''It's a Compton Thang!'' is the debut studio album by American gangsta rap group

Compton's Most Wanted Compton's Most Wanted (C.M.W.) is an American gangsta rap group and part of the early West Coast hip hop scene. The leaders of the group are MC Eiht and Tha Chill. History Formation and early years C.M.W. included rappers MC Eiht, Tha Chill, ...

. It was released in 1990 through

Orpheus Records Orpheus Music is an independent record label that is part of Hush Management and is dedicated to R&B and jazz music, and home of recording artist Freddie Jackson. For years, it was distributed by EMI. Roster *Eric Gable *Freddie Jackson * Meli ...

. Recording sessions took place at Thllss Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

with audio engineer Mike "Webeboomindashit" Edwards and producers

DJ Slip Terry K. Allen, (born November 29, 1968) professionally known as DJ Slip, is an American record producer from Inglewood, California. He is a founding member of gangsta rap groups Compton's Most Wanted and N.O.T.R. Discography Solo *2007: ''Th ...

and

The Unknown DJ Andre Manuel, a disc jockey and record producer called The Unknown DJ or DJ Unknown, was a pioneer in the Los Angeles area's 1980s music scene, moving from electro funk and electro rap to gangsta rap. Now a legend of West Coast rap, he worked with ...

. It was

mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

at The Other Room in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York, by Jack Skinner. Ant Capone was supposed to be part of the group, but left prior to this album due to contractual and managing issues, and was replaced by

DJ Mike T Compton's Most Wanted (C.M.W.) is an American gangsta rap group and part of the early West Coast hip hop scene. The leaders of the group are MC Eiht and Tha Chill. History Formation and early years C.M.W. included rappers MC Eiht, Tha Chill ...

. The album peaked at number 133 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and at number 32 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated ...

chart in the United States.

Critical reception

''Old School Rap and Hip-hop'' wrote that "the true beauty of ''It's a Compton Thang'' is the initial synthesis of former electro legend the Unknown DJ with future gangsta icon MC Eiht as well as the pleasant reminder that West Coast gangsta rap was once more about old-fashioned fun than cheap thrills." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' thought that the album "lacks the sonic punch and the verbal verve of N.W.A."

Track listing

Personnel

* Aaron Tyler –

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Terry Keith Allen – producer, arranger * Michael Bryant – scratches * Andre Manuel – keyboards, producer, arranger, executive producer *Darryl "Lyrrad" Davis – additional keyboards, design *Mike "Webeboomindashit" Edwards –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

*Jack Skinner – mastering *Henry Marquez – art direction *Phil Bedel – photography *Weldon Cochren – production coordinator *Lynda Simmons – project coordinator

Charts

References

External links

* 1990 debut albums Compton's Most Wanted albums {{1990s-hiphop-album-stub