Old School Mondays:: Compton's Most Wanted (It's A Compton Thang Edition)

I'm not even sure when it came up this week (and, in fact, I might've just been something I thought to myself), but I used the phrase "late night hype" at some point, which of course hearkens back to the song of the same name from Compton's Most Wanted's awesome debut It's A Compton Thang. On pretty much every second edition of OSM I end up talking about an album I loved, but in this case it's truer than true. I bought my copy of this album on a summer trip to New England, and played the hell out of it for the next few years. If I remember correctly, they were on some nutty label like Orpheus Records or something, the cover was all small and out of proportion, and the curses were all bleeped out with scratches, which I normally hate, but it seemed to fit this album well.

Compton's Most Wanted is of course fronted by the delightfully-spelled MC Eiht (Experienced In Hardcore Thumpin'!), but on their debut album he was joined on the raps by The Chill MC, who, unfortunately, was incarcerated before the group could release their successful follow-up Straight Checkn 'Em. In my humble, Eiht was never as enjoyable as he was on this album. Of course he has the high-pitched voice, which has served him well throughout his career, but he's all youthful exuberance on this album, just really going for his. It was before he became insistent on establishing the "geeeeeyeh" thing as his trademark and enforcing his O.G. image. But as good as Eiht and Chill are, the beats on this album are also pretty classic, leaning heavily on sweet soul breaks, the sounds were provided by DJ Mike T (as an aside, I always wondered who the white dude on the album cover was, but now I think it's Mike T? Who knows, this was something I felt was important to know back in the day), along with producers DJ Slip and the Unknown DJ.

Picking two songs from this album is tough business as there's a bunch I really enjoy, but I had to go with my two favorites, This Is Compton and It's A Compton Thang. Hey, in case you didn't know, Compton's Most Wanted are from Compton! And lyrically both MC's spend the majority of these songs re-enforcing exactly that point. Oh, and also how they would likely shoot you if you crossed them. Despite that, the songs manage to be a lot of fun, with the big beat drums and piano hits of This Is Compton and the awesome 80's R&B stylings of Compton Thang, you really can't go wrong. So enjoy, and, because I like you, I'll chuck in Late Night Hype as a bonus.