Straight Outta Compton (song)

"Straight Outta Compton"
Single by N.W.A
from the album Straight Outta Compton
B-side"Fuck tha Police"
ReleasedJuly 10, 1988 (1988-07-10)
Recorded1988
StudioAudio Achievements
(Torrance, California)
Genre
Length
  • 4:18
  • 4:03 (clean version)
  • 4:54 (extended mix)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
N.W.A singles chronology
"Panic Zone"
(1987) 		"Straight Outta Compton"
(1988) 		"Gangsta Gangsta"
(1988)
Music video
"Straight Outta Compton" on YouTube

"Straight Outta Compton" is a song by American hip hop group N.W.A. It was released on July 10, 1988 as the lead single from their debut album of the same name. It also appears on N.W.A's Greatest Hits with an extended mix and The Best of N.W.A: The Strength of Street Knowledge. The song samples "You'll Like It Too" by Funkadelic, "West Coast Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson and the Street People, "Get Me Back on Time, Engine No. 9" by Wilson Pickett, and most famously, "Amen, Brother" by The Winstons. It was voted number 19 on About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs,[2] and is ranked number 6 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

In 2015, "Straight Outta Compton" debuted at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated September 5, 2015 as a result of the recent releases of the group's film of the same name and Dr. Dre's Compton; it was the highest debut on the chart that week.[3] This became the group's first top 40 hit song, in large part due to lack of airplay since N.W.A was banned from many radio stations in the 1980s, charting 27 years after its initial release and 24 years since the group originally disbanded.[4][5][6][7][8][9] In 2021, Rolling Stone listed the song at #248 on their updated list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[10]

  1. ^ Graves, Wren (August 5, 2017). "How N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton Made Gangsta Rap the New Reality". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  2. ^ "Top 100 Rap Songs". About.com. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2008.
  3. ^ "Billboard Hot 100, September 5, 2015". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  4. ^ "After 27 Years, N.W.A Finally Cracked Billboard's Hot 100". 25 August 2015. Archived from the original on 28 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  5. ^ "N.W.A Takes Over Charts, Gets First Top 40 Hit on Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2015-08-28. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  6. ^ "N.W.A Finally Has Their First Top 40 Hit - SPIN". 25 August 2015. Archived from the original on 28 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  7. ^ "N.W.A. Score First Top 40 Hit with "Straight Outta Compton"". Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  8. ^ "NWA charts on Billboard Hot 100's Top 40 for the first time with "Straight Outta Compton" single". 25 August 2015. Archived from the original on 26 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  9. ^ "THE GAMUTT-- WebMag: #NWA scores 1st ever Top 40 HIT on #Billboard! Make HUGE strides BACK on the CHARTS!". Archived from the original on 2016-06-30. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  10. ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 15 September 2021. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.