Straight Outta Compton

Straight Outta Compton is the debut<ref name="rollingstone-kory-grow">Template:Cite web</ref> studio album by American hip-hop group N.W.A, released on January 25, 1989, through Priority and Ruthless Records.<ref name="release date" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2">David Diallo, ch. 10 "From electro-rap to G-funk: A social history of rap music in Los Angeles and Compton, California", in Mickey Hess, ed., Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide, Volume 1: East Coast and West Coast (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2010), pp 234–238.</ref> It was produced by N.W.A members Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince, with lyrics written Eazy-E, Ice Cube and MC Ren, alongside contributions from Ruthless rapper and N.W.A affiliate the D.O.C.<ref name=":3">Kory Grow, "N.W.A's 'Straight Outta Compton': 12 things you didn't know" Template:Webarchive, Rolling Stone website, Penske Business Media, LLC, 8 Aug 2018.</ref> The album’s lyrics depict the conditions of life in Compton, California, while also expressing hostility toward rival groups and law enforcement. The song "Fuck tha Police" prompted a warning letter from an FBI agent, which contributed to N.W.A’s notoriety and the group’s self-description as “the world’s most dangerous group.”<ref name=":3" /><ref>Musician (Amordian Press), 1991, volume 147, p 59 Template:Webarchive.</ref><ref name=":0">McDermott, Terry (April 14, 2002). "NWA:Straight Outta Compton pt 1" Template:Webarchive. Los Angeles Times. Reprinted at Hip Hop News. Retrieved August 15, 2015.</ref>

In July 1989, despite receiving limited radio airplay outside of the Los Angeles area,<ref name=":2" /> Straight Outta Compton became the first gangsta rap album to earn platinum certification, signifying over one million copies sold.<ref name=":3" /> The album reached number nine on BillboardTemplate:'s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number 37 on the Billboard 200 that same year.<ref name=":13">"Tenth Ruthless anniversary: For the record" Template:Webarchive, Billboard, 1997 Aug 9;109(32):R-16.</ref> It attracted extensive media attention and is widely credited with accelerating the rise of hardcore gangsta rap in mainstream hip hop.<ref name=":10">Jeff Chang, Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005), pp. 327–328 Template:Webarchive.</ref> Although initial critical reception was mixed, the album has since been recognized as one of the most influential and acclaimed works in hip-hop history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The album was reissued in September 2002 with four bonus tracks, and again in December 2007—shortly before its 20th anniversary—with several "tribute remixes" and a live recording of "Compton's n the House."<ref>Omar Burgess (October 10, 2007). "HHDX News Bits: NWA and Eazy-E" Template:Webarchive. HipHopDX. Retrieved October 10, 2007.</ref> In 2015, a red cassette reissue<ref>Universal Music Group announced that Straight Outta Compton would be reissued as a limited-edition red cassette on April 15 as part of Universal's Respect the Classics series [Pietro Fililpponi, "Universal announces more N.W.A re-releases, 'Straight Outta Compton' cassette tape, Friday 20th anniversary vinyl", Gotham News website, Gotham News LLC, 2 Apr 2015].</ref> and the release of the biographical film Straight Outta Compton led to renewed commercial success, with the album later certified triple platinum.<ref name=":3" /> In 2016, it became the first rap album inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame,<ref name=":1" /> and in 2017, it was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry, for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref name="loc.gov">Template:Cite web</ref>

Background

During most of the 1980s, New York City—the birthplace of hip-hop—remained the genre's primary creative and commercial center,<ref name=":15">Loren Kajikawa, "Compton via New York", Sounding Race in Rap Songs (Oakland: University of California Press, 2015), pp 91–96.</ref><ref>Wayne Marshall, "Kool Herc," in Mickey Hess, ed., Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture, Volume 1 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007), pp 6–7 Template:Webarchive.</ref> while Los Angeles County played a secondary role.<ref name=":4">David Diallo, ch. 10 "From electro-rap to G-funk: A social history of rap music in Los Angeles and Compton, California", in Mickey Hess, ed., Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide, Volume 1: East Coast and West Coast (Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood Press, 2010).</ref> Up until 1988, the Los Angeles hip-hop scene largely reflected hip-hop's dance-oriented and party-based origins, emphasizing DJs and DJ crews as its central figures.Template:Cn The dominant local style was electro rap or “funk hop,”<ref name=":32">David Diallo, "Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg", in Mickey Hess, ed., Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2007), pp 319–321 Template:Webarchive.</ref> influenced by tracks such as the New York-based 1982 hit "Planet Rock".<ref name=":15" /> In contrast, East Coast hip-hop had begun prioritizing lyricism following the commercial and cultural success of Run-DMC's self-titled 1984 album.<ref name=":4" />

As the decade progressed, recording vocal performances over electro rap instrumentals became increasingly common. The World Class Wreckin' Cru, featuring Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, released one of the first West Coast rap albums issued by a major record label.<ref name=":4" /> Another prominent figure to emerge was Ice-T, whose 1986 single "6 in the Mornin'" drew inspiration from Philadelphia rapper Schoolly D's 1985 track "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?"<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":15" /><ref>Tom Moon, "The first great gangsta rap record: Straight Outta Compton: N.W.A", 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die: A Listener's Life List (New York: Workman Publishing, 2008), p 557.</ref> Ice-T's song shifted attention in Los Angeles away from electro rap, achieved gold sales, and is widely considered an early example of "gangsta rap".<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":15" />

In 1987, Eric Wright, a Compton resident and member of the Kelly Park Crips, founded the independent label Ruthless Records.<ref name=":4" /> Through his prior activities, Wright had established connections with Dr. Dre and Arabian Prince, two Los Angeles producers and artists seeking greater financial control over their work.<ref>Vlad Lyubovny, interviewer, "Arabian Prince on being founding member of NWA w/ Dre & Eazy-E", VladTV–DJVlad @ YouTube, 11 Sep 2015.</ref> Wright enlisted South Central rapper Ice Cube—then a member of the group C.I.A.—as a ghostwriter and tasked him with writing material for the new label alongside Dr. Dre. The collaboration produced the track "Boyz-n-the-Hood".<ref name=":02">Stephen Thomas Erlewine, "N.W.A: Biography", AllMusic.com, Netaktion LLC, visited 26 Apr 2020.</ref> Originally intended for a New York group signed to Ruthless Records, the song was instead recorded by Wright himself under the name Eazy-E after the original performers declined it.<ref name=":32" /><ref name=":02" /> Released under the collective name N.W.A, "Boyz-n-the-Hood" became a regional success, though some critics noted similarities to Schoolly D’s "P.S.K." and found its tempo unsuitable for dancing.<ref name=":15" />

Building on Ice-T's precedent, N.W.A developed a distinct approach to gangsta rap characterized by detailed depictions of street life, hostility toward authority, and references to violence.<ref>Robin D. G. Kelley, "Kickin' reality, kickin' ballistics: Gangsta rap and postindustrial Los Angeles", in William Eric Perkins, ed., Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996), p 128 Template:Webarchive.</ref> The group attempted to broaden its audience by providing radio edits to local stations such as KDAY,<ref name=":2" /> but received minimal radio play. Despite this, the album achieved significant commercial success, selling over one million copies and becoming the first gangsta rap album to earn platinum certification.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="AMG-Bio">Stephen Thomas Erlewine, "N.W.A: Biography", AllMusic.com, Netaktion LLC, visited 25 Apr 2020.</ref> As interest in the Los Angeles rap scene grew,<ref name="Huey" /> artists such as MC Eiht of Compton's Most Wanted emerged in response,<ref>Jason Birchmeier, "Compton's Most Wanted", in Chris Woodstra, John Bush & Stephen Thomas Erlewine, eds., All Music Guide: Required Listening, Volume 2: Old School Rap and Hip-Hop (New York, NY: Backbeat Books, 2008), p 15.</ref> marking a broader regional shift from dance-oriented to hardcore rap styles.<ref name=":4" />

Internationally, N.W.A became a leading representative of gangsta rap. The group's explicit and confrontational lyrics prompted opposition from law enforcement agencies and media outlets; the FBI issued a warning letter to Ruthless Records, MTV banned the "Straight Outta Compton" music video, several venues refused to host N.W.A concerts, and some police officers declined to provide security for their shows.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="AMG-Bio" /><ref name="Eazy-e">Eazy-E Timeline Template:Webarchive. Eazy-E.com. Accessed October 4, 2007</ref> These controversies reinforced N.W.A's anti-establishment image, which the members would later emphasize in subsequent recordings.<ref name=":3" /><ref>[MetroLyrics, "N.W.A—100 Miles And Running lyrics", CBS Interactive Inc., 2020].</ref><ref>[MetroLyrics, "Ice Cube—Amerikkka's Most Wanted lyrics", CBS Interactive Inc., 2020].</ref>

According to Slant Magazine, Straight Outta Compton played a pivotal role in shaping the East Coast–West Coast hip-hop rivalry, with the publication describing the album as "the West Coast firing on New York’s Fort Sumter in what would become '90s culture's biggest Uncivil War."<ref name=":5" />

Record production

The album was recorded and produced in Audio Achievements Studio in Torrance, California, for $12,000. Dr. Dre, in a 1993 interview, recalls, "I threw that thing together in six weeks so we could have something to sell out of the trunk."<ref name=":3" />

In an incident recalled in Jerry Heller's book, police approached the group while they were standing outside the studio in 1988 and demanded them to get on their knees and show ID without explanation. Outraged by the experience, Cube began writing the lyrics that would become "Fuck tha Police".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Initially, still spending weekends in jail over traffic violations, Dre was reluctant to do "Fuck tha Police", a reluctance that dissolved once that sentence concluded.<ref name=":3" />

Synthesis

The album's producers were Dr. Dre with DJ Yella and Arabian Prince. Its production was mostly sampled horn blasts, some funk guitar riffs, sampled vocals, and turntable scratches atop a drum machine.<ref name="Huey" /> Their drum machine, used for kick, was the Roland TR-808.<ref name=":14">George Ciccariello-Maher, "The 808", in Mickey Hess, ed., Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture, Volume 1 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007), p 75 Template:Webarchive.</ref>

Vocals

N.W.A's Ice Cube and MC Ren, along with Ruthless Records rapper The D.O.C. wrote the lyrics, including those rapped by Eazy-E and by Dr. Dre. Arabian Prince's only rapping contribution on Straight Outta Compton is the closing track "Something 2 Dance 2". "Parental Discretion Iz Advised" features vocals by The D.O.C., making him the only non-official member of N.W.A to rap on the album.<ref name=":3" />

Content

Reflecting in 2002, Rolling Stone writer Jon Caramanica calls the album a "bombastic, cacophonous car ride through Los Angeles' burnt-out and ignored hoods".<ref name="Caramanica" /> In a contemporary review, rather, Mark Holmberg, in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, calls it "a preacher-provoking, mother-maddening, reality-stinks" album that "wallows in gangs, doping, drive-by shootings, brutal sexism, cop slamming and racism".<ref>Richmond Times-Dispatch, 30 June 1989, quoted in Anne Janette Johnson, "Contemporary Musicians: N.W.A.", Encyclopedia.com, Cengage, updated 1 April 2020.</ref> Newsweek wrote, "Hinting at gang roots, and selling themselves on those hints, they project a gangster mystique that pays no attention to where criminality begins and marketing lets off."<ref name=":12">Newsweek staff, "Number one with a bullet", Newsweek, 30 Jun 1991, quoted in Anne Janette Johnson, "Contemporary Musicians: N.W.A.", Encyclopedia.com, Cengage, updated 1 Apr 2020.</ref> Even when depicting severe and unprovoked violence, the rappers cite their own stage names as its very perpetrators. By their sheer force, the album's opening three tracks—"Straight Outta Compton", "Fuck tha Police", and "Gangsta Gangsta"—signature songs setting N.W.A's platform, says AllMusic album reviewer Steve Huey, "threaten to dwarf everything that follows".<ref name="Huey" />

First, the title track, smearing and menacing civilians and police, men and women, while women receive gruff sexual advances, too, even threatens to "smother your mother". Then, after a skit of the police put on criminal trial, "Fuck tha Police", alleging chronic harassment and brutality by officers, singularly threatens lethal retaliation. "Gangsta Gangsta" depicts group outings to carouse with women while slurring unwilling women and assaulting men, whether confrontational troublemakers, innocent bystanders, or a driver who, fleeing the failed carjacking, gets shot at. "8 Ball" is dedicated to the 40 oz bottles of malt liquor, Olde English 800.<ref>Tim Scott, "40oz beats: A brief history of malt liquor in hip hop" Template:Webarchive, Vice, 17 November 2015.</ref> "Express Yourself", written by Cube and rapped by Dre, incidentally scorns weed smoking—already proclaimed by Cube in "Gangsta Gangsta" as his own, chronic practice—which allegedly causes brain damage, a threat to the song's optimistic agenda, liberal individuality. "I Ain't tha 1" scorns spending money on women. "Dopeman" depicts the crack epidemic's aftermath. Closing the album, "Something 2 Dance 2" is upbeat.<ref name=":3" />

The term "gangsta rap", soon to arise in journalism, had not been coined yet.<ref name=":3" /> According to Ice Cube, the rappers themselves called it "reality rap".<ref name=":3" /> Indicting N.W.A as its leading example, journalist David Mills, in 1990, acknowledges, "The hard-core street rappers defend their violent lyrics as a reflection of 'reality'. But for all the gunshots they mix into their music, rappers rarely try to dramatize that reality" empathetically. "It's easier for them to imagine themselves pulling the trigger."<ref>David Mills, "Rap's hostile fringe: From N.W.A. and others, 'reality'-based violence", Washington Post, 2 September 1990, G1, quoted by Soren Baker, The History of Rap and Hip-Hop (Farmingham Mills, Michigan: Lucent Books, 2012), p 58 Template:Webarchive, and also cited by Loren Kajikawa, Sounding Race in Rap Songs (Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 2015), p 169 Template:Webarchive.</ref> Still, the year before, Bud Norman, reviewing in the Wichita Eagle-Beacon, assesses that on Straight Outta Compton, "they don't make it sound like much fun".<ref name=":6">Wichita Eagle-Beacon, 3 August 1989, quoted in Anne Janette Johnson, "Contemporary Musicians: N.W.A." Template:Webarchive, Encyclopedia.com, Cengage, updated 1 April 2020.</ref> In Norman's view, "They describe it with the same nonjudgmental resignation that a Kansan might use about a tornado."<ref name=":6" /> Steve Huey, writing for AllMusic, considered that "Straight Outta ComptonTemplate:'s insistent claims of reality ring a little hollow today, since it hardly ever depicts consequences. But despite all the romanticized invincibility, the force and detail of Ice Cube's writing makes the exaggerations resonate."<ref name="Huey" />

Release

Straight Outta Compton was originally intended for release in the fall of 1988,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> but Ruthless/Priority Records delayed the album to early 1989 so that it would not interfere with both Eazy-E's solo debut album Eazy-Duz-It and the belated success of N.W.A. and the Posse,<ref name="release date" /> the latter of which had not appeared on the Billboard charts until the summer of 1988.<ref name="AMG-Sales" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In the United Kingdom, Straight Outta Compton was released by 4th & B'way Records after a period that Roy Wilkinson of Sounds described as "months" of selling well as an import release.<ref name="Wilkinson" />

Critical reception

Critiques

Music journalist Greg Kot, reviewing Straight Outta Compton for the Chicago Tribune, finds N.W.A's sound "fuller and funkier" than that of East Coast hip-hop, and their lyrics just as "unforgiving" as those of East Coast group Public Enemy.<ref name="Kot" /> Los Angeles Times critic Dennis Hunt anticipates that listeners may be offended by the album's lack of "moralizing", "even more so than the searing street language", and advises, "To appreciate this remarkable, disturbing album you have to approach it for what it is—a no-holds-barred, audio-documentary of ghetto life."<ref name="Hunt" /> On the other hand, Cary Darling, in California's Orange County Register, while thinking that the lyrics make Ice-T "look like a Cub Scout", ultimately deems Straight Outta Compton "curiously uninvolving", as it "lacks the insight and passion that put the best work by the likes of Boogie Down Productions, Ice-T and Public Enemy so far ahead of the field".<ref name="ocr-review">Template:Cite news</ref> Robert Christgau of The Village Voice perceives N.W.A's persona as calculated: "Right, it's not about salary—it's about royalties, about brandishing scarewords like 'street' and 'crazy' and 'fuck' and 'reality' until suckers black and white cough up the cash."<ref name="Christgau" />

In the UK, Sounds reviewer Roy Wilkinson declared Straight Outta Compton "rap's answer to Slayer's Reign in Blood—a record the majors were scared to touch", continuing, "This is rock made genuinely wild again. Beware, the pop jive of the current 'Express Yourself' single will in no way prepare you for the Magnum beat that fires here."<ref name="Wilkinson" /> Other British publications were less enthusiastic. Paolo Hewitt of NME takes issue with the lyrics' "macho repetition and tunnel vision",<ref name="Hewitt" /> while in the Hi-Fi News & Record Review, Peter Clark, going further, calls the lyrics "unrelenting in their unpleasantness".<ref name=":7">Hi-Fi News & Record Review, Dec 1989.</ref> Offering the lowest possible rating, Clark adds, "The cumulative effect is like listening to an endless fight next door. The music on this record is without a hint of dynamics or melody."<ref name=":7" /> Charlie Dick, writing for Q, contends, "In the wake of Public Enemy and KRS-One, it is amazing that something this lightweight could cause such a stir. The all-mouth-and-trousers content is backed up by likable drum machine twittering, minimal instrumentation and duffish production."<ref name="Dick" /> Still, he predicts, "This regressive nonsense will be passed off as social commentary by thrill-seekers all across the free world."<ref name="Dick" />

By 1991, while criticizing group members for allegedly carrying misogynist lyrics into real life, Newsweek incidentally comments that Straight Outta Compton, nonetheless, "introduced some of the most grotesquely exciting music ever made".<ref name=":12" /> Writing in retrospect, Steve Huey, in AllMusic, deems the album mainly just "raising hell" while posturing, but finds that "it still sounds refreshingly uncalculated because of its irreverent, gonzo sense of humor, still unfortunately rare in hardcore rap".<ref name="Huey" /> In the 2004 Rolling Stone Album Guide, Roni Sarig states that although Straight Outta Compton was viewed as a "perversion" of the "more politically sophisticated" style of hip-hop exemplified by Public Enemy, the album displays "a more righteous fury than the hundreds of copycats it spawned".<ref name="Sarig" />

Rankings

In 1994, British magazine Hip Hop Connection, placing the album third among rap's best albums, adds, "Straight Outta Compton sounded so exciting, insignificant details such as realism and integrity could be overlooked."<ref>Hip Hop Connection, July 1994</ref> Hip-hop magazine The Source included Straight Outta Compton in its 1998 "100 Best Albums" list.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Television network VH1, in 2003, placed it 62nd.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Spin magazine, sorting the "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005", identified it 10th.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The first rap album ever to gain five stars from Rolling Stone at initial review, it placed 70th among the magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in its 2020 revised list.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Time, in 2006, named it one of the 100 greatest albums of all time.<ref name="TIME">"The All-TIME 100 Albums" TIME. Accessed January 4, 2008</ref> Vibe appraised it as one of the 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century.<ref name="Vibe-Ess">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2012, Slant Magazine listed it 18th among the "Best Albums of the 1980s".<ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2016, Straight Outta Compton became the first rap album inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, Straight Outta Compton was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, who deemed it to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref name="loc.gov"/>

Commercial performance

Released on January 25, 1989,<ref name="release date" /> Straight Outta Compton was N.W.A's best selling album; it attained gold certification, half a million copies sold, three months after its release.<ref name=":9">The Recording Industry Association of America reports this upon a January 1989 album release [Gold & Platinum search, "Straight Outta Compton" Template:Webarchive, RIAA website, visited 7 May 2020].</ref> Meanwhile, the album peaked at number 9 on BillboardTemplate:'s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and on April 15, 1989, at number 37 on the Billboard 200, which ranks the week's most popular albums.<ref name=":13" /><ref>"Chart history: N.W.A" Template:Webarchive, Billboard.com, visited 7 May 2020.</ref> On July 18, 1989, the album was certified platinum, one million copies sold.<ref name=":9" /> On March 27, 1992, Straight Outta Compton was certified double-platinum, two million copies sold; and on November 11, 2015, was certified triple-platinum, three million copies sold.<ref name=":9" />

By Priority Records' estimation, about 80% of Straight Outta ComptonTemplate:'s sales occurred in suburban areas predominantly white.<ref name=":8">Scott Warfield, "N.W.A.", in Melissa Ursula Dawn Goldsmith & Anthony J. Fonseca, eds., Hip Hop Around the World: An Encyclopedia (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2018), p 535.</ref><ref name="LA-Times">Terry McDermott, "NWA: Straight Outta Compton", Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr 2002, archived by "Davey D", FNV Newsletter website.</ref>

Approaching the August 2015 release of the film Straight Outta Compton, the album reentered the Billboard 200 at number 173.<ref name=":11">Victoria Hernandez, "Hip Hop album sales: Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar & N.W.A" Template:Webarchive, HipHopDX, 17 Aug 2015.</ref> The next week, it rose to number 97, another week later reached number 30<ref name=":11" />—beyond its 1989 peak position of #37—and on September 5 peaked at number 6.<ref>"Chart history: Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A", Billboard.com, visited 7 May 2020.</ref> Meanwhile, the album's title track entered the Billboard Hot 100 as N.W.A's first song in the Top 40,<ref>Keith Caulfield, "N.W.A takes over charts, gets first Top 40 Hit on Hot 100", Billboard.com, 25 Aug 2015.</ref> and spent two weeks at number 38.<ref>Chart history: 'Straight Outta Compton', N.W.A" Template:Webarchive, Billboard.com, visited 7 May 2020.</ref>

Media presence

In 2004, the DigitaArts list 25 Best Albums Covers included Straight Outta Compton.<ref>Staff (June 14, 2004). The 25 Best Album Covers. DigitalArts. Retrieved on July 20, 2011.</ref> By the album's release, Arabian Prince, seen on the cover, had left N.W.A. Lacking him, a group photo taken by Ithaka Darin Pappas on November 11, 1988, at Pappa's studio apartment in Los Angeles' Miracle Mile district, has been repeatedly republished in media.<ref>There are a number of examples: Tanay Hudson, "Former N.W.A manager disappointed with biopic", Vibe, 30 June 2014; Valentina I. Valentini, "Two '90s-era hip hop films revive L.A.'s rap glory days", Los Angeles, 8 June 2015; Dianne de Guzman, "N.W.A. to be inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but won't perform", SFGate, 7 April 2016.</ref> Pappas calls it "The Miracle Mile Shot",<ref>Ithaka Darin Pappas, director, "The Miracle Mile Shot" (Ithaka Darin Pappas, 2019).</ref> It has been seen on The SourceTemplate:'s May 1989 cover, the DVD cover of the 2015 documentary Kings Of Compton,<ref name="cineoutsider">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="music-news">Template:Cite web</ref> in France's Musée d'art contemporain de Marseille from 2017 to 2018,<ref name="petitfute">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="marseille">Template:Cite web</ref> and as a backdrop at N.W.A's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2016 in Brooklyn, New York.<ref name="digitalspy">Template:Cite web</ref>

Sinéad O'Connor, then herself controversial, appraised in 1990 that "It's definitely the best rap record I've ever heard."<ref>Rolling Stone, 15 November 1990.</ref> But, feeling that he had rushed its production, N.W.A's own Dr. Dre, in a 1993 interview, remarked, "To this day, I can't stand that album. I threw that thing together in six weeks so we could have something to sell out of the trunk." Additionally, he said, "Back then, I thought the choruses were supposed to just be me scratching."<ref name=":3" />

Track listing

Template:Unsourcedsection All songs produced by Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal<ref name="Tidal Music">Template:Cite web</ref> and AllMusic.<ref name="Huey" />

N.W.A.

• Eazy-E – rapping (tracks 1–3, 5, 6, 9, 11–13), spoken word (tracks 1–3, 10 and 12) co-producer (track 6), executive producer
• Ice Cube – rapping (tracks 1–3, 5, 10 & 11), spoken word (tracks 2 and 8)
• MC Ren – rapping (tracks 1–5, 7, 9, 12), spoken word (tracks 2, 3, 7 and 9)
• Dr. Dre – rapping (tracks 5, 7–9, 11 & 13), spoken word (tracks 1–3, 7, 8 and 9) keyboards and drum programming (all tracks)
• DJ Yella – sampling, turntables and drum programming (all tracks)
• Arabian Prince – rapping (track 13), keyboards & drum programming (1,2, 3, 7, 9 and 13)

Additional musicians

• The D.O.C. – rapping (track 5), spoken word (track 2), lyrics (tracks 1, 2 & 5)
• Krazy Dee – spoken word (tracks 2, 3 & 11)

Studio personnel

• Big Bass Brian – mastering
• Donovan Sound – engineer
• Eric Poppleton – photography
• Helane Freeman – art direction

Charts

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chart

Chart (1989)<ref name="AMG-Sales">N.W.A – Discography, Charts and Awards. Allmusic. Accessed October 9, 2007.</ref><ref name="acharts">N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton Chart Positions Template:Webarchive. aCharts. Accessed October 9, 2007.</ref>	Peak position
US Billboard Top LPs	37
US Billboard Top Soul LPs	9
Chart (1991)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref name="Australia">Template:Cite web</ref>	51
Chart (2003)<ref name=AMG-Sales/><ref name=acharts/>	Peak position
Irish Albums Chart	20
UK Albums Chart	35
Chart (2015–16)<ref name="hiphopdx.com">Template:Cite web</ref>	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	8
Italian Vinyl Records (FIMI)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	15
US Billboard 200	4

See also

• Album era
• Straight Outta Compton: N.W.A 10th Anniversary Tribute

Further reading

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Straight Outta Compton (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
• Straight Outta Compton at Discogs
• "Outlaw Rock: More Skirmishes on the Censorship Front" — The New York Times
• [1]Template:Relevant