[4] Not merely depicting Compton's street violence, the lyrics repeatedly threaten to lead it by attacking peers and even police.

The track "Fuck tha Police" drew an FBI agent's warning letter, which aided N.W.A's notoriety, with N.W.A calling itself "the world's most dangerous group.

"[4][7][8] In July 1989, despite its scarce radio play beyond the Los Angeles area,[5] Straight Outta Compton received gangsta rap's first platinum certification, one million copies sold by then.

[13] The next year, the Library of Congress enshrined Straight Outta Compton in the National Recording Registry, who have deemed it to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

[16] By contrast, East Coast hip-hop had moved to prioritizing the lyricist (or "MC") after the success of Run-DMC's self-titled 1984 album.

The World Class Wreckin' Cru, which included Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, published the West Coast's first rap album to be released under a major record label.

[21] Wright recruited the South Central Los Angeles-based rapper Ice Cube, then a member of rap group C.I.A., as a ghostwriter, and instructed him to collaborate with Dr. Dre and write a song for the label.

Expanding upon Ice-T's model, N.W.A imparted to gangsta rap a signature style that featured "exaggerated descriptions of street life, militant resistance to authority, and outright sexist violence".

The group's profane, unrelentingly violent lyrics led to backlash from law enforcement and other groups: an FBI agent sent the record label a warning letter, MTV banned the "Straight Outta Compton" video, some venues banned N.W.A performance, and some police officers refused to work security at N.W.A shows elsewhere.

[4] In an incident recalled in Jerry Heller's book and later portrayed in the film Straight Outta Compton, police approached the group while they were standing outside the studio in 1988 and demanded them to get on their knees and show ID without explanation.

[25] Still, even Eazy and Dre, alike Cube and Ren, each brings a distinct delivery and character, making N.W.A altogether stand out from imitators.

[25] Reflecting in 2002, Rolling Stone writer Jon Caramanica calls the album a "bombastic, cacophonous car ride through Los Angeles' burnt-out and ignored hoods".

[32] In a contemporary review, rather, Mark Holmberg, in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, calls it "a preacher-provoking, mother-maddening, reality-stinks" album that "wallows in gangs, doping, drive-by shootings, brutal sexism, cop slamming and racism".

[4] Indicting N.W.A as its leading example, journalist David Mills, in 1990, acknowledges, "The hard-core street rappers defend their violent lyrics as a reflection of 'reality'.

"[36] Still, the year before, Bud Norman, reviewing in the Wichita Eagle-Beacon, assesses that on Straight Outta Compton, "they don't make it sound like much fun".

"[37] Steve Huey, writing for AllMusic, considered that "Straight Outta Compton's insistent claims of reality ring a little hollow today, since it hardly ever depicts consequences.

"[41] On the other hand, Cary Darling, in California's Orange County Register, while thinking that the lyrics make Ice-T "look like a Cub Scout", ultimately deems Straight Outta Compton "curiously uninvolving", as it "lacks the insight and passion that put the best work by the likes of Boogie Down Productions, Ice-T and Public Enemy so far ahead of the field".

[45] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice perceives N.W.A's persona as calculated: "Right, it's not about salary—it's about royalties, about brandishing scarewords like 'street' and 'crazy' and 'fuck' and 'reality' until suckers black and white cough up the cash.

"[44] In the UK, Sounds reviewer Roy Wilkinson declared Straight Outta Compton "rap's answer to Slayer's Reign in Blood—a record the majors were scared to touch", continuing, "This is rock made genuinely wild again.

[46] Offering the lowest possible rating, Clark adds, "The cumulative effect is like listening to an endless fight next door.

"[46] Charlie Dick, writing for Q, contends, "In the wake of Public Enemy and KRS-One, it is amazing that something this lightweight could cause such a stir.

"[43] By 1991, while criticizing group members for allegedly carrying misogynist lyrics into real life, Newsweek incidentally comments that Straight Outta Compton, nonetheless, "introduced some of the most grotesquely exciting music ever made".

[34] Writing in retrospect, Steve Huey, in AllMusic, deems the album mainly just "raising hell" while posturing, but finds that "it still sounds refreshingly uncalculated because of its irreverent, gonzo sense of humor, still unfortunately rare in hardcore rap".

[29] In any case, in November 2016, Straight Outta Compton became the first rap album inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

[13] In 2017, Straight Outta Compton was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, who deemed it to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

[62] By Priority Records' estimation, about 80% of Straight Outta Compton's sales occurred in suburban areas predominantly white.

[62] Approaching the August 2015 release of the film Straight Outta Compton, the album reentered the Billboard 200 at number 173.

Pappas calls it the "Miracle Mile Shot",[75] the DVD cover of the 2015 documentary Kings Of Compton,[76][77] in France's Musée d'art contemporain de Marseille from 2017 to 2018,[78][79] and a backdrop at N.W.A's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2016 in Brooklyn, New York.

I threw that thing together in six weeks so we could have something to sell out of the trunk.” Additionally, he said, “Back then, I thought the choruses were supposed to just be me scratching.”[4] In 2006, parodic music artist "Weird Al" Yankovic released a new album, Straight Outta Lynwood.

In the 2014 film 22 Jump Street, the character Mrs. Dickson, whose husband is played by Ice Cube, says she's "straight outta Compton".