Happy 30th Anniversary to Compton’s Most Wanted’s second studio album Straight Checkn ‘Em, originally released July 16, 1991.
The music industry is a copycat industry, so after the success of N.W.A on the strength of their debut album Straight Outta Compton in 1988, every record label out there rushed to sign every aspiring “gangsta” rapper from Southern California to a deal. A whole lot of these artists dropped maybe one album and were never heard from again.
Compton’s Most Wanted were not one of these flashes in the pan, but the genuine article. With their second album, Straight Checkn ’Em, Compton’s Most Wanted showed that they had what it took to stick around for a while. It’s arguably their best album and solidified their standing in the realm of hip-hop.
Straight Checkn ’Em was recorded over roughly a three-week period in the spring of 1991. Aaron “MC Eiht” Tyler handles nearly all of the rhyming duties and as with their debut LP It’s A Compton Thang (1990), the album was produced by Terry “DJ Slip” Allen and Andre “Unknown” Manuel, with all of the scratches handled again by Mike “DJ Mike T” Bryant.
Everyone had improved their respective skills with this sophomore effort. Eiht’s increase in stature is the most apparent. Known for his smooth yet slightly edgy delivery, he sounds more confident and refined. It’s also notable that Mike T has a more commanding presence as he works the turntables.
There’s no huge artistic leap from first to second album, but one isn’t required. Straight Checkn ‘Em builds on CMW’s solid debut, showing more depth where it counts. The album is a first-rate collection of well-executed gangsta shit, filled with braggadocio, along with gritty tales of “street” reality.
CMW provides some of its grittiest material on “Growin’ Up In The Hood,” the album’s first single. It would be the last song for a while to feature a lyrical performance by Vernon “Chill MC” Johnson. It’s A Compton Thing featured Eiht and Chill more or less in equal measure, with the two splitting rapping duties on most tracks. However, during the recording process for Straight Checkn ’Em, Chill began a four-year incarceration, and was only able to record a verse for this song.
“Growin’ Up In The Hood” was featured on the Boyz N’ The Hood soundtrack (1991), released right around the same time as this album. Eiht seems to rhyme from the perspective of Darren “Doughboy” Baker, Ice Cube’s character in the film, though their plotlines don’t completely match. Chill personifies the role of a hardened street warrior, selling drugs and killing without remorse, only to be taken out in the blink of an eye. The musical backdrop adds to the songs drama, as the two rhyme to the strains of guitar and strings from the theme song to Cleopatra Jones and drums that incorporate elements of both Funk Inc.’s “Kool Is Back” and Mountain’s “Long Red” breaks. Due to Chill’s legal troubles, Eiht rapped all four verses on the video version of the song.
“Raised In Compton” is an even better example of Eiht’s ability to describe the decay of the city of his birth and the effects that blight has on its residents. He details how gang life becomes an inevitability for many Compton youths, pulled in by family or the need to belong. He also illustrates how these conditions continue to feed into an unyielding cycle of violence.
“Driveby Miss Daisy” is the album’s darkest entry, as Eiht relates two separate tales of the bloody consequences of drive-by shootings. He delves into the backgrounds of all involved, from the shooters, to their rivals, to the innocent “Miss Daisy’s” who get caught in the crossfire. Slip and Unknown sample Lou Donaldson’s “Pot Belly,” which makes any track grim, and layer Eiht’s vocals with a slight haze, giving the two verses an even more nightmarish sheen. Accomplished session musician William Zimmerman contributes a “hellish piano solo” to seal the deal.
At times, Straight Checkn ’Em explicitly builds on It’s A Compton Thang. CMW opens the album with “They Still Gafflin’,” a sequel to one of the group’s best-known songs, “One Time Gaffled ’Em Up.” Eiht rails against harassment by law enforcement, talking trash to police officers “poppin’ that KKK shit.” Meanwhile, “Can I Kill It?” is Eiht’s sequel to “Late Night Hype” from It’s A Compton Thing. The song features Eiht celebrating his conquests, using his conversational flow over two exceptionally smooth grooves: the first built around a sample of Teddy Pendergrass’ “Love TKO” and the second a loop of The Isley Brothers’ “Footsteps In The Dark.”
Considering how much understated cool Eiht radiates, it’s a pleasant surprise that he uses a little humor throughout the album. Gangsta rappers have a history of being pretty damn funny on record (e.g., Ice Cube, Eazy-E, WC, and King Tee), but Eiht sticks to observational humor. “I Don’t Dance” is somewhat of a parody of a dance song; another rapper could turn the Zapp-heavy track into a dancefloor anthem. Instead, Eiht expresses complete bafflement at the dynamics of the club scene, including the crowds of dancers hopping around “like they’re on crack.”
Though Eiht usually raps to slower fare on this album, he also sounds good over higher tempo beats, particularly the album’s title track, the project’s second single. The song easily could have been released in the mid to late ’80s, the backdrop is made from raw, pounding drums and repeated synth effects, while Mike T cuts furiously on the chorus. Eiht goes for both quality and quantity here, delivering four verses to eviscerate emcees that half-step. “Suckers run up and get slapped,” he raps. “Damn, I thought you was smarter than that? / Then to dis the brother who is Compton stepping / Microphone is kept as the murder weapon.”
“Mike T’s Funky Scratch” is also as dope of a dedication to the DJ as you would have found in 1991. Eiht kicks a pair of 12 bars verses, but mostly lets Mike T speak for himself, as he provides a flurry of cuts, flexing his technique effectively. “Compton’s Lynchin’” features Eiht dropping another four verses of pure heat over a sample of Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s “Superman Lover.” “I got you trapped in a motherfucking straight coat,” he raps. “I guess you just can’t talk with a clenched throat / So punk don't try to bargain with your rhymes / Playing me close will mean your crossing Eiht’s line.”
Besides being a dope track, “Def Wish” is notable as the accidental flashpoint of one of the more interesting gangsta rap feuds. The song features Eiht delivering Old West-themed battle rhymes over a loop of The Blackbyrds’ “Wilford’s Gone” and vocal samples from Young Guns II. However, due to what Eiht has characterized as a misunderstanding, the song played a part in starting a protracted war of words between him and fellow Compton hip-hop hero DJ Quik.
Quik took offense to the line, “Biting my shit, you can get the duck sick quick,” thinking Eiht was calling him out. In actuality, Eiht has said that he wasn’t aware of the Compton-born rapper/producer’s existence when he wrote the rap in question. The pair spent most of the early to mid-1990s responding to each other’s disses on record, before squashing the beef years later.
A little over a year later, CMW would take another incremental step with Music To Driveby (1992), an album that was just a notch below the overall quality of Straight Checkn ‘Em, but demonstrated even more maturity and thoroughness in execution. By then, CMW was indisputably one of the best gangsta rap groups around. They reached that position by sticking to their strengths and reflecting the environments that molded them. “Real” has never sounded more real than it does here.
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