So why is N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Dr. Dre and Ice Cube are both essentially cultural institutions these days, so it’s a combination of exhilarating and bracing and even slightly unnerving to dial all the way back to 1988 to revisit N.W.A’s groundbreaking, raw, surprisingly funky, and dynamite debut record.
Thinking about Straight Outta Compton brings me back to two distinct memories in my life.
I was just about to enter high school in 1988, and hardcore rap that didn’t see significant exposure through mainstream radio or MTV was not likely to get on my radar at that point in my life.
Cut to 1991, when I saw the movie Boyz n the Hood in the theater without knowing anything about it heading in. As a white kid growing up in the suburbs of Long Island, New York, the story of life in South Central Los Angeles for a group of Black characters played by Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Laurence Fishburne had a profound influence and helped to shoe me that there were people in my own country living a radically different experience than the one I was living.
The music also stayed with me, with songs from Boyz n the Hood including tracks by the likes of Ice Cube, Main Source, and 2 Live Crew.
Now fast forward to 1997, when I visited Los Angeles for the first time during a five-week road trip with my man Adam.* I was driving on the Ventura Freeway, the 134 as we call it, turned on the radio and “Express Yourself,” off of Straight Outta Compton, came on.
* This road trip eventually led me to move to the West Coast, where I live to this day.
I was already familiar with the song and N.W.A. by then, but with the window open on a sunny, slightly smoggy L.A. day, it hit me in a different way. It’s funny how music can do that, playing so differently at disparate times and places based on any number of factors.
In any event, I fully appreciated how good it is – raw and underground feeling in some ways, but also delightfully funky and catchy too, while also having precise production and out of this world great rapping.
It’s that dynamic that brings me back to Straight Outta Compton over the years. My favorite track on the album just at this moment is “I Ain’t Tha 1,” which has an incredibly deep, bouncing bass line with tinkling strings that almost give the track a playful feel against the somewhat sinister vibe otherwise.
Most of all though, Ice Cube puts on an absolute clinic on the mic. The lyrics aren’t for the faint of heart, of course, but man oh man does our guy get his point across about how, well… he ain’t the one, you know what I mean?
But also, you know what? It’s pretty hilarious.
I think with my ding-a-ling, but I won’t bring no
Flowers to your doorstep when we goin’ out
‘Cause you’ll take it for granted, no doubt
And after the date, I’ma want to do the wild thing
You want lobster, huh? I’m thinking Burger King
The title track, “Straight Outta Compton,” is probably the best known N.W.A. track nowadays, which is an incredibly powerful audio assault that brings a groundbreaking sound with immense authenticity to it. It’s wildly exciting music, but again note that this is not for anyone with sensitivities to certain kinds of language or music that’s aggressive in every possible way.
And then “Parental Discretion Iz Advised” shows off a much more laid back, groovier funk vibe that bounces along beautifully.
Pop culture stuff that has something to do with
Ice Cube is a tremendous actor, especially when placed in the right role. I mentioned Boyz n the Hood above, where he plays Doughboy – an iconic role, really – but he’s also wonderful in roles where he can play to both his comedic and dramatic sensibilities.
My favorite movie that involves Ice Cube – and one of my favorite movies of all time – is Three Kings, which co-stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Spike Jonze as American soldiers who get caught up in a gold heist (and so much more) in the wake of the “first” Iraq War in the early 1990s.
Some stats & info about N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? West Coast Rap, Hardcore Rap, Gangsta Rap, Golden Age
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #70
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Straight Outta Compton released? 1988
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #200 out of 1,000
N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I’m expressing with my full capabilities, and now I’m living in correctional facilities.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.