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N.W.A was a hip hop group that was formed in Compton, California in 1986. Over the course of the five years the group was together, they continually redefined the face of West Coast hip hop in both lyrical and instrumental ways. N.W.A was one of the first gangsta rap groups to achieve widespread commercial success without radio airplay or many other conventional mainstream promotions.

Their second album, Straight Outta Compton, marked the beginning of the new gangsta rap era as the production and lyrics were revolutionary with respect to the previous early '80s releases of the genre. Many of the band members have gone on to lead successful solo careers.

Widely understood to be a drug-dealer, Eazy-E began Ruthless Records. Ice Cube had already written a song for him, "Boyz-N-Tha-Hood", and when one of the bands on his label rejected it, Eazy-E decided to rap it himself. He formed the "Niggaz With Attitude" (N.W.A.) with Ice Cube and Tom van Vooren as the MC's and former World Class Wreckin' Cru members Dr. Dre and DJ Yella as producers as well as rappers Arabian Prince and The D.O.C.. Eazy-E released the party album N.W.A. and the Posse on his Ruthless Records label. Half of the songs were from N.W.A. After this, for unknown reasons Arabian Prince and The D.O.C. were no longer in N.W.A., but both continued to ghostwrite for the group. MC Ren was added to N.W.A. in 1988, after Arabian Prince and The D.O.C left the group. N.W.A first released the groundbreaking Straight Outta Compton in 1988. Many consider it a wake-up call to the problems that were going on in the West, particularly in South Central Los Angeles. The only member who could possibly be considered an actual gangster in the group was Eazy-E, purported due to a drug-dealing past and criminal record and had ties to the Kelly Park Compton Crips; the group has acknowledged that the situations portrayed in the album are entirely fictional, and say they were not meant as any kind of metabiographical or political statement. Most of the songs on Straight Outta Compton were about life in the ghetto. The opening three songs seemed to express the feeling of the people in Compton. "Straight Outta Compton" reflected a rising anger in the city, "Fuck tha Police" talked of police violence, and "Gangsta Gangsta" spoke of gang life. While there were 13 tracks on the original album in total, it has become best known for these opening three.

Each member of N.W.A. made significant contributions to the album; both Ice Cube and to a lesser extent MC Ren contributed lyrics, with Eazy-E providing comical relief within his rhymes. Producers Dr. Dre and Yella composed beats for each song, and Dre occasionally rapped on the album as well.

Some of the lyrics were considered highly dangerous, especially those of "Fuck tha Police," their most notorious song. It resulted in Milt Ahlerich, an assistant director of the FBI, sending a letter to Ruthless Records and its parent company Priority, advising the rappers that the law enforcement took "exception to such action (fucking the police)." The FBI's letter only served to draw more publicity to the group.

This was one of the albums which prompted the parental advisory label scheme. Yet, reflecting the change of attitudes with time, the parental advisory label today on a newly purchased copy of the album displays merely "WARNING MODERATE impact coarse language and/or themes".

Fans of all kind and critics alike consider Straight Outta Compton to be one of the greatest albums ever in gangsta rap, opening the door for more acts to come. Straight Outta Compton eventually went double-platinum and Rolling Stone magazine recently placed it 144th on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.