I’ve been in what seems like a world wind for the last week or so. I’m fresh off a trip from NYC with Blogher and SheKnows media (which was great and post coming soon). It seems like I stepped off the plane in just enough time to be one of the first people to see Straight Outta of Compton. As a child growing up during the raised of N.W.A. I am a fan. Not so much of all of the music pushed out at the time but the overall message they stood for. Their message was true to the times then just as much as it’s sadly true to the times now. Watching the movie took me back to my childhood as if I was sitting on my living watching it all unfold on my parent’s floor model TV.
I’ll be honest. I wasn’t expecting much of this movie. With poorly made documovies like Aaliyah and Whitney the bar for Straight Outta of Compton was set very low. In my mind I was thinking, I’m going to see a group of guys that look like N.W.A. wearing all black while rapping over the song of the past. I was proven wrong. The men of N.W.A. all had a story to tell. Straight Outta of Compton grabs your attention for the second the film start. It opens with a back story of Eric” Easy-E” Wright. I’m not going to tell you the movie but please take note of this DON’T COME LATE!!! The movie then introduces us to Andre “Dr. Dre” Young followed by O’Shea ” Ice Cube” Jackson. Looking back now I’m even more amazed at their talent and business sense at such a young age. Ice Cube being only 16 when he almost single handily wrote the group first album. Or that Easy-E the only true gangster and drug dealer of the group funded the start of N.W.A. and Ruthless Records by himself. Most of all I now recognize the genius that is Dr. Dre. He had his hand as a founding father in 3 of the top record label in the country; Ruthless Records, DeathRow Records and his own current label Aftermath.
The movie touches on life in Compton, California starting in the late 80’s in which these young men were starting their music careers. It speaks about how they felt they were being treated by their family and girlfriends. It also speaks about how they navigated the daily struggle of dealing with gangs and the L.A.P.D. It’s a real-life success story of boys from the hood who were able to make it out.
Straight Outta Compton shows a brotherhood formed out of a collective dream that would later be broken up due to mismanagement and greed. For me, it made these men I’ve watched on media in one form or another real and relatable. I honestly laughed and cried. I also felt the anger of the injustice that was happening at the time. This movie is not Glee or Empire. It’s an in your face look at 5 black young men from Compton bless with amazing talent from the musical Gods. I encourage you to go see this movie. In the movie theater on August 14th not on bootleg. Support this movie with your dollars. Tell the media our stories should be told on the big screen and when they are we will support them.
Random fact:
I had chosen sides in the beef between Ice Cube and N.W.A. I was down with the Lynch Mob. Ice Cube was my favorite and had the biggest crush on him. I even “dated” a guy in my neighborhood because he looked like Cube. LOL, lame.
Go to my YouTube and watch the Q&A session given after the preview of the Straight Outta Compton in Chicago.
