Straight Outta Compton is a must listen album. It's a classic from a musical standpoint, from a rhyme standpoint and in terms of impact. The album is one of the few albums you could argue for being timeless. Almost every song has significance and it really helped set up the West coast soundscape even though Dre cribbed influence from people like EPMD and the Bomb Squad and made it cleaner. Ice Cube and DOCs pen made the rhymes sharp and Eazy had a foul mouth but a sharp wit. I remember saving up my White Castle money and waiting in line at the little record store ( I was smart enough to order it thank god). There shouldn't be any dispute of this, whether or not you personally like the album.
Ni**az4Life - Musically the album is a classic and was really a prequel to the Chronic in a lot of ways. The production was top notch and in a lot of ways ahead of it's time. Lyrically is where I take issue. Clearly Eazy did a lot of the conceptualizing but I think that this album was cartoon gangsta and was fetish porn catered to suburban whites who made up a larger part of the fanbase by that point than many would like to admit. Cube was sorely missed I loved the album when it came out but over time, I would argue this album in a lot of ways the beginning for the end for gangsta rap being grounded in realism as opposed to over the top.
The Chronic - Oddly enough this is the one album I was borderline about. Musically it's one of the cleanest albums ever made musically and Snoop's contributions make up for a lack of Ice Cube where he was sorely missed. Lyrically this album is up and down but it stands the test of time and belongs in hip-hops 25 best albums despite this.
2001 - I'm in the minority but I thought he surpassed the Chronic with this album. This is the cleanest produced album I've ever heard in hip-hop. Almost Quincyesque. I know cats have mixed feelings about Em but he slayed every track he was on. And all the other rappers had matured like a fine wine. This album dropped in 1999 but the title is apt because this was a masterclass on sonic titillation. I remember being in bed ready to go to sleep listening to Future Flavors with Pete Rock and Marley Marl, when Still DRE dropped and was just blown away. Every producer who has dropped around or since this album came out owes Dre and this album a debt.
I liked Eazy Duz It it was a really entertaining album to listen to and Eazt showed he can carry an album but it's not quite a classic
Str8 off the Streets just wasn't a completed album for it to be a classic though it was a glimpse of what could have been.
Top 5 NWA Songs
100 Miles and Running
Express Yourself
Fukk the Police
Straight Outta Compton
Always Into Something
Top 5 Dre Songs
Fukk with Dre Day
Ain't Nothin but A G Thing
The Next Episode
What's the Difference
Still DRE
Top 5 Eazy E Songs
Nobody Move
Still Talkin
We Want Eazy
Eazy Duz It
Ruthless Villain