Straight Outta Compton is the debut studio album from American hip hop group N.W.A, released August 8, 1988. The album is widely regarded as the pioneering record of gangsta rap; and with its ever-present profanity and violent lyrics, it helped to give birth to the then-new sub-genre of hip hop. Includes the global smash hit singles ‘Straight Outta Compton’, ‘Express Yourself’ and ‘Gangsta Gangsta’.