Straight Outta Compton by NWA

Straight Outta Compton, the debut album from N.W.A, came roaring out of Ruthless and Priority like a squad car with the siren ripped out. Dr. Dre, DJ Yella and Arabian Prince built the beats, while Eazy-E, Ice Cube and MC Ren did the talking, with the D.O.C. pitching in on the rhymes. Arabian Prince had already quit by the time it reached the shops.

What they talked about was Compton: the streets as they knew them, rival crews, and a running war with the police that turned "Fuck tha Police" into a scandal once an FBI agent fired off a warning letter. Radio outside Los Angeles mostly steered clear, and it went platinum anyway, a first for gangsta rap, and it is widely credited with pushing the hardcore stuff into hip-hop's mainstream. In 2016 it became the first rap record in the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the National Recording Registry took it in 2017.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.