Straight Outta Compton

Love, love, love this and I am not even a massive hip hop fan.

Straight Outta Compton is explosive from the very first seconds. The opening track sets the scene perfectly. Bold, confrontational and completely unapologetic. Moving straight into the next run of tracks keeps that momentum going and makes for an incredibly strong start.

The production hits hard and the energy never really dips. It feels raw and important, even now. There is anger, confidence and a real sense that this album changed the direction of hip hop.

Straight Outta Compton and Fuck tha Police are obvious standouts. Both are powerful, direct and impossible to ignore. If I had to pick a weaker moment, 8 Ball would be it, but even that fits the overall mood.

Favourite songs: Straight Outta Compton and Fuck tha Police
Least favourite song: 8 Ball
Album artwork: Awesome and iconic. One of the most recognisable covers in music

There are some pretty solid tracks on here - the title track, Fuck Tha Police, Express Yourself. But I didn't like it quite as much as the Public Enemy album we got a while back.

Ok, things I knew about this album: It's a seminal album in gangsta rap. It was controversial, especially for F**k the Police. It launched Ice Cube into superstardom. Things I didn't know about the album: It's freakin' hysterical. Seriously, I laughed out loud several times. Also, the grooves are smooth af. Downsides: Pretty harsh lyrics (but not as much as other albums we've heard). Misogynistic. Also, F*** the Police has a powerful message, but if they actually shoot and "jack" as many people as they claim, then they really, really, really should be in jail for a long time (I'm sure it's exaggerated for artistic reasons...I hope). If I ignored these downsides I'd call this a 5, but those downsides are pretty significant. Favorite tracks - the opening three tracks are unbeatable (Straight Outta Compton, F the Police, Gangsta Gangsta), but lots of good moments throughout.

"Dre makes the beats so fun-fun-funky" its true. You can hear the roots here of the production that would dominate the 90s emerging from the sparse drum-machine big BOOM BOOM TISH formula with layering samples from a deep well of jazz, funk and soul - taken to an extreme on what's basically a genre-reinvention cover of Express Yourself, but more varied on most of the other tracks that borrow from 4-7 songs at a time to put a rhythm together. Having a bunch of different rappers performing across the album keeps it fresh, but the songs are all too long/repetitve and the album could be trimmed down a bit too.

It’s interesting how old white people praise Johnny Cash, who sang countless songs about killing people. And praise Bob Dylan for his political lyrics. And love bands like Aerosmith who wrote all these songs about sex.

And then they’ll decry how violent, sexual, and subversive rap artists like NWA are. Is it racism? Yeah. I think so.

This album is electric. So much energy, so lively. The beats are funky and fun. The mix is exciting. These songs are inherently political. “Fuck tha Police” is just as relevant today as ever. And “Express Yourself” is a call to action for rappers (and to the tone deaf media), proclaiming the importance of freedom of expression—ironically avoiding profanity while criticizing rappers for avoiding profanity to end up on the radio. It feels like they’re creating a “sleeper cell” to infiltrate the radio and bring people to their album. Brilliant. Has some of it not aged well? Yeah, but neither have a lot of the greatest pieces of art.

What an album. There’s a reason NWA changed the game.

banger.

like that deep purple - in rock. archetype shit

Yep, this is misogynistic as fuck, and that's obviously a mark against it. Looking beyond that there's some good tracks on here - quite an array of different sounding tracks - you can tell the influence of the 80's scene coming into the 90's. I quite like how aggressive something like 'Fuck Tha Police' is. If It Ain't Ruff is good. Express Yourself is a tune.

While I appreciate what these guys did to represent an unseen subculture, what they did to popularize rap music, and the musical ingenuity that went into this album, I can only get so excited about the content of gansta-rap.

Love how relentless this goes

I'm not a fan of this type of music, usually. But there is no denying the talent on this album, the wordplay of the artists, and the interplay of each of them. I shockingly, to me, really found myself enjoying it all the way through.

I am a little burned out on early gangsta rap so this more a slog than I would hope. the funk and excellent background track beats is awesome. Though I am pretty tired of hearing about Easy-E's dick. 8-Ball sucks. Express Yourself is awesome.

Another powerful important album that I just don't resonate with musically. I wish I could rate this higher, but I just don't want to listen to it.

Eerder mochten we al naar een album van Ice Cube zelf luisteren. Dan maakt een collectief het toch veel beter. Er is veel meer afwisseling in de muziek, stem en emotie. Dat maakt wel het verschil.

Verder een feest van herkenning. De mannen hebben heel wat samples gejat, maar eerlijk is eerlijk. Ze geven nog veel meer samples terug aan de muziekwereld. Zo'n balans wijst dan vooral op de creativiteit.

Ik verheug mij op de notes van Leo R. over deze agressieve muziek/teksten. En een klein beetje gelijk moet ik hem op voorhand wel geven. Ik begrijp dat de agressiviteit ook als middel wordt gebruikt. Ze hebben er een enorm bereik voor hun boodschap mee behaald. Maar een nummer als 'Express Yourself' springt er uit en toont maar aan dat ze het muzikaal niet nodig hebben.

4,5 ster

N.W.A were revolutionary in the formation of the genre of Gangsta Rap. What they did on this record would set the stage for a lot of what came out in the 90's/00's. N.W.A consisted of: Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren, Arabian Prince, and DJ Yella; many of who would have successful solo careers outside of the group in later years.

I watched the movie Straight Outta Compton which follows the beginnings and career of the members of N.W.A. It was a great movie, highlighting their come up from the ghettos of Compton, the drug dealing/gang violence that they were surrounded by in their formative years, and the racism that was rampant in the USA in the 70's (especially the racism shown to black teenagers by white people in positions of authority (ie. judges and policemen)).

Given this rough upbringing, you can understand why gang violence/anarchy/misogyny are the topics covered heavily on this album.

This was music that gave a voice to the hundreds of thousands of oppressed across America (songs even got banned from radio stations (notably Fuck Tha Police)).

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. The sampling and flow of the album was seamless. I have listened before, and will definately listen again.

Favourite songs: Straight Outta Compton, Fuck Tha Police, Express Yourself, Gangsta Gangsta, Parental Discretion Iz Advised, Dopeman, Quiet On Tha Set, Compton's N The House (Remix)

Least favourite song: Something 2 Dance 2, Bonus Beats, If It Ain't Ruff

4/5

One of those albums that 100% deserves every bit of praise it's gotten. Catchy, bombastic beats. Socially conscious and powerful lyrics. Incredibly flow and lyricism. Fuck tha police.

A ground breaking classic rap album, the birth of gfunk and west coast hip hop. This really is a ground breaking album and the messages on police brutality and racism is still relevant today, but other themes of the album have not dated well at all. Makes some of the album feel a bit cringe to listen to now. Still more than deserves to be on the lists.

Largely repetitive. In general not the biggest fan of 80s rap. 2/5

Hmm, hankala antaa arvosanaa. Toisaalta on ihan äärimmäinen levy kovasta menosta ja siistit beatit, toisinaan melkein parodian puolelle lipsuvaa tilitystä, varsinkin naisista. Levy 100% ansaitsee paikkansa listalla, mut ei ehkä mulle tee ihan kauheesti. 3/5.

Love the diversity of the samples, the bravura of the production. I think the way it pushed things forwards just about overcomes the nasty, dated lyrics.

Definitely more of a fan of Public Enemy for my gritty hip hop realism in terms of both lyrics and beats. Not to mention consistency of sound and message. Having "8 Ball" a couple tracks away from something like "Express Yourself" makes it seems like they're throwing everything against the wall and just seeing what sticks. But man this album was absolutely contagious even despite limited radio and MTV play. They certainly tapped into the zeitgeist and pushed the envelope content wise further than anyone had done before. This may well be the most influential hip hop album of all time. Still hearing it's influence today. Favorite track is "If It Ain't Ruff" for the stereo panning bass. Also surprised by (and kinda like) the album's last minute electro conclusion "Something 2 Dance 2."