Maps of Music

Straight Outta Compton (1988)

Where the lyrics of Straight Outta Compton take you, and where it was really made.

Internet reports gave a release date of August 8, 1988, but the official release date cited by RIAA is January 25, 1989.

Key places

Audio Achievements Studio, Torrance (1988)

Recording site Audio Achievements — The album was recorded and produced at this studio in Torrance, California, during the summer and fall of 1988. The point marks the city center, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Straight Outta Compton: debut studio album by American hip-hop group N.W.A
• Released January 25, 1989 through Priority and Ruthless Records
• Produced by Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince
• Lyrics written by Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and MC Ren, with contributions from The D.O.C.
• Lyrics depict life in Compton, California, and express hostility toward rival groups and law enforcement
• The song "Fuck tha Police" prompted a warning letter from an FBI agent

Background

• Ruthless Records was founded in 1987 by Eric Wright, a Compton resident
• Before 1988, Los Angeles rap was largely dance-oriented, with electro rap as the dominant local style
• Ice-T's 1986 single "6 in the Mornin'" is widely considered an early example of gangsta rap
• Ruthless/Priority Records moved the release from mid-to-late 1988 to early 1989 to avoid clashing with Eazy-E's solo debut and the belated success of N.W.A. and the Posse

Recording

• Recorded and produced at Audio Achievements Studio in Torrance, California
• Cost was $12,000, during summer and fall 1988
• Recording began shortly after Eazy-E finished his first solo album, Eazy-Duz-It
• Production relied on sampled horn blasts, funk guitar riffs, sampled vocals, and turntable scratches over a drum machine

Cover

• Arabian Prince appears on the cover, but he had left N.W.A. by the album's release

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Artist

Formation

• Assembled in Compton, California, in 1987 by Eazy-E, who co-founded Ruthless Records with Jerry Heller.
• Original lineup: Arabian Prince, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, and Ice Cube; DJ Yella joined shortly after and MC Ren was recruited in mid-1988.
• The name is an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes.

Members

• Eazy-E (vocals, 1987–1991; died 1995).
• Dr. Dre (production, vocals, 1987–1991, 1999–2001, 2016).
• Ice Cube (vocals, 1987–1989, 1999–2001, 2015, 2016).
• Arabian Prince (production, vocals, 1987–1989).
• DJ Yella (DJ, production, 1987–1991, 2000–2001, 2015, 2016).
• MC Ren (vocals, 1988–1991, 1999–2001, 2015, 2016).

Career

• Debut studio album Straight Outta Compton (1989) was certified 3× platinum by the RIAA.
• Second album Niggaz4Life (1991) was the group's final album; the group disbanded shortly after its release.
• Known as one of the earliest and most significant figures of gangsta rap; the group sold over ten million units in the United States.
• Reunited for live performances in 2015 and 2016; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Chicago Tribune: Greg Kot found N.W.A's sound fuller and funkier than East Coast hip-hop, with lyrics as unforgiving as Public Enemy's
• Sounds (UK): Roy Wilkinson called it rap's answer to Slayer's Reign in Blood, a record the majors were scared to touch
• Los Angeles Times: Dennis Hunt advised listeners to approach it as a no-holds-barred audio documentary of ghetto life
• Orange County Register: Cary Darling found it curiously uninvolving compared with Boogie Down Productions, Ice-T, and Public Enemy
• NME: Paolo Hewitt took issue with the lyrics' macho repetition and tunnel vision
• Hi-Fi News & Record Review: Peter Clark gave the lowest possible rating, calling the lyrics unrelenting in their unpleasantness
• Q: Charlie Dick called the content all-mouth-and-trousers, backed by likable but minimal drum machine work

Reappraisal

• AllMusic: Steve Huey said it still sounds refreshingly uncalculated because of its irreverent, gonzo humor
• Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004): Roni Sarig said it displays a more righteous fury than the copycats it spawned
• Hip Hop Connection (1994): placed it third among rap's best albums
• The Source (1998): included it in its 100 Best Albums list
• Slant Magazine (2012): ranked it 18th among the best albums of the 1980s
• Rolling Stone (2020 revised list): ranked it 70th among its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Records

• Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: peaked at number 9
• Billboard 200: peaked at number 37 on April 15, 1989
• Gold certification with half a million copies sold three months after release
• Platinum certification on July 18, 1989
• Double platinum on March 27, 1992; triple platinum on November 11, 2015
• Re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 173 in 2015, peaking at number 6 on September 5
• First rap album inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, November 2016
• Added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2017

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• MTV banned the music video for the title track, after the FBI issued a warning letter to Ruthless Records
• By Priority Records' estimation, about 80% of the album's sales occurred in predominantly white suburban areas
• Sinéad O'Connor, in 1990, called it the best rap record she had ever heard
• Dr. Dre said in a 1993 interview that he could not stand the album
• The group photo known as The Miracle Mile Shot was taken on November 11, 1988, at Ithaka Darin Pappas's studio apartment, and has been repeatedly republished in media
• The release was first reported online as August 8, 1988, a date RIAA's official listing does not use

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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