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Straight Outta Compton

For other uses, see Straight Outta Compton (disambiguation).

Straight Outta Compton
The members of N.W.A look down to the camera and Eazy-E points a gun to it
Studio album by
N.W.A
ReleasedJanuary 25, 1989 (1989-01-25)[1]
Recorded1988
StudioAudio Achievements
(Torrance, California)
Genre
Length60:16
Label
Producer
N.W.A chronology
N.W.A. and the Posse
(1987) 		Straight Outta Compton
(1989) 		100 Miles and Runnin'
(1990)
Singles from Straight Outta Compton
  1. "Gangsta Gangsta"
    Released: November 1988[3]
  2. "Express Yourself"
    Released: May 1989[4]

Straight Outta Compton is the debut[5] studio album by American hip-hop group N.W.A, released on January 25, 1989 through Priority and Ruthless Records.[1][6][7] It was produced by N.W.A members Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince, with lyrics written by the group's remaining members Eazy-E, Ice Cube and MC Ren[8] along with Ruthless rapper and N.W.A affiliate the D.O.C.[6] Not merely depicting Compton's street violence, the lyrics repeatedly threaten to lead it by attacking peers and even police. The track "Fuck tha Police" drew an FBI agent's warning letter, which aided N.W.A's notoriety, with N.W.A calling itself "the world's most dangerous group."[6][9][10]

In July 1989, despite its scarce radio play beyond the Los Angeles area,[7] Straight Outta Compton received gangsta rap's first platinum certification, one million copies sold by then.[6] That year, the album peaked at number 9 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and at number 37 on the Billboard 200.[11] Receiving media spotlight, N.W.A's example triggered the rap genre's movement toward hardcore, gangsta rap.[12]

In September 2002, Straight Outta Compton was reissued with four bonus tracks. Almost two years away from the 20th anniversary of the album's release, another reissue of Straight Outta Compton was released in December 2007 with "tribute remixes" of four tracks off the album and a live version of "Compton's n the House" as bonus tracks.[13] In 2015, after an album reissue on red cassettes,[14] theater release of the biographical film Straight Outta Compton reinvigorated sales of the album, which by year's end was certified triple platinum.[6] In 2016, it became the first rap album inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[15] The next year, the Library of Congress enshrined Straight Outta Compton in the National Recording Registry, who have deemed it to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[16]

  1. ^ a b Contrary to the album's copyright and publishing date of 1988, the following sources indicate that Straight Outta Compton was not officially released until at least early 1989:
    • "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
    • "Interview: Ice Cube Talks About The Making of Eazy-E's "E..." Complex. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
    • Cash Box. William and Mary Libraries Special Collections Research Center. Cash Box Pub. Co. May 27, 1989.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
    • "Ice Cube -Interview". www.bombhiphop.com. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
    • "WebVoyage Record View 1". cocatalog.loc.gov. Retrieved April 13, 2025.
    • "Ice Cube Keeps Cool . . . Chills Clash". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 13, 2025.
    • "How a Dallas rapper made his mark, even after losing his voice". Chron.com. Retrieved April 13, 2025.
    • "Hip-Hop Nostalgia: N.W.A. "Straight Outta Compton" (Press Kit, 1988-1989)". hiphopnostalgia.com. Retrieved April 13, 2025.
  2. ^ "Straight Outta Compton – N.W.A – Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  3. ^ "Billboard 1988-11-26" (PDF). American Radio History. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
  4. ^ "Cash Box 1989-06-10" (PDF). American Radio History. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
  5. ^ Kory Grow (August 8, 2018). "N.W.A's 'Straight Outta Compton': 12 Things You Didn't Know". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone, LLC. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e Kory Grow, "N.W.A's 'Straight Outta Compton': 12 things you didn't know", Rolling Stone website, Penske Business Media, LLC, 8 Aug 2018.
  7. ^ a b 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.
  8. ^ Incidentally, this 1989 album is N.W.A's last album with contributions by Arabian Prince, already gone by its January release, and by Ice Cube, gone by December of that year. Both, however, are on N.W.A's 1987 compilation album, N.W.A. and the Posse—sometimes recognized as N.W.A's first album—whereas at the Posse album's release, MC Ren may not have yet joined N.W.A's roster. That is despite MC Ren's appearance, among several others, in the Posse album's cover photo [Martin Cizmar, "Whatever happened to N.W.A's posse?", LA Weekly, 6 May 2010]. In any case, by N.W.A's next significant release, a 1990 EP, 100 Miles and Runnin', the group is four—Eazy, Dre, Yella, and Ren—also on the next and final album, 1991's Efil4zaggin or Niggaz4Life.
  9. ^ Musician (Amordian Press), 1991, volume 147, p 59.
  10. ^ McDermott, Terry (April 14, 2002). "NWA:Straight Outta Compton pt 1". Los Angeles Times. Reprinted at Hip Hop News. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  11. ^ "Tenth Ruthless anniversary: For the record", Billboard, 1997 Aug 9;109(32):R-16.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Omar Burgess (October 10, 2007). "HHDX News Bits: NWA and Eazy-E". HipHopDX. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
  14. ^ 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].
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "National Recording Registry Picks Are 'Over the Rainbow'". Library of Congress. March 29, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2016.

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