Starring: O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil
Brown Jr., Aldis Hodge, Marlon Yates Jr., R. Marcos Taylor, and Paul Giamatti.
Director: F. Gary Gray
Producer: Matt Alvarez, Scott Bernstein, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, David
Engel, F. Gary Gray, Tomica Woods-Wright
Writers: Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge, Alan
Wenkus, Andrea Berloff
Music: Joseph Trapanese
Cinematographer: Matthew Libatique
Editor: Billy Fox, Michael Tronick
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Running Time: 147 minutes
Rated: MA15+
Say what you want about gangsta rap music, Straight Outta Compton will have you respecting the genre in a
whole new light. A loose biopic about the rise of iconic rap artists such as
Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and the late Eazy-E, with incorporated introductions to
platinum artists such as Snoop Dogg and 2Pac, the film sucks us into the ghetto
streets of Los Angeles during the late 80s to early 90s, hitting us hard with
the harsh realities of police brutality, fighting for your dream against unrelenting
challenges, and life in Compton.
We open on Eazy-E coming to collect money for a dope deal that
soon takes a turn for the worse. The film then follows on making introductions
to all the original N.A.W. crew members, showing us a glimpse of what impossibilities
they had to claw their way out from using only their beats and rhymes. For
these guys, the music is where they felt they could unguardedly break free.
That recording studio did not see race, or gender, and it provided a safe
capsule of uncensored artistic expression that ultimately empowered them all to
not settle for what society had branded them as.
Although it was not outwardly spelt out for us as an audience,
the film touched strongly on police brutality and the constant humiliation,
invasion, and unwilling submersion an African American man had to endure in
America during the decade from the birth of rap music through to its
establishment. If you were of black origin, you could get hustled by the police
just for standing on the corner of the street. You had no rights and the law
enforcement officers felt they were above the constitution therefore resulting
in unwarranted pat downs, curb eating’s, and cuffing’s. It was corruptive
police brutality that the N.A.W. challenged with their release of ‘F**k The
Police’; a song that was banned in many states as well as warned off by the
F.B.I. despite its popularity.
Considering the recent police related shootings that have
sparked outcries associated with racial discrimination, this film puts into
question whether the law enforcement in America has truly evolved past the
manner in which it is reflected in Straight
Outta Compton? Did the impact of the L.A. Riots and the influence of the
epidemic of gangsta rap music in the early 90s not resonate with those sporting
a badge in blue? It makes one think that although art may give the masses a
voice, or challenge the system, it is still classed as a form of expression
that merely lies in the First Amendment of a U.S. Citizens right to Freedom of
Speech…and that does not oppose a vigilant threat it seems. On the plus side,
it was solely about the music for the N.A.W. guys and as long as they were
recording tracks, the trivial paraphernalia didn’t matter.
Straight Outta Compton is well written,
superbly acted, and has a soundtrack that will have anyone who was a teenager
in the 90s smiling or reminiscing. Regardless of your love (or lack there of)
for gangsta rap music, this film will have you laughing, learning and riveted
throughout. A must-see if you are a fan of these artists or are curious to
discover what life was really like if you had ‘big dreams of making big cream’
on the streets.
