by Angus

Lock up your daughters, fathers, mothers, sons, your dog, your cat, your grandparents; hell, just move out of L.A. all together. 1988 saw the arrival of Gangsta Rap to the mainstream, and it was almost entirely thanks to this album. The anti–cop anthem ‘Fuck Tha Police’ infamously resulted in a letter of warning from the FBI, but moreover it was a rap album that found an audience with disenfranchised teens across America. Its extraordinary popularity meant that it went platinum despite having almost no radio airtime.

A lot of the writing on the album was done by Ice Cube; he penned almost every single line you hear from Eazy–E, but it doesn’t blunt the album’s sheer force of impact, with each rapper delivering their lines (co–written or not) with their own distinct cadence and personality. It’s a classic of the genre, and we think it’s effectively impossible to overstate its influence on modern rap.

A small preview from Spotify

1. "Straight Outta Compton" (4:18)
2. "Fuck Tha Police" (5:45)
3. "Gangsta Gangsta" (5:36)
4. "If It Ain’t Ruff" (3:34)
5. "Parental Discretion Iz Advised" (5:15)
6. "8 Ball (Remix)" (4:52)
7. "Something Like That" (3:35)
8. "Express Yourself" (4:25)
9. "Compton’s N The House (Remix)" (5:20)
10. “I Ain’t Tha 1” (4:54)
11. “Dopeman (Remix)” (5:20)
12. “Quiet On Tha Set” (3:59)
13. “Something 2 Dance 2” (3:23)