Straight Checkn'Em

Compton's Most Wanted | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 16, 1991)
• Original Release Date: July 16, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000027S9
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #313,068 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I tried hard to love this album..., April 7, 2005

By 

Mike J (Central Coast, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straight Checkn'Em (Audio CD)

but I was really disappointed with it when it came out. Being a huge fan of It's A Compton Thang, I immediately went out and purchased Straight Checkn 'Em. I was expecting more of the same: original hardcore and humourous lyrics, great beats, and CMW's unique style. What I got was a mixed bag with flashes of brilliance but mostly uninspired songs.

After a pointless intro, the album starts off nicely with "They Still Gafflin". Good hardcore ruff stuff I'd come to expect from CMW. The undisputed classic "Growin' Up in the Hood" from the Boyz In The Hood soundtrack pops up next. If you have somehow managed to miss this track in your travels, just know that this was the song that made CMW's career. It is the beginning of their recognition outside of California and easily one of the most influential songs in all Gangsta rapdom. Unfortunately, after this track the album starts to slip.

Part of the strength of Compton Thang was the creative samples and loops that Unknown had hooked up. For most of the remainder of Checkn 'Em, beats appeared that had been used only a year or two before by greats like Big Daddy Kane (see "Straight Checkn 'Em") and others. I got the feeling that this album may have been done as some sort of rush job to keep up with the tidal wave that "Growin' Up in the Hood" had created. Let it suffice to say that the beats sound very formulaic and few risks were taken with production.

That doesn't mean that there are not some gems here. To this day I find "I Don't Dance" a hysterical dedication to those of us that were and are too cool to do the running man. A glimmer of the old CMW production brilliance is here when Eiht becomes exasperated when a club DJ "threw on the 'Ice Ice Baby'". The notorious sample of "Under Pressure" by Queen pops up momentarily and Eiht deadpans that "that !*%? don't faze me". The DJ work on the hook is also brilliant: Zapp "I can make you dance" followed by LL Cool J "I don't think so". Also, despite it's poor sound quality, it is difficult not to be impressed by the ambition of "Driveby Miss Daisy" where Eiht successfully paints a vivid lyrical motion picture of a gangster tale gone wrong.

A final disappointment was a decided lack of Chill aka Tha Chill aka Tha Chill M.C. I know that Chill had run into some legal trouble between "Growin' Up in the Hood" and Checkn' Em and that he eventually did a bid for whatever it was, (hence his complete disappearance from the music scene until '97 or '98). If I had to guess, I'd say he had a lot of legal battles and other troubles on his mind while the rest of CMW must have been struggling to focus on this album.

While it is far from garbage, this album remains to me as a blemish on the recording career of CMW. Despite my disappointment, it remains an album worth checking out as it is better than a lot of other garbage out there today and back then as well. I consider it a slight misstep before the greatness to come on the follow-up classic Music To Driveby.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars geeah growin up n da hood, November 2, 2002

By 

Sherance M. Brothers (Jasper, Alabama United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straight Checkn'Em (Audio CD)

this was bumping back in 91 and i will bump this now mc eiht always hel;d his own from his debut these songs are street jams and hit hard and dj mike t ain't bad either on turntables. faves are compton's lynchin, def wish, driveby miss daisy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I STARTED TO GROW IN TO IT, June 24, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Straight Checkn'Em (Audio CD)

I DID NOT LIKE THIS ALbUM WHEN I FIRST GOT IT,bUT
I LUV IT NOW,MIKE T FUNKY TRACC IZ DA HARDEST LOC.