Straight Outta Compton

Yep, track 2 is an excellent early rap song, and the cover is beyond iconic. But the homophobia and misogyny is a little hard to justify as satirical on this one, and the songs are significantly weaker the farther you get in the tracklist. Quite overrated if you ask me. It's actually kind of hilarious how bad the album gets. The last three tracks are almost unlistenable they're so terrible

My initial impression: the lyrics are kinda goofy/cheesy. I like the music and beats though. As the album progressed it started growing on me.

I was wary about it, but I really enjoyed it. Yes, some of the lyrics aren't great. They seem to be fixated on penises, but nevertheless the music rules.

3.0

Favorite track(s): Straight Outta Compton, Fuck Tha Police, Gangsta Gangsta, Express Yourself

I was done with this hip-hop crap after just a few moments. What a bunch of pussies. Every time I hear messed-up albums from other genres on this list, I think maybe hip-hop isn't so bad after all. And then I get an album like this that confirms, yes, hip-hop really is shit. 1/5

This is definitely a gangster rap record. Though I enjoy this era of rap, the album's lyrical content(especially "I ain't the 1", assuming that wasn't seen as offensively sexist even when it came out)aged poorly. It's full of violent, sometimes sexist raps, albeit placed over excellent beats. NWA stands for N****z with Attitude, and they live up to their name on this record with attitude in spades. I can't deny that it's influential and well made, though; that would be an exercise in futility. The album also runs on a little too long; it could stand to lose a couple tracks.

Damn that shit was dope!
This is the quintessential gangster rap album. In most respects, it is exactly what you’d expect, rife with misogyny, homophobia, degrading expletives and boasts about the size of their dicks and their guns. But there is also a much more complex element at work, with smart rhymes, great metaphors and wordplay, and an assaulting verbal delivery that will come to define this genre and shape all of rap for the future.
It’s easy to pass over this on the basis of its crassness, its subject matter and a seemingly one note ideology. But as someone who still knows every word on this album from the days when I lived vicariously through it as a window into a world I’ll never know, I see it as a formative and important album that defined music more significantly than most of the others on this list.
On a personal note, I’ll be pouring a little O.E. out of my 40 for the Dirty Bird, Nellie, the Countie Marlo, the Couch, the Piss Fence, the Elm Theater, Teddy Ted, Sheenu, R.A.D.A.R., Tom Toner, Penetrating, and those guys who stole Sousa’s stereo.

A West Coast Hip-Hop foundational document, the solidification of "Gangsta Rap" and arguably the album that put Compton on the map. Straight Outta Compton's importance is inarguable. And it's still pretty great. The line-up here is iconic: Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Arabian Prince, MC Ren, and DJ Yella. Everyone is in top form, The beats are amazing, with some proto G-Funk stuff and some stuff that almost reminds me of some earlier New York stuff. And every one brings something unique to their verses. Ice Cube is a highlight, his distinctive, agressive flows and intense delivery made him something of a break-out here. Although, I think Eazy-E may be the best rapper here. His lyrics are clever and playful, and his colorful flows and delivery ooze personality. It's also interesting to hear the little shouts to New York rap here. I particularly noticed some references to The Beastie Boys, and it feels weird hearing a West-Coast Hip-Hop album that's from before The East-West feud. In fact, this is from '88, and considering that, the flows and rhyming styles here are remarkably modern, or at least '90s. And the lyrics on here are really cool, lots of looks at Hip-Hop culture and facts of life from this album's place and time. Also, this *very* bluntly confronts racism in policing, and other forms of institutional racism in a really effective way. I can easily see why this became the progenitor of a whole culture of Hip-Hop. I have a couple of complaints though. Something 2 Dance 2 sounds kind of silly in 2025. And while the lyrics are largely cool, there is some stuff that hasn't aged all that well. I can largely view it as a snapshot of the time, but I Ain't Tha 1 is *rough*. This is Ice Cube's diatribe about not letting women take his money, and there's some *nasty* content. He's kind of sort of trying to play it as a joke, but he sounds so *fucking* mad about the topic at hand that it can't really read as anything but vitriol towards women. Bringing up this sort of thing is always kind of exhausting because it feels like arguments about the misogyny present in Hip-Hop are often co-opted by people who are actively trying to enforce negative stereotypes about black culture, and this ironically means that women still lose by being made into ammunition. Especially because it feels like a lot of people are still willing to hand wave the misogyny present in other forms of music, like rock. But regardless, there is still a culture of misogyny in America, and I really do think something like I Ain't Tha 1 directly contributes to and enforces this culture. But I digress, this is still a really great classic, with prescient lyrics, great beats and lots of personality.

This is better than The Chronic.

Wasn't as into it as I was hoping

More enjoyable than I would've guessed, with Express Yourself being the standout track.

As a white man I can’t sing along to any of these songs

What else is there to say...lyrics might be a time piece but the beats are timeless.

Pretty good album. But I think it was waaay too long. I had trouble actively listening on the last two songs

Rap is a genre of music I wouldn’t normally listen to, being far removed from my love of folk singer songwriters. The generator has given me a lot of Hip/Hop and rap and some I thought was ok (Run DMC) others less so (Public Enemy / Fugees).
Although it is out of my comfort zone, I really liked this album. Trying work out why this works for me, I’ve decided that it is probably because this is West Coast Rap, more funk based with a softer sound instead of a harder East coast rap vibe. Whatever the reason, this was a pleasure to listen to.

Yeah the theme is not the best, but still. This started west coast hip hop and gave us dr dre, so there’s nothing to complain about. I dont think it’s close to the strongest record yet, so i think it’s a good 4. A few years later the chronic and doggystyle are 10/10 albums

Yeah not loving the misogyny or the homophobia..... Like if you're going to put it in, make the rhyme worth it man

(2.5) i did eventually get into but it also kinda blended into one?

Damn, I can't believe that I've never listened through this album before. I do love old school rap and this is as iconic as it gets, in my opinion. It slaps, it captures rap culture of the time-and some of it hasn't aged well. But overall, the hooks are rock solid, and the rap is good.