After years of hype and anticipation, N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton has finally hit theaters. The film based on the group that single handedly thrusted West Coast Hip Hop into mainstream America clearly set some cinematic standards for future rap stories hitting the silver screen. Reviews for Straight Outta Compton have been nothing short of phenomenal at the present moment. And, it’s understandable considering the expertly crafted direction and cast. Like any great film based on musical icons, discussions of things left in and out are inevitable. With that in mind, here are some things the F.Gary Gray directed film covers and flat out misses.
Covered
The War On Drug’s Effect On L.A. County
It’s no secret Ronald Reagan’s War On Drugs caused a lot of problems in hoods everywhere from New York to Los Angeles. Straight Outta Compton’s opening scene introducing Eazy E involves a drug deal interrupted by a raid. This includes battering ram tanks that could rip someone’s home to shreds in a matter of minutes.
N.W.A.’s Relation To The Police
There’s a pivotal scene where Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy E and DJ Yella are harassed by the police while hanging outside of a recording studio. This motivates them to write “Fuck Tha Police” which causes enough controversy to have the FBI send them letters and more even more issues with law enforcement.
How Sinister Suge Knight Actually Was
Suge Knight is an unhinged monster without remorse and played expertly by R. Marcus Taylor. He brutalizes Eazy E into releasing Dr. Dre from his Ruthless records contract, beats one of his employees for parking in his spot and makes someone strip half-way naked. Knight was suppose to serve as Dre’s way of reinventing himself creatively but something darker happened in the process.
What Actually Broke Down N.W.A.
Contractually, Eazy E’s deal with Jerry Heller in regards to Ruthless Records left Dre, Cube, Yella and Ren without much to pocket financially. Cube watching E and Heller eat well while he’s chowing down on a donut starts a chain of events that led to a breakup and disses slung everywhere. If money is the root of all evil, there isn’t a better example.
Ignorance Hip Hop Had About AIDS During That Time
When Eazy realizes he has AIDS after collapsing, the first thing coming out of his mouth is “I ain’t no faggot.” That properly displays how ignorant many in Hip Hop and the community at large were to the epidemic. After Eazy’s death, much needed conversations about the disease began to happen.
Omits
Dr. Dre’s Violent Attack On Dee Barnes
Much has been said about how Straight Outta Compton leaves out Dr. Dre’s brutal attack on rap journalist Dee Barnes. Anyone remotely interested in Hip Hop understands exactly how big the story was at the time. The advent of social media brought up these claims forced the Aftermath Entertainment head to address the scandal head on for the first time recently with Rolling Stone Mag.
Dre and Eazy E Post N.W.A. Disses
Once N.W.A. officially broke up, Dre and Eazy both sent savages diss toward one another. The animosity between the two were real. “Dre Day” and “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s” were hard hitters at the time. Before Drake made radio friendly diss records that charted, Dr. Dre had already mastered the art. It was a quite the spectacle at the time.
Tupac Created Created “Hail Mary” After “California Love”
Tupac’s introduction is well acted by Marcc Rose. Almost as if Rose is the embodiment of the late rapper, it only hypes up his long delayed biopic. There’s something chronologically out of order when Pac is seen recording “Hail Mary” before receiving the beat for “California Love” from Dre. The problem is that “Hail Mary” would be apart of Pac’s Don Killuminati era before his death. “California Love” was originally for Dre’s sequel to The Chronic and the first single planned during the early stages of Aftermath allegedly.
DJ Yella & Mc Ren’s Post- N.W.A. Lives Were Downplayed
History is always told by the victors. The narrative arc of Straight Outta Compton is primarily focused on Cube, Dre and Eazy. DJ Yella and MC Ren aren’t given the same kind of follow-up. MC Ren went on to have a semi successful solo career and even release the pretty amazing Shock Of The Hour. Meanwhile, the post-N.W.A. porn career of DJ Yella has become the stuff of legends for many.
Eazy E’s Success With Bone Thugs N’ Harmony Isn’t Highlighted
After N.W.A. breaks up, Eazy is treated as someone down on his luck financially enough to be bagging up weed to make ends meet. While in the hospital room on his death bed, MC Yella gives him a tape featuring Bone Thugs N’ Harmony. The problem is, Bone was already successful and well into making their groundbreaking sophomore follow-up E. 1999 Eternal before Eazy succumbed to AIDS. For heaven’s sake, Eazy is featured on Creepin On Ah Come Up single “For the Love Of Money,” a track Dr. Dre samples on Compton. Commercially, Bone saw better success than N.W.A.
DJ Yella. There’s no MC Yella…
I kno right. Get it right HHDX
The Dee Barnes story was here today and gone tomorrow. It was not as big as the internet and HHDX woyld like for you to believe.
Yep, it got about as much pub as Puffy putting hands on Drake.
almost every dre article from back in the days used to mention the Dee Barnes story. it was not “here today gone tomorrow” since rap music didn’t have much coverage other than its own publications. even within rap pages,rap sheet, the source etc..it would always be brought up because it was in fact still recent/relevant news…from ice cube’s departure from NWA to dre’s departure for Death Row, less than 10 years passed. the in flux of info was not like how it is today; old topics always got rehashed.
Along with the top 2 comments, the Bone story doesn’t hold water either. The movie addressed Bone with E when E went to see Cube at the club.
Pac had no business in the movie period. Eazy E died while Pac was still in prison. There was no overlap. I guess they wanted to use Pac because people associate him so much with Death Row but the Dre/Snoop/Dogg Pound Death Row was basically a different era than the short (only 9 month) Pac era Death Row.
In the movie they showed PAC after easy died
So in the movie they down played his success he had with bone?? Wow that was prob dre idea if you ask most people that actually knew easy they would tell you that when he got bone that’s when he got his joy back. Bones first release was a ep that went triple platnium, that was huge for E and ruthless it help him move on from new.
a missed opportunity to tell the real/human story of one of the most influential groups in rap history. it’s a shame that ice cube and dre were executive producers on this; voiding it from an real objectivity and honesty. omitting any of the material that might cast them in a bad light really gave a skewed revisionist history of the group history, evolution, and legacy. of course this is expected from almost any “autobiographical” film–especially when the executive producers still have vested interests on maintaining and capitalizing off their respective and collective brand/brands—-(domestic violence,bigotry, misogyny is not a good look for future ventures AND likewise, showing their humanity/frailties/insecurities or addressing the REAL political and systematic issues going on at the time may take away from their seemingly larger-than-life, tougher than steel personas). my problem is, why leave all that out when it can easily be researched? ??especially when their whole story (good and bad) has been documented over the past 2 and half decades. they should have been as expository as possible ;giving the people something new and not a convoluted aggrandizing ego/vanity project. for a group that was fearless, audacious, and brave, this film’s portrayal seemed way too safe and streamlined. seems they were way too conscious of their backer’s interest/agenda. in some regards, they co opted their own history and proved to be as subservient to the same system they once opposed…for the love of money. bet we never see a public enemy movie in our lifetime! can’t truss it!
and would someone please get the details right? for a period piece, please do the proper research and come correct with it properly. from the clothing,cars, studio equipment to the overblown concerts…things didn’t look like that in the 80s or the 90s for that matter! new era fitted’s and pristine baggy jeans were NOT happening back then. dookie chains didn’t go all the way down to their stomachs hahahhaha. if they can get it right (or more accurate) for other period pieces, why can’t they ever get it right in a rap related movie. nickelodeon ass production value!
Blah, blah, blah. That’s what your entire comment is, an entire novel about nothing.
Good Stuff!
When Eazy met up with Cube in the club in NYC he said that he was there with Bine Thugs. And when E was in the hospital Yella said here’s a copy of the “new Bone Thugs” and that it will be bigger than the last one.
And when Dre was trying to get his girl to move in with him she did reference his assault case (which had to be Dee Barnes.
They misportrayed how jerry and eazy met.. eazy paid lonzo money to take him to meet jerry
Maybe Crossroads should have been played during the candlelight vigil….
They also portrayed the group with black white sox hats in the 80s when the Sox didn’t go to the black and white uniforms until 1991. Dr Dre wore it prominently in the Deep Cover video.
The writer of this article doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Aside from MC Yella = DJ Yella, the following is completely erroneous:
“There’s something chronologically out of order when Pac is seen recording “Hail Mary” before receiving the beat for “California Love” from Dre. The problem is that “Hail Mary” would be apart of Pac’s Don Killuminati era before his death. ”
How would Hail Mary be a part of Don Killuminati Era before his death? If it was before his death, Hail Mary would be a part of the ‘All Eyez On Me’ era. It actually WAS on the Don Killuminati era, after his death. SMH…
7 day theory album was planned before his death
Also, if you listen to “The Message” on the Chronic 2001, it sure as hell seems as though Dre’s brother Tyree died AFTER Eazy E. “I thought I learned from Eazy, now I’m going through it with you.”
Arabian Prince and Dre’s Wrecking Cru days were omitted, and Lonzo was the one who introduced Eazy to Jerry Heller largely because Dre was pumping up Jerry to Eazy. Also Ice Cube, through Lonzo’s account, never stepped foot in Doo-To’s and was doing Beastie Boys imitations prior to hooking up with Dre