

and not the other color so police think

they have the authority to kill a minority

Ice Cube and MC Ren wrote most of the songs, and Dr. Dre and DJ Yella did most of the production. In 2003 the TV network VH1 named Straight Outta Compton the 62nd greatest album of all time.

Track listing

"Straight Outta Compton" (Eazy E/Ice Cube/MC Ren)
"Fuck Tha Police" (Ice Cube/Ren. M.C.)
"Gangsta Gangsta" (Eazy E/Ice Cube/MC Ren)
"If It Ain't Ruff" (MC Ren)
"Parental Discretion Iz Advised" (Eazy E/Ice Cube/Ren)
"8 Ball Remix" (Ice Cube)
"Something Like That" performed by N.W.A
"Express Yourself" (Ice Cube), samples "Express Yourself" by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
"Compton's N the House" Remix performed by N.W.A
"I Ain't Tha 1" (Ice Cube)
"Dopeman Remix" (Ice Cube)
"Quiet on Tha Set" performed by N.W.A
"Something 2 Dance 2" performed by N.W.A

Personnel

Eazy-E - Executive Producer
Dr. Dre - Producer
Bernie Grundman - Mastering
Donovan Sound - Engineer
Yella - Producer
Eric Poppleton - Photography
Big Bass Brian - Mastering
Helane Freeman - Artwork, Art Direction

Straight Outta Compton

Track listing

Personnel

See also