You would imagine that life on the streets of Compton would make anyone angry. You've seen Boyz In The Hood... that wasn't just hyperbolic Hollywood rhetoric. N.W.A's 1988 epic debut is a grimy snapshot of that world at the time, the dark underbelly of the American dream, captured in boom-bap rhythm and gang-banging rhyme. Gangster rap spiralled outwards from there, growing across the US from coast to coast and beyond, but many still consider Straight Outta Compton as the genre's genesis. As is standard practice for hip hop squads, all members get their turn on the mic in that much loved puff-puff-pass style. Of these, it's Ice Cube who riffs off with the most intensity - his verse in the gangstalicious album-opener Straight Outta Compton is a rap shotgun, bar after bar of street thuggery and violent intentions. "Here's a murder rap to keep you dancing, with a crime record like Charles Manson - AK-47 is the tool, don't make me act the motherf*cking fool" he slings, before delivering one of the stand-out tracks in rap history, the cop-baiting F*ck The Police. Musically, there is a bouncy groove to be found in many corners of the album, but it's overshadowed by an unrelenting verbal assault - N.W.A. pulls no punches, ripping right into the core of the gangster lifestyle with discomforting honesty.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
