I've written four hundred and fifty-four of these posts and have never had one that was harder to write than this one. I'm a sixty some odd year old white male. What I know about the world they're describing is about equal to what I know about string theory. And what I know about hip hop could fit comfortably into a gnat's ass. Hell, I'd never even heard this song until I saw the 2015 movie Straight Outta Compton--about three years after it came out. And when you add in the band's abject misogyny--and yes, I know that there are very few artists without damning moments in their lives--at a time when the GOP wants to send women back to the Dark Ages...it's been a "Fuck If I Know What to Write" kind of post. Which helps explain to my three loyal readers why this is more than a week late....
I'm not going to do a bio paragraph for N.W.A.--there are people who understand, and can write from the heart, their talents much better than I ever could. I will note that they were elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, because while the Hall itself may be little more than a tourist attraction, artists still have to have some serious chops to gain entry--and those chops came from the strength of a grand total of two--count 'em, two--studio albums.
I will tell you that "Straight Outta Compton" was not released as a single when it originally came out in 1988 (and would never have gotten any airplay due to its explicit language if it had been released) but did chart at #38 (with a bullet!) when it was released after the movie premiered. The like titled album reached #4 on the Billboard 200, which is quite the feat considering its promotion mostly consisted of music reviews and word of mouth--MTV certainly wasn't playing the mother fucker.
The "Fun Fact" really isn't much fun--since I can never seem to get away from politics (for good reason), I should note that founding member Ice Cube sold his soul to Donald Trump for what one can assume was money and the same reasoning as MAGA idiots. Good luck with that.
As for my song write-up: I know greatness when I hear it. That's it--I know greatness when I hear it.
Rap Sheet: "You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
