The album that invented gangsta rap as a mainstream cultural force. Released in 1988 on Ruthless Records (catalog SL-57102), Straight Outta Compton dropped like a bomb on American music. Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, MC Ren, and DJ Yella out of Compton, California delivered a visceral, furious portrait of street life that mainstream America simply wasn’t prepared for. The FBI reportedly sent threatening letters about it. Original 1988 Ruthless pressings are instantly distinguishable from the flood of reissues that followed, and finding one in solid condition is genuinely difficult three-plus decades on. This original pressing from a highly-rated Japanese seller comes from the same source that’s supplied dozens of happy buyers with mint-condition records.
