Straight Outta Compton’s status as the blueprint for 30+ years of gangsta rap can overshadow how unlikely it was for this debut to become so epochal. N.W.A. was a group of largely untested talents from subaltern South L.A.: Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, MC Ren and Eazy E. They didn’t just craft lurid tales of sex, drugs, and violence but also scowled truth to power with jagged lucidity, all over some of the funkiest tracks rap music had produced. It’s an exhilarating listen, bursting with energy and ambition, plus more balanced than you may recall. N.W.A. didn’t just offer gang lore vignettes like “Dope Man” and “Gangsta Gangsta” or the iconic anthem (“Fuck the Police”), but it also had its moments of smarmy (and sexist) humor (“I Ain’t Tha 1”), roller rink jams (“Something To Dance To”), even a radio-friendly, inexplicably anti-drug hit single (“Express Yourself”). 

– Oliver Wang