‘This was a piece of history’
N.W.A’s message is still relevant today
Straight Outta Compton’s scenes of police violence are eerily similar to those we’ve seen on the news and in the headlines — a fact that has resonated with some moviegoers.
Midway through the film — a biographical drama about West Coast rappers N.W.A, out Friday — producer DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr.) watches video of Los Angeles police beating black cab driver Rodney King, an incident that ignited protests in 1991.
“He has a line where he says ‘At least we got them on camera,’ ” says O’Shea Jackson Jr., who plays his real-life father, Ice Cube. Yet at a New York screening recently, “you could hear the murmur of the crowd, like: ‘That doesn’t mean anything. That doesn’t hold water like it should.’ ”
Although director F. Gary Gray says Compton was not influenced by the killings of unarmed black men such as Michael Brown and Eric Garner — the movie had been in development for a decade — the cast still felt the weight of what they were filming, acting against actual LAPD officers.
“Ferguson, the ‘Hands Up’ movement and ‘I Can’t Breathe’ were all happening during filming. We were well aware of what was going on and what we wanted people to feel when they saw this film,” Jackson says. Still, “this police brutality, these oppressors have been around before N.W.A, during N.W.A and well after. Last year would’ve been perfect timing (for this film); the year before would, too.”
Growing up among gang warfare and drug-slinging in late ’80s Compton, Calif., N.W.A leaders Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Ice Cube (Jackson) and Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell) were no strangers to getting stopped-and-frisked or landing in a jail cell — experiences they epitomized in their explosive rap F--- Tha Police. Moreso than any of their other songs (or those on Dre’s new album, Compton, inspired by the film), Police’s defiant lyrics became an anthem of social change, even garnering unwanted attention from the FBI.
“The No. 1 thing that stands out to me is the impact that (they’ve) had on people being able to say what they want, especially in rap,” says Billboard senior editor Alex Gale. “They were really purposefully pushing the boundaries, even down to the curse words.” Now, “it’s hard to imagine how hip-hop and pop culture would’ve developed without them really kicking that door down.”
Cube isn’t so quick to accept praise and instead singles out newer artists such as Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole for their positive messages.
“I’m not delusional, that every song we did pushed a political edge to it — some songs were just the craziness of the neighborhood, and we weren’t always positive, but we were always honest,” Cube says. “I think that goes a long way, and I think that’s why the music is so great. Artists just need to be honest, and if they want to say something, say it. That’s the only way you get the best art.”
After an N.W.A TV documentary, World’s Most Dangerous Group, and appearances on VH1’s Behind the Music, Cube says interest was high in a big-screen retelling. But the project didn’t move full steam ahead until it switched studios from New Line to Universal and Gray came on board as director in 2011, prompting Dre to get involved as well.
“When he saw how passionate me and Gary were to make the right kind of movie and that he’d be fully involved in the creation of it, I think he saw the potential in what we could do,” Cube says. “It was better to be involved than to stand on the sideline.”
But just because he’s the producer’s son didn’t mean Jackson automatically had the role of Cube, Gray says. In fact, the first-time actor spent two years auditioning and working with acting coaches.
With Cube on set nearly every day, Jackson would go to him for some fatherly advice about mannerisms and music. He also started to see his dad through new eyes.
“For as long as I’ve known him, he’s always strategizing — he doesn’t like to do things without a plan,” Jackson says. “So when I was doing this film ... (I learned) he didn’t have a plan when he left the group.
“It really speaks to his character and integrity at such a young age, to leave the top of the world, with his friends he grew up with, and start from the ground up.”