Kara Aguilar // Contributing writer
The streets of LA County’s Compton are at a hush. Stalking the roads are police cars, waiting for the moment to make an arrest like a predator hunting its prey. Approaching a deteriorating house, protected by barred windows and cascading locks on the doors, is a young Eric Wright , or Eazy-E. The mission is obvious and simple — sell the drugs and get out. But after being invited inside the crack house, the events that follow take a turn for the worse.
In just the opening scene of Straight Outta Compton it is almost impossible for the audience not to get lost in the excitement. Directed by F. Gary Gray, who is known for films such as “Friday” and “Law Abiding Citizen”, the biographical picture follows the emergence, downfall and influence of the notorious rap group N.W.A. (N*gg*z With Attitude).
The story begins in the late 1980s, during which time Eric Wright (Jason Mitchell) was a popular drug dealer, supplying crack to everybody and anybody who occupied the streets of Compton. With the money he profited off of dealing, Eazy-E decided to invest in Ruthless Records in an attempt to build a rap empire. He was assisted by two young writers who both shared a passion for the art of composing rap music, known as Ice Cube (O’shea Jackson Jr.) and Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins). In 1988, MC Ren (Aldis Hodge) and DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr.) were added to the group and they released their first album, Straight Outta Compton, forming N.W.A. The film accurately displays the group’s quick rise to fame, their even quicker downfall and the influence they had on rap music as we know it today. The story is told from perspectives of each member, delivering an unbiased picture of corruption in the music industry.
Beautifully crafted and accompanied with a well-researched screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff, Straight Outta Compton is one of the best movies that has been released this year. With breathtaking performances by O’shea Jackson Jr. (Ice Cube’s son in real life), Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, R. Marcos Taylor, and Paul Giamatti, the viewers are almost transported into 1980 street life. Not only is the movie for N.W.A. fans and classic rap and R&B consumers, but it is also a beneficial watch for those who find the band’s style of music controversial by giving the viewer a greater insight into who these men really were and the environment they were forced to grow up in.
With the recent escalation of media attention on events like Ferguson and Baltimore, Straight Outta Compton utilizes cinematic media to bring further attention to how big the problem of racial injustice in America has been for the past several decades. The movie is not just a thrilling story about the lifestyle that N.W.A. members emerged themselves in, but it also raises awareness of the sad realities a lot of people of color are still facing today.
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To contact Lifestyles editor Rhiannon Gilbert email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com
