Straight Outta
Compton is straight-out great. The movie serves as a historical reference
for how gangsta rap came to be.
I’ve never been
much of a rap/hip-hop fan, and by the time N.W.A was dropping hits, I was too
young to listen to them. But no music lover can say they haven’t heard of the
great lyricist Ice Cube or one of the best producers out there, Dr. Dre. So,
not being old enough to have experienced what N.W.A was all about didn’t stop
me from enjoying this movie.
Other than being
a combined life story of five men who chose to sing about what they saw daily
on the streets of Compton rather than pretend it wasn’t happening, the movie
delivers in terms of fun and entertainment. Although the group is made up of
Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, and MC Ren, to be honest, the movie mainly
focuses on the lives of Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and Dr. Dre. I guess the others
didn’t have as much impact on the music scene as these three.
The movie
delivers some hard blows, as we get to see our stars at their most vulnerable.
It seemed like Ice Cube had his head screwed on right at all times—not wanting
to be taken advantage of by anyone and choosing to be alone rather than be
anybody’s fool. That mindset paid off for him in the end.
Directed by F.
Gary Gray, Straight Outta Compton starts with an introduction to the
man who made N.W.A happen: Eazy-E. Eazy sold drugs on the street and made
enough money from it. One day, he was approached by his friend Dr. Dre to
invest in the music business and start a label. Eazy did just that and named it
Ruthless Records.
After his first
hit song, “Boyz-n-the-Hood”—written by Ice Cube and produced by Dr. Dre—became
a hit, N.W.A was formed. With that came their controversial hit song "F@#k
tha Police." The group grew and toured around America, selling out concerts.
Ice Cube left the group after feeling cheated by the contract agreement he was
asked to sign. This had a huge impact on the group, as Cube was their primary
writer.
Cube went on to
become a successful solo artist. Dr. Dre also left the group when he discovered
the contract he signed was one-sided, favoring Eazy. Years later, Eazy found
out he, too, was being screwed over by his partner, Jerry Heller. This led to
their breakup, and Eazy began working on reuniting N.W.A before tragedy struck.
If you haven’t seen Straight Outta Compton, you should.
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