N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton still 'very important': Regina prof.
The 1988 gangsta rap record reached double platinum despite no radio support
What's old is new again thanks to the release of the film Straight Outta Compton.
N.W.A.'s 1988 record Straight Outta Compton is one of the most famous rap albums of all time. It was also very controversial to say the least.
The movie based on the story of the men behind the music opened this week to rave reviews across North America, and some controversy of its own. But for University of Regina professor Charity Marsh, it's a reminder about the importance of the 'historic' record.
"It was and continues to be a very important record," Marsh told CBC's Afternoon Edition. "Its significance was huge socially, culturally, musically. It certainly put gangsta rap and rap and hip-hop on the map in a different kind of way."
Marsh is the Canada Research Chair in interactive media and performance at the University of Regina.
"It spoke to very important realities, harsh realities that a lot of people were facing," she said.
"This art was about the real lives — what was happening in neighbourhoods."
The album Straight Outta Compton reached double platinum sales status, becoming the first album to do so with no airplay support and without any major tours.
"It has a profound impact, not just on what was going on in California, but also what was going on around America and even here in Canada," Marsh said.
The album remains important today, Marsh said, because of "very complex race relations" and events such as the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.
"Thinking about what's happening socially and culturally today, we're talking about lots of horrific violence that's happening," she said.
"[Straight Outta Compton] has mythic proportions because it represents certainly a call to action. It represents a voice that was not being heard being heard in very public and far-reaching ways."