N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton will go down in history as one of the most important bodies of work in hip hop. Today marks the thirtieth anniversary of the album and to celebrate, Dr. Dre's Beats1 show The Pharmacy brought Ice Cube, MC Ren and "Straight Outta Compton" director, John Singleton together to discuss the project's impact.
During Beats1 The Pharmacy Presents: Straight Outta Compton 30th Anniversary, Ice Cube opened up about how he didn't expect the album to be as successful and impactful as it's looked at today.
“When we first recorded it, we just felt like it was going to be an underground record." He said, "We knew it was going to be hardcore, but it was going to be underground. We never anticipated the record doing what it’s doing now. Just being this staple.”
John Singleton also opened up about the project and revealed how much it meant to him, even before he was tapped to direct the N.W.A biopic.
“It meant everything to me. It was like you got to remember then we didn’t have no movies. We listened to albums like they were movies. And we were visualizing,” he said. “We sit up and think about how what were listening to sonically what it would look like. And for me that album was like everything that I had grown up in and saw. So it was a revelation for me.”
