N.W.A: Straight Outta Compton

South Central Los Angeles in the 1980s and the early 1990s was a hotbed of hip-hop talent, much as it is now. It was also a hotbed of gang violence, police brutality, economic despair, and the lasting effects of the crack epidemic. From those ashes rose the rap group N.W.A, a super group composed of MCs and DJs from different groups and collectives. Their debut, N.W.A and the Posse, was more of a compilation of their own songs and songs from associated acts like Arabian Prince and the Fila Fresh Crew. From the success of this effort, N.W.A members Eazy-E, MC Ren, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and DJ Yella decided to do their own album. Six weeks and only $8,000 later, Straight Outta Compton was born. Once the album hit the streets and kids’ tape decks, hip-hop was changed forever.

Once you push play on your stereo, Straight Outta Compton hits like a haymaker to the jaw, courtesy of the title track that leads off the album. Five words into the album, more reserved listeners are already blushing. Ice Cube takes no time warming up, as he comes out swinging, dropping F bombs and bodies left and right as Dr. Dre’s blaring horns back him up like a swarming army. As Cube’s verse ends, the listener is allowed to catch their breath and recover from this punch in the face. But just as they get comfortable, the beat comes back and MC Ren is launching the offensive. By the time Eazy-E is done, most listeners are staring into space, absolutely shocked at what they heard. These crude, violent, angry, and extremely vulgar young men just delivered one of the most intense, in-your-face songs in hip-hop’s then-short history. And that was just the first song. “Straight Outta Compton” gives way to what would prove to be N.W.A’s most famous song, a song that put the West Coast on the map and the group on the government’s radar: “Fuck tha Police.”

At the time, Los Angeles was facing rising reports of police brutality, as well as reports of alleged racism on the part of the LAPD. Straight Outta Compton gave young minorities an anthem to protest against the LAPD’s strong-armed and unfair tactics. As the album gained unprecedented success without the help of radio nor MTV (banned from both, and still went platinum!), the song “Fuck tha Police” came to the attention of the FBI. Ice Cube’s incendiary attacks and visions of a “bloodbath of cops dying in LA” shook the FBI and police departments across the nation, and prompted the FBI to write a letter to Priority Records, condemning the song. This letter most likely helped generate a few hundred thousand more album sales, as rebellious youth nationwide wanted to hear the message of the newly-crowned “World’s Most Dangerous Group.” And for the critics who dismissed it as a ghetto phenomenon, 80% of the copies that Straight Outta Compton sold were sold to suburban teens. While it was a form of protest to the artists and those who daily lived in the shadow of an oppressive police force, it was rebellious entertainment and pure culture shock to others.

These songs, along with “Gangsta Gangsta,” form one of the deadliest 3-piece combos to start an album in hip­-hop history. But, like most Dr. Dre-produced albums, it tails off at the end, save for Ice Cube’s hilarious take on relationships, “I Ain’t the One” and Dr. Dre’s classic “Express Yourself.” The rest of the album contains remixes to older songs like “8ball” and “Dopeman” and dance tracks reminiscent of Dr. Dre’s World Class Wrecking Cru days, which seem very out of place on an album as influential as this. Classic albums usually don’t have throwaway tracks, and Straight Outta Compton has quite a number. At times, it even seems amateur, especially “Compton’s N The House (Remix).”

Straight Outta Compton’s genius and acclaim doesn’t necessarily lie in the quality of its songs and the packaging of the album as a whole. Rather, it’s judged mostly for its first few songs; oh, but what songs they were. These weren’t just songs; they were foundation-shaking movement starters. Straight Outta Compton effectively shifted hip-hop from celebratory music into ghetto storytelling, moving it from the clubs and into the ghetto. Hip-hop wasn’t new to the ghetto, and the ghetto wasn’t new to hip-hop, but the vivid descriptions of the hell that had broken loose in LA were. The N.W.A had a story to tell, and they’d take on the establishment if they had to. This reaction to their situation, living in South Central and seeing the less-than-wholesome elements taking over their home, birthed the popularization of gangsta rap, paving the way for Death Row Records, the West Coast’s dominance, and the majority of hip-hop being made today.

92/100

“Straight Outta Compton”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“Fuck Tha Police”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

“Gangsta Gangsta”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

872 views | Posted in Music Reviews