Blogocentric Formulations

Straight Outta Compton

** Image ID #2009874 Unavailable **

Song: "Straight Outta Compton"
Original: N.W.A.
Cover: Nina Gordon


Since I did a New York/East Coast song yesterday, it's only fitting that I end this challenge with a cover from my side of the country. There are few artists more distinctly Los Angeles/West Coast than N.W.A. and this song regained a lot of popularity thanks to the recent biopic of the same name. Originally released in 1988 as part of N.W.A.'s album of the same name, "Straight Outta Compton" has been voted VH1's #6 Greatest Hip Hop Song of all time. When the movie came out this year, the song actually debuted at #38 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the highest debut on the chart that week and N.W.A.'s first Top 40 hit thanks in large part to their being banned from many radio stations during the height of their career. They might be one of the only groups to have their biggest hit 27 years after it's initial release and 24 years after the group originally disbanded.

Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt fame was performing at Largo in Los Angeles during the recording of her second solo album and developed a reputation for some pretty entertaining covers of popular songs, including those by Phil Collins, the Backstreet Boys, and Skid Row. This cover of N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton" became a bit of an internet sensation for her. I love her voice on this track and it's kind of a stark contract to hear such harsh language by such a soft, slow song. But I suppose that's what makes it so innovative and unique-sounding.