Straight Outta Compton

1988N.W.A Ruthless Records The Golden Age Compton & LA

Music videos Official videos via YouTube

N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (Official Music Video)

N.W.A. - Express Yourself (Official Music Video)

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N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A. CD 51VG The Fast Free ShippingVery Good · Buy It Now$7.12
N.W.A / Straight Outta Compton 1988 US ORIGINAL LP Ruthless Records SL 57102 EXCUsed · Buy It Now$365
N.W.A Straight Outta Compton: 20th Anniversary Edition (2 Records 2007) NewNew · Buy It Now$60.99
N.W.A Straight Outta Compton Ruthless Records 72435-37936-1-6 US VINYL LP 2002Used · Buy It Now$29.99

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Straight Outta Compton is the debut album by N.W.A, released on Ruthless Records and Priority Records. With Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren, Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, it put Compton on the map and made West Coast gangsta rap a national force.

The story

The group recorded the album in 1988 at Audio Achievements in Torrance, California, on a budget of about $12,000; Dr. Dre has said he put it together in roughly six weeks. “Fuck tha Police” drew a warning letter from the FBI to the label, and MTV banned the title track’s video. Without radio or MTV support, the album still went gold in about three months and platinum by July 1989.

Sound and production

Dr. Dre, DJ Yella and Arabian Prince built hard, fast tracks around a Roland TR-808 drum machine, funk samples and turntable cuts, giving Ice Cube and Eazy-E’s reports from the street an urgent, punishing backdrop.

Charts and certifications

Straight Outta Compton peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 and No. 9 on the R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and it is certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA.

Legacy

It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016, added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2017, and ranked No. 70 on Rolling Stone’s 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.