10 Albums Where Hip Hop Got Real

Hip hop was never supposed to be about the life and times of people on the street. Even though a lot of the early rap artists may have come from the streets before they hit it big, it was more about music than anything else, getting the entire nation to come together under a groove. That was the dawn of hip hop though, and once 1987 rolled around, we were all about to witness the strength of street knowledge.

Coming out of the California underground, NWA turned into one of the most dangerous acts in music overnight, exposing all of the raw energy that came out of Compton. Just like bands like Guns N' Roses were doing, NWA wore their influences on their sleeve and found something a lot more interesting underneath it all, with Dr. Dre providing the perfect backdrop to tell the story of the band's upbringing. Despite Dre's beats, this album was always a group effort, from Ice Cube tearing us apart on songs like the title track to Eazy E's high pitched flow actually managing to sound dangerous on songs like Gangsta Gangsta.

Although some songs like Express Yourself may have been a lot more radio friendly than something like I Ain't the One, these guys knew exactly what they were doing when they wrote songs like F*** the Police. Just like MC Ren's stage name would lead you to believe, these guys were the almighty villains of hip hop, and Straight Outta Compton is the kind of anti hero story that almost anyone can get behind.