Straight Outta Compton

A landmark album in its genre. The material is surprisingly weak, with only a few tracks that really work well. The production is solid, but more "promise of what is to come" than a full fledged demonstration of what Dr Dre is capable of. (Looking over the wikipedia page, it appears it was recorded quite quickly, and so that seems relevant here.) Parental Discretion is interesting ... one of the more successful tracks, it features all four of the rappers who worked on this album, and provides an opportunity to compare their styles -- Ren is a workhorse who can be counted on to take a solid turn, but is not a frontman. Ice Cube has a remarkable and unmistakable voice, though he seems to have one move: an aggressive, percussive attack. It seems like he over relies on his obvious strength; his voice is so good, he can make anything sound convincing, and so he doesn't have to be as inventive as others might. The D.O.C. is interesting. I acquired a copy of his album No One Can Do It Better in 1991 by chance and listened to it many, many times that summer. He is genuinely clever, and does a lot of little things with timing, pacing, emphasis, etc. to make the material land. He is a real craftsman, and his performance on this track illustrates that. Everything about Eazy-E -- his voice, lyrics, and persona -- I find obnoxious. Never understood how he got to be the lead / star of this group. Though ... Ice Cube had a much better career ultimately, so ... the universe is perhaps keyed to logic and reason after all. Overall, this album is a tough listen. So much mediocre material, violence, misogyny, cheap / exploitative sex talk, and of course -- the swearing. Follow the cuss words to see who is really good at this. Rap lyrics are like crab cakes -- and cuss words are the bready filler. It hasn't aged very well. It's long. It's just not a great listen. But I will round up to 3 stars because of History. (To quote the English jesuit schoolmaster speaking to Stephen Daedalus in Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: It seems history is to blame.)

Straight Outta Compton And Fuck The Police really are iconic, and I liked Express Yourself. Other than that, this wasn’t for me. I get the significance, but it’s a lot of repetitiveness and misogyny.

Occasionally too juvenile and mysogynistic for me, but can't say it doesn't slap.

Lightning in a bottle here - the way Ice Cube, MC Ren and Eazy-E trade verses on the title track and "Fuck Tha Police" is absolutely classic. Shame they fell apart almost immediately afterwards. How great are the lines in "Express Yourself"? Never tire of them decades later: "I'm expressin' with my full capabilities And now I'm livin' in correctional facilities 'Cause some don't agree with how I do this I get straight, meditate like a Buddhist I'm droppin' flavor, my behavior is hereditary But my technique is very necessary Blame it on Ice Cube, because he says it gets funky When you got a subject and a predicate" What a record! A few decades later I was disappointed to encounter Compton as just another one of the endless suburbs of Los Angeles; Slauson, Rosecrans, Normandie merely boring streets populated by bungalows and generic strip malls, the same as everywhere else. Progress, perhaps?

Striking and distinctive, can deaden the ears with repetition, but I think that’s the intention: harsh. Wish there were a couple more songs like “Express Yourself”.

all my homies love misogyny Rating: 6/10

honestly kinda liked it, i like the beat in 90s hiphop. Also super cool that the group was the origin of Dr Dre and ice cube

Not a fan of hip hop but this album, when I first heard it made me sit up and listen. The same as sgt peppers, nevermind the bollocks, nevermind. Influential, ground breaking and taking music into a new direction. Unlike the bell ends such as Kendrick Lamar that cunt kanye west etc, they will never come close to making something with the impact the this album had

nice beats, was not a fan of some of the lyrics tho

I can remember feeling like I'd struck gold when I first hit play on this record in 2023. Not only are tracks like 'Fuck Tha Police' and 'Gangsta Gangsta' undeniable bangers, but they also moved me away from the more palatable, cruisy, side of hip-hop I was familiar with back then. The opening/title track had me instantly immersed, as the group's chemistry and Dre's production culminate in a unique, heavy, exceptional sound. The lyrics are powerful, supporting the record's gritty, raw approach, although some of them would not hold up today. This is for good reason as I found it difficult to tune out the misogyny upon this re-listen. Reluctantly putting that aside, you can see how this is considered a classic and a must-listen. 'Fuck Tha Police' carries a lot of this weight as it is such a legendary song. Highly recommend checking out the biopic on NWA for the fascinating context surrounding it.

Jamais écouté avant. Sans l'avoir jamais écouté, je connaissais Straight Outta Compton comme un album mythique du hip-hop, pionnier du vocabulaire gangsta rap et de ses textes violents et vulgaires jusqu'à l'excès, qui deviendront dominants dans les années qui suivront. Et pourtant, j'ai été surpris de découvrir un disque beaucoup moins agressif musicalement que ce à quoi je m'attendais : certes les textes ne font pas dans la subtilité pour raconter la gangsta life à Compton, la drogue, le pognon, le sexe et la violence (contre la police et les femmes en particulier), mais les flows restent assez tranquilles et les beats assez soft et mélodiques, à base de samples funk, de scratch et de 808 languissants. Un mélange pas si incongru que ça à l'écoute, mais qui accuse son âge, d'autant que les variations d'un morceau à l'autre sont assez marginales. Si je comprends qu'à l'époque, l'album ait pu être une petite révolution, en 2026, il apparaît surtout très répétitif et caricatural dans sa volonté de choquer à tout prix, quitte à rapper les pires saloperies misogynes... Top : Straight Outta Compton Flop : I Ain't tha 1

An interesting experiment—some variety, some personality, & a product of its time—but just not really quite sure it’s my style and/or completely holds up ~40 years later as a regular-listen-album.

This is a tough one. NWA is an absolute all star lineup. The bears are exactly what I like best about hip hop. The production is first rate. But the lyrics… Straight Outta Compton and Fuck The Police deliver a serious edge that you can’t really find elsewhere in popular music. The anger at the police is palpable and understandable. OTOH gang violence was also very real and immiserating. The misogyny in the lyrics is also quite disturbing.

there are some dated production, flow and lyric choices, but it isn't nearly as egregious as many of their peers' records.

Overall Rating - 2.85/5 (5.69/10). Solid flow, pervasive foul language, but skilled and often fun.

One of the classics for a reason, but maybe a bit too carried by the hits.

Solid 8/10 album

Meh. Starts strong with three very recognizable tracks, but doesn't hold my attention. The album loses it's schtick. Favorite Tracks: Straight Outta Compton Aint it Ruff

Comin Straight From The Underground 1001 Albums Generator 386 (11/4/2026) I think the praise for this album comes from the absolutely insane 3-song run that opens it. Although the irony of making a whole album glorifying shooting people and then making a song about how oppressed you are by the police is not lost on me. I can set that aside though; what I can't set aside is the insane decline in quality after that initial set of 3 songs. 8 Ball is also pretty good, and Parental Discretion Iz Advised is funky and has a great keyboard solo, but I just wish the album was more consistent. Compton's N The House and I Ain't Tha 1 are both so bad. 3/5. Favs: Straight Outta Compton Fuck Tha Police Gangsta Gangsta Least Fav: I Ain't Tha 1

Probably deserves a 5. Got a drop not a rating though. Those lyrics just don’t hold up well with the sexism and homophobia.

Fucking fantastic

Good album. But not my thing.

4.5

Love this shit

Pretty dumb listening back.

Obviously good and hugely influential , but those lyrics make me cringe way too often

Hell yeah loved this when it came out. As a grown up The misogynist stuff is a bummer. Some undeniable bangers though.

Filler is rough

Anyone played that vibecoded dogshit game Krillionaire? Stupid whore game doesnt even have half the answers and it calls itself a trivia game. Eat my asshole.

Great beats, great rhymes with clear-as-hell delivery. The themes of racism and corruption are relevant as ever; the misogyny doesn’t age well. There’s some really powerful stuff on here. And almost 30 years later it still sounds great.

Damn, This album has some of (if not the) greatest songs of all time. I mean Straight Outta Compton, Fuck Tha Police, and Express Yourself AL ON THE SAME ALBUM. The thing is, there is a shit ton of filler. it's not the worst filler ever, but there is copious amounts of it. Best song: Straight Outta Compton Worst song: None in particular 9/10

Favorite Song: If It Ain’t Ruff Least Favorite: I Ain’t Tha 1

I don't mind that rap it's the messages that I have more issue with. I've read an article that points to this album as a divergence point for the relationship between police and poor black communities. Misogyny also but there are worse examples in more modern music.

excellent work but gotta dock a point sadly yk how it is

Real fun

Shit niggas

(Song 1) Omg, what a start! So confident, so determined, so exited to get started. My expectations are high, like the start of a movie I've been waiting to see. Not a fan of all mentions of women being either violent or misogynistic though ._. (song 5) Dang, it is a product of its time for better and worse, but there's no denying the musical talent and vibes. Let's see how much is storytelling and intentional and what's the patina of the past. It'll color my overall perception of the album and the sad and impressed feeling I sit with right now. (finished) Overall I enjoyed the album but not as much as I thought I would from the jump. The experience feels like many separate liquids that are just different enough in density that they don't blend into one thing. I find each performer adds their personality, and some come off better than others. The synths are timeless and the most consistent thing I enjoyed, well, the production in general. And on occasions, the separate parts mix into one cohesive awesome thing, before quickly separating again. I was happy to listen to this, and if I return, it'll be to cherry pick parts I enjoyed.

Man this was rad! Crystal clear lyrics, rapping about social issues with some party tracks. Really cool

Oh boy. I was excited to "have" to listen to this. I knew from the outset it wasn't going to be my jam. As a GenX person, this listen should have happened a long time ago. Hilariously entertaining with the explicit language and overt misogyny. I laughed out loud several times. Still not my thing, but am I glad that I listened to it? Heck yea. A Bitch iz a Bitch was my favorite. Hard to rate this one though, would I listen to it again? No.

Awesome

Noget af det bedre inden for hip-hop. Kom næsten hele vejen igennem og blev ikke irriteret undervejs. Det må være en succes.

Real, hard, smart, funny, classic

Old skool cool. But not really for me nowadays.

Como siempre, este no es un estilo de música que me guste. En particular este disco estuvo normal, bien. Eso sí, se la pasaron diciendo "fuck" cada 10 palabras, era tremendo. Del final me gustó el guiño a I Wanna Dance With Somebody de Whitney Houston.

The older I get the younger ice cube, Dre and E get in this album. Some quintessential tracks on this album. Still liked it though

Great, never a dull moment. Love a good record scratch. Not a whole pile to say surprisingly. Favourite song: Express yourself

Not my thing but I understand why it's on this list.

Hard to separate a few things here. The historical significance is important. But it still sounds like 80s rap...which, okay. I don't think a lot of 80s rap has aged well, and this is right there. I've listened to it before, probably right around the time the movie came out. Haven't listened to it since then and probably won't listen to it again. Maybe a case of where the people that made the music are way more interesting than the music itself.

Not bad

I enjoyed this. It’s a bit aggressive but very influential. Ice Cube really shines.

Life ain't nothin' but bitches and money. Tämän aidommaksi ei hommat mee.

I remember my cousin handing me a tape copy of this. I grew up with Run DMC and when I heard this I realized that music had changed. A lot. This album ushered in an era of hip hop like no other, it spawned so much from it. I would look crazy trying to draw a line from this album out. Yeah some of the lyrics are way too raw for now. Yet that's the way things age. Listen to this with an ear towards history. It's a solid album. Like crazy good.

내가 힙합을 좋아해서 장르 올려치기를 더해 꽤 괜찮은 느낌의 앨범이었다. 들리는 영어가 욕밖에 없기는 했지만 ㅎㅎ Since I’m a fan of hip-hop—which might lead me to give the genre a bit of a boost—I found it to be a pretty solid album. Though, the only English words I could make out were swear words, haha.

Pre Listen: Yeah, I'm familiar with this album, mostly in name alone. I know the song, I know the one about police, etc. etc. Haven't enjoyed the last few rap albums I got on here, but I have enjoyed some overall. Mixed expectations. Notable Tracks: Fuck the Police - Generational rap song, I think its legacy is more impressive than the song itself. It's either calls for revolution against an oppressive and militaristic police force and corrupt state, or anarchistic calls for crime and indiscriminate violence from thugs, depending on who you ask. For me, I think the song's kind of bland and repetitive, not the biggest fan. 8 Ball - Favorite track. Funny lyrical storytelling, with good beats and samples to boot. A little funky, even. Dopeman - Least favorite track. I can't tell if they're criticizing or glorifying the role a drug dealer plays in low-income areas. Either way, the lyrics are icky. Something 2 Dance 2 - Favorite track. Through the album, DJ Yella's sampling and beats have been my favorite aspect of almost every song, he's got talent. Resultingly, I really enjoyed this one where they let the guy do his thing. Post Listen: It was about as much of a mixed bag as I expected. The swapping of lyricists and rappers throughout the album was both a boon and a backfire. Some of them, mainly Eazy-E, I quite liked. Ice Cube on the other hand, not so much. It was refreshing to have slightly different takes on the genre between them all though, it helped the album feel fresh throughout. That said, this album helped define this brand of Rap, solidifying it as songs full of misogynistic takes, glorification of violence, and the unhelpful acceptance of negative circumstances. Inflammatory music for the sake of being inflammatory, which wouldn't be an issue, if only it held substance. I'm once again reminded why Public Enemy is my favorite rap group. N.W.A. has the sound; they just don't have the sauce. 3/5

Five star always

2/5

Never fails

3.5 - minus a half star for making me listen to woman hating ass songs even tho they sound good

Yeah this rocked I listened a couple times and felt so cool walking through the streets w this in my ears

A transition album from early rap to gangsta rap that has enough old-school beats to appeal and not too much misogyny, swearing, and gun references to turn me off.

7,5

Rap is not usually my style, out of this album I had only heard Fuck The Police, think it's my favorite so far. After a few tracks, liked Parental Discretion Iz Advised, everything else? meh, to be honest. Also, found out Ice Cube is from this group, only knew him from Law and Order. Something 2 Dance 2 also good. 4/10

This movie soundtrack was the big rave for awhile.

I mean some of the songs are legendary. Mostly in the first half. The rest are often just irritating or cringe. I mean, some of the first half has some of the cringiest shit lyrics ever, too. But they hit hard

Zitten wel bangers in

An album that changed the trajectory of hip hop

Here we go again, another rap album. So today I have taken out my bingo card to keep me in the zone… - Rapping about sex - The word nigger - Name checking - ⁠skits - ⁠samples of other tracks - ⁠gunshots - ⁠sirens - ⁠lyrics bragging - ⁠lyrics about been poor - ⁠lyrics about hometown - ⁠misogynistic views - ⁠swear words And BINGO 🥳🥳🥳🥳 Look Rap is not for me but I appreciate what they are doing in this album. The production is very good and the little snippets of sound and samples are clever. This didn’t make me change my mind on actually liking rap music though. But it’s not the worst rap album I’ve heard so far- or am I mellowing to it? Best track- ‘quiet on the set’ Worst track- ‘dopeman’ 3/10

NWA - Straight Outta Compton Starts like a riot in your ears. As had been said elsewhere the album suffers because of the intensity set up in those first three outstanding tracks. There is one more gem surfaces later on but nothing approaches this opening run. I won't pretend to be able to empathise as to why this album is/was so important. But I enjoyed it from a listening perspective. A little long perhaps, but I appreciated the carefully selected samples which kept the sound clean and almost funky, and the way the lyrics bounced off and around each other. Best Track - that opening salvo but then there is the brilliantly put together Express Yourself. A protest song about freedom of speech that resolutely remains radio friendly. In peaceful protest there is power! Worst Track - the only one I cam close to skipping was 8 Ball. So we'll go for that. 7/10

Favourite Songs: If It Ain't Ruff

Impressive production, but rap has come a long way since this dropped

I mean this is a strong album, no contest. It may not have had that much influence on me in terms of my taste, but it's a force to reckon with.

I like it

I appreciate the cultural significance this had, and the beats are pretty incredible, especially for the time. There are some pretty mid tracks in the middle there though. 8 Ball is just Boys in the Hood, but less good.

Someone’s momma didn’t wash out their kid’s mouth with soap. It’s just too much filthy bravado for me.

lmao these guys are lowkey butthurt about being milked by girls for money. I didn’t mind this tbh like I understand why a lot of people like it and the guys had really good flow and chemistry and some of the beats were pretty good too. I liked the commentary on fuck tha police and how they talked about the struggles black people have to face with racism from the people who are supposed to protect us. What I didn’t like was all the misogynist lyrics about women and seeing them as bitches and sex objects basically. Like if I don’t get what I want I’m kicking them to the curb and oh all these women are just scheming to get my money. I didn’t really like that. Overall 2.221/5, not something I would return to, not my style of music.

I love it.

appreciate the importance of this album but it has aged

Very obviously a 1980s album. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's distractingly obvious. This album has the same problem that Master of Puppets has, which is lyrics chosen just to sound cool rather than actual good songwriting (with the additional problem of pronouncing things weird to fit the song, also misogyny). That's typical of popular music at the time but that's not a good excuse. The beats still hold up pretty well, I could imagine a newer hip-hop act like Joey Valence & Brae on one of these tracks and it would sound perfectly natural (although sounding like older rap is kind of their whole thing). The first 3 tracks are probably the best on the album, they're great even though the lyrics are pretty cheesy. :3

Really great album. The lyrics are classic and in a lot of songs explains what it's like growing up black in Compton. There are some iconic lyrics and songs on this album that have survived the test of time. I also hear so much influence in the later 90s rap that I grew up listening to and love.

damn rightttt

Maybe not a perfect album but such great singles and high points not to mention inventing/popularizing gangster rap and launching the careers of Dr.Dre AND Ice Cube....so iconic.

This is not for me.

I think if I could get past the misogny this would be 5 stars. A hiphop staple, particularly a west coast staple and a frank take on saying I hate cops and honestly if you pull up on me we're fighting. Rapping was well done, great storytelling just a little too anti-woman/misogynoir.

This album, similar to many other hip hop/rap albums is just so overly vulgar for the sake of being vulgar which just makes it annoying to listen to I didn’t totally mind this album and the beats were pretty good on a handful of songs Most of this album was pretty mid though 2.5/5 Favorites: gangsta gangsta, express yourself, fuck tha police

THE record that made gangsta rap. Still one of the greatest hip hop records of all time, dated or not (musically and lyrically). Beyond influential and still an aggressive good time 40 years later.

One of the critically important albums in music history. It put gangsta rap and the West coast on the map, as most of hip-hop's significant culture was coming out of the east coast lyricism at the time. Does it hold up over time? Not so much. However, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E set the stage for west coast rap and hip-hop to come, and for that they get the utmost respect. Favorite Song: I Ain't That 1 Score: 75/100

Classic rap album, Ice cube and MC Ren are particular highlights for me.

Raw powerful and hard. Lots of hits you can tell its a classic

Straight Outta Compton

Is hate too strong a word? I don’t know but I intensely dislike this genre of music. Aggressive, angry, sexist and exhausting.

I struggle with this type of "music".

Starts out better than it ends.

I like it, but I am more of an east coast kind of guy

Hate rap. Hate n**** m********* b**** rap even more. Did this help the black cause? It’s horrible.

Kind of dated, iconic thiugh

This was a fun listen

Toto nie je pre mňa... Plno zvukov pripomína beastie boys... Nebavi ma to...

This is so cartoonish and OTT, but really fun with it and has some of the most quotable lines in hip hop

A landmark but very novel album, obvious standouts, some surprises, and a lot of similarity.

Musically quite good. Lyrically mostly awful. Simplistic and forced rhymes, juvenile and sometimes laughable lyrics.