Gritty Biopic About NWA Searches For "The Truth"

The gritty bio-pic Straight Outta Compton, about California's infamous hip hop supergroup NWA, tells the story not only of charismatic individuals and the origins of gangsta rap, but also of ongoing black struggle. NWA — formed in the '80s by DJs Dr Dre and Yella, MCs Ice Cube and Ren, and (the late) hustler/mogul/hype man Eazy-E — unleashed the controversial track Fuck Tha Police, protesting police abuse and racial profiling in their impoverished Compton, Los Angeles neighbourhood. These cultural revolutionaries raised the FBI's ire, foreshadowing the LAPD's widely-televised beating of Rodney King and the ensuing riots.

"The social constructs and the things that they were trying to shed light upon, in terms of police brutality … they were 'hood stars."

Directing SOC, its title from NWA's debut LP, is F Gary Gray, whose credits include Friday (written by and starring Cube). Corey Hawkins plays Andre "Dr Dre" Young alongside O'Shea Jackson, Jr, credibly embodying his father Ice Cube, and Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E — plus Paul Giamatti, unrecognisable as NWA's likeably roguish manager Jerry Heller. Hawkins views NWA as both political and personal: "I think for me, especially being a young black man growing up in America, it's one of those sort of cultural markers. What they were doing and talking about back then, the things that they were tapping into, the social constructs and the things that they were trying to shed light upon, in terms of police brutality and all of that kinda stuff, they were 'hood stars. They wanted to just make music for their community and they ended up tapping into something that I think a lot of people were afraid of at the time — and they kept their foot on the gas instead of pulling back." Hawkins, 26, wasn't born when NWA blew up, but he was exposed to their "reality rap" at home. "My mother's a police officer, but she was also a fan of the music."

A star graduate of the Juilliard School's drama program, Hawkins is an established stage actor. Recently, he joined TV's cult zombie series The Walking Dead. Yet, in Young, Hawkins depicts someone who is real, alive and a producer of the film. This was "a daunting, scary task." Young quit NWA to launch Death Row Records with Marion "Suge" Knight (a menacing R Marcus Taylor), but moved on again as the encroaching street drama became too distracting. Today the stoic super-producer is hip hop's most private, and inscrutable, figure. "He's a quiet guy but, when he makes noise, he makes noise," says Hawkins. Already cast by Gray, he met the "legend" himself over a meal. "At the end of the dinner, I remember Dre had my audition tape on his iPhone — and he was proud of it." Hawkins felt relief.

Gray, meticulous in his pursuit of authenticity, insisted the thespian learn to DJ. "He was relentless that we had to get this right. He was like, 'Specificity — I want specificity'." However, Young was more concerned that Hawkins capture the intangible — his "inner-life" and, ultimately, "the truth". Indeed, Hawkins conveys Young's terrible anguish at losing his younger brother. Young visited the movie set daily — and Hawkins had him on speed dial. "I could call Dre at four o'clock in the morning if I needed to — if I was still on set and we were working through a moment or something like that. He'd be at the studio working [laughs] and he would answer the phone and we would go through it and work it out."