N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton LP

In 1988, rapper MC Ren joined NWA, and later that year the group released their debut album "Straight Outta Compton". Though not a success at first, "Straight Outta Compton" helped pave the way for the emerging gangsta rap scene in the 1980s, and reached number 37 in the Billboard Top 200 in May 1989, while it reached number 9 on Billboard's Top Soul LPs. The album managed to sell over three million copies without any airplay, and spawned three singles, two of them charting successfully: "Straight Outta Compton", "Gangsta Gangsta", and "Express Yourself".