Entertainment

Listen to this: Straight Outta Compton soundtrack

Last year's movie Straight Outta Compton told the turbulent tale of LA hip-hop act NWA
Last year's movie Straight Outta Compton told the turbulent tale of LA hip-hop act NWA Last year's movie Straight Outta Compton told the turbulent tale of LA hip-hop act NWA

COMPILING some of the best music from last year's hit movie based on the legal-wrangling and violent feud strewn story of seminal LA rap troupe NWA, this soundtrack album serves as a mini NWA 'best of' while also highlighting the group's musical influences and a selection of its members' solo work.

Crucial NWA cuts F*** Tha Police, Express Yourself, Gangsta Gangsta, Dopeman, Real N***** and the title track from their landmark 1988 debut LP sit alongside seminal 'old-skool' cuts from funk and soul legends Parliament (Flashlight), Funkadelic ((Not Just) Knee Deep, as sampled by De La Soul), Steve Arrington’s Hall of Fame (Weak At The Knees, the funk bass hook of which became the backbone of Gangsta Gangsta) and Roy Ayers Ubiquity (Everybody Loves The Sunshine, a major influence on the 'woozy' G-Funk sound of the mid-late 90s represented here by the Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg team-up, Ain't Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang).

Of the other solo work included, Eazy-E's The-Boyz-N-The-Hood still has plenty of primitive hip-hop snap, while estranged NWA MC turned solo star Ice Cube poves he's more than a match for his former comrades on The Nigga Ya Love To Hate and No Vaseline.

A great listen from start to finish.