“Straight Outta Compton” Is A Cautionary Tale For Your Dreams

First things first. I will give you the complimentary spoiler alert before I proceed with reviewing Straight Outta Compton. There’s really not much to spoil because unless you’ve been living your life as an Amish citizen for the last 25 years, you know Eazy-E, a founding member of N.W.A. (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) died from AIDS complications, and Dr. Dre went on to become the wealthiest rapper with Ice Cube taking control of the film industry. Biopics can be tricky. Some lines cannot be crossed because of legal consequences and personal accounts of what really happened will differ. And of course, this is Hollywood so theatrics are essential to really make the story flow.

I purposely arrived at the theater 30 minutes early to observe what kinds of crowds a film of this caliber would attract. Sporting my N.W.A. t-shirt, I entered into intense moments of people watching. I saw black adults in their 40’s fill the theater to relive this golden age of urban music and not far behind were white adults of the same age group with their teenage sons and daughters. Interesting. While it is simple to dismiss this film as another “black movie”, anyone can walk away with valuable wisdom despite your age, ethnic background or musical preference.

I was really small during the reign of N.W.A. My earliest memories of them were solo projects and reruns of their music videos on Yo! MTV Raps. By the time I truly grasped what was going on in this turbulent time for music, Eazy-E passed away. All I can remember are images of him coming off as threatening and the inevitable stigma of AIDS. While my parents preached the gospel of “thou shalt not listen to that thug music in this house”, I quickly dubbed him as a bad man that died of a bad disease. I didn’t know any better. If you watch the old media footage, he was regarded as a man glorifying violence and had a lot of unprotected sex. Straight Outta Compton sets the record straight about his legacy.

Five guys. Five stories. Five directions to steer. To be fair, DJ Yella and MC Ren didn’t have much depth in the plot. They were kind of just there. As a general overview, we quickly learned Ice Cube is a genius writer and Dr. Dre is a fire producer. The story focused primarily on Eazy-E and scratched the surface on everyone else. Eazy’s character is hard not to love. As his lyrics go, “Easy-muthafuckin-E or Eric Wright it’s all the same”. A two and a half hour film unlocked the decades old legacy of a complex man. Played by newcomer Jason Mitchell, Eazy’s character exuded charisma and a can-do attitude easily earning him the protagonist role over the other N.W.A members. Eazy became an investor or the “Berry Gordy” of the group, making key decisions and signing off on papers where the fine print often went unread. Eazy demanded the guys stand out in all black, with shades and a cap, gheri curl optional. Their signature look and style is what you didn’t see from their peers in the movie. East coast rappers dawned track suits and Kangol gear while N.W.A kept it simpler out West. As noted in the film, Eazy was clearly no rapper but had a hunger to end his dope slinging ways and music became his last resort. A defining moment of the movie was the development of his rap flow with Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins). The way Eazy laid down the words “crusin’ down the street in my 64” let you know “stuff” was about to get so very real. There a strategy was executed.

Just like any story about the early days of a music group, N.W.A entered contracts and shady deals all eager to sign over their souls to the devil in the name of a quick dollar. N.W.A desperately wanted to leave the violent hood at any cost as snakes waited to bite at their heels. Ice Cube was the only one to proceed with caution. It is hard to tell if Eazy was naive or truly had no interest in learning the business, but his trust in the group’s manager Jerry Heller slowly drove a wedge between he and the other boys from the hood.

The beauty of Eazy and N.W.A. were their boldness to exercise their first amendment rights. Several people in the film disregarded their speech and told them what was deemed appropriate for music. Ice Cube’s character portrayed by his real-life son O’Shea Jackson Jr. notably says, “Our art is a reflection of our reality.” A reality the rest of the world, particularly law enforcement did not want to comprehend. During a show in Detroit, the officers demanded N.W.A. not perform “Fuck the Police”. During their set, crowd eager, energy hyped, it’s the moment where you put up or shut up. What if the fathers of gangsta rap called it quits and obeyed the rules all because no one cared about what was going on in the streets of Compton? The point is, it mattered to them. When that beat dropped, none of them were prepared for what was to follow. Federal warnings, repeated arrests, plenty of women and broken relationships came with the territory. Friends quickly became enemies and everyone went their separate ways.

Parts of the film lacked character reflection, leaving you to do the work. Eazy put himself between a rock and a hard place on two key occasions. At the very beginning of the film with his way of handling drug transactions and at the end as he sank in debt from bad decision making with Ruthless Records. Heller, played by Paul Giamatti, tells Eazy that there is a way to handle life in the streets as opposed a more corporate level. Eazy wore his thug persona as a means of protection in the streets, yet forgot to put it on when he made deals in the music industry. What Eazy learned a little too late was that you will find rats at the depth of your journey and when you finally reach your destination. You can’t feed them with your success. While Eazy sealed his own fate, his contributions with N.W.A. as shown in the movie made it easier for Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and so many others to proudly represent California.

Great acting, strong script, very entertaining. You’ll laugh in the right moments and sympathize where appropriate. If you grew up during this age of radical, hell raising music, I can guarantee that you will indeed get your entire life watching Straight Outta Compton. The music will surge through your veins, and you will have a chance to love Eazy-E for the man he truly was. N.W.A. put it all on the line just to make a point that their message could not be silenced as a means of easing the uncomfortable nature that arose for the rest of society. Straight Outta Compton proves it won’t hurt to take a gamble on what everyone else sees as a risk, but you must keep an eye on everything and everyone around you. This is a soundtrack of the hood. Listen closely, you might hear a tune familiar to your own story from “The World’s Most Dangerous Group”.