Straight Outta Compton is the 1989 (see 1989 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"[1].

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

1. "Straight Outta Compton" (Eazy E/Ice Cube/MC Ren)
2. "Fuck Tha Police" (Ice Cube/Ren. M.C.) (5:45)
3. "Gangsta Gangsta" (Eazy E/Ice Cube/MC Ren)
4. "If It Ain't Ruff" (MC Ren)
5. "Parental Discretion Iz Advised" (Eazy E/Ice Cube/Ren)
6. "8 Ball [Remix]" (Ice Cube)
7. "Something Like That" performed by N.W.A
8. "Express Yourself" (Ice Cube), samples "Express Yourself" by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
9. "Compton's N the House" [Remix] performed by N.W.A
10. "I Ain't Tha 1" (Ice Cube)
11. "Dopeman [Remix]" (Ice Cube)
12. "Quiet on Tha Set" performed by N.W.A
13. "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

See also

• Compton, California