N.W.A. release 'Straight Outta Compton'
Ruthless Records issues the debut LP by Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella. The title track, 'Gangsta Gangsta,' and 'Fuck tha Police' anchor an LP that documents Compton at the height of the crack era. In 1989 the FBI's Milt Ahlerich writes Ruthless to express the Bureau's displeasure with 'Fuck tha Police' — the first such letter the FBI sends a record label.
Why it matters
*Straight Outta Compton* establishes gangsta rap as a chart-viable category, decisively shifts hip-hop's commercial center of gravity to the West Coast, and proves that the major distribution networks (Priority Records, Capitol-distributed) would profit from records the federal government openly considered seditious. The Westhoff and Charnas histories both treat this LP as the inflection point for the 1990s industry.
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