"Fuck tha Police" | |
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Song by N.W.A | |
from the album Straight Outta Compton | |
Released | January 25, 1989 |
Recorded | 1988 |
Genre | |
Length | 5:43 |
Label | |
Songwriter(s) | |
Producer(s) | |
Audio | |
"Fuck tha Police" by N.W.A. on YouTube | |
Audio sample | |
"A sample of Ice Cube's verse on the song" |
"Fuck tha Police" is a protest song by American hip hop group N.W.A that appears on the 1989 album Straight Outta Compton as well as on the N.W.A's Greatest Hits compilation. The lyrics protest police brutality and racial profiling and the song was ranked number 425 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[2] In 2021, Rolling Stone re-ranked the song at number 190 in an updated list, and in 2025, the publication ranked the song at number 10 on its list of "The 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time."[3][4]
Since its release in 1989, the "Fuck the Police" slogan continues to influence popular culture in the form of T-shirts, artwork, political expression, and has transitioned into other genres as seen in the cover versions by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Dope, Rage Against the Machine, and Kottonmouth Kings.[5][6]