“Straight Outta Compton” introduces the group as a gang: sawn-off shotgun, mutha-smothering and all. In terms of verbal assassination of the law, it went where nobody dared go before: “They have the authority to kill a minority,” spat the teenage Ice Cube. The song’s set-up mimics a court case, Cube, Ren, and Eazy-E called as witnesses to police brutality. The album’s most notorious offering, “F_ck Tha Police,” may have shaken tender sensibilities and drawn condemnation from the FBI, but NWA reckoned it was the voice of their hood. They were saying it like they felt it, like it or loathe it. The group said they were simply reporting on life in a hitherto disregarded LA suburb. The liberal use of the N-word broke a taboo it wasn’t unheard of in rap, but never so freely scattered. Above all, it was about uncompromising attitude: you were with it or you weren’t. Ice Cube’s glorious writing and heavyweight mic style Eazy-E’s outlaw charisma Dre’s production allied to Yella’s steely turntablism Ren’s rhyme style: individually all were strong collectively, it was five-way dynamite. Arabian Prince and The DOC were also on hand, though only the former made the Straight Outta Compton cover. MC Ren joined in 1987, just as NWA were ready to drop bombs that included tracks on the album NWA And The Posse. Eazy-E had earned acclaim for his single “The Boyz-N-The-Hood,” penned by Cube with a title to conjure with. Ice Cube had been in CIA, better known to UK B-boys than their US brethren thanks to an appearance on the popular Street Sounds Hip-Hop compilations. They had pedigree Dr Dre and Yella were part of World Class Wreckin’ Cru, who fused R&B and rap with some success. It was more complicated than that, though: if you hadn’t noticed NWA, that was your fault. This relatively unknown group was suddenly at hip-hop’s pinnacle, both underground and simultaneously highly visible, thanks to an album that could blow you away – its cover is designed to look like Eazy-E’s gun is the last thing you’ll ever see. It made the West Coast matter in hip-hop. Straight Outta Compton arrived, on August 8, 1988, like a road crash: you couldn’t ignore it.
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