N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton – LP

“Straight Outta Compton” is the debut studio album by the rap group N.W.A, formed in the Los Angeles area’s City of Compton.

Released on August 8, 1988, by Ruthless Records, cofounded by N.W.A member Eazy-E, the album was produced by N.W.A members Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince, with further rapping by members Ice Cube and MC Ren. The track “Fuck tha Police”, especially controversial, drew an FBI agent’s warning letter, which aided the group’s notoriety, and N.W.A touted itself as “the world’s most dangerous group.” The album triggered numerous rappers, and the rap genre overall, to borrow from N.W.A‘s precedent of menacing and sensational lyrics.

As the 1990s closed, if largely through the group’s splintering—yielding successful solo music careers and franchises for Ice Cube and for Dr. Dre, whose 1991 departure dissolved the group—N.W.A‘s ripple effects had reshaped rap, R&B, and pop music, influencing pop culture.

Ruthless Records/Priority Records

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