Straight Outta Compton

Straight Outta Compton follows the growth of Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), Dr Dre (Corey Hawkins), Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson Jr), DJ Yella and MC Ren into NWA.

Along the way it explores the associations with gang and drug culture, the harsh attitude and behaviour of the LAPD, and the controversy caused by this early example of gangsta rap and West Coast hip hop. With fame and national exposure, tensions grow in the band, due to clashing personalities and a shady manager, Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti). As the band splinters, not only does this lead to a public (and lyrical) war of words, but also multiple creative endeavours that cement the place of West Coast hip hop in musical history. 

There is no doubt that Straight Outta Compton is pure myth making. It prints the legend, lionising NWA and missing out a couple of the grittier scandals surrounding the group (noticeably Dr Dre’s publicised assault against a female journalist Dee Barnes is missing – although Dre has since publicly apologised for the omission). It’s just that Straight Outta Compton does it so well. Given the sheer breadth of story here, with the amount that happens over the various decades told, you can’t entirely damn the film for picking and choosing its tale.

It is easy to forget what a fertile cultural cache NWA grows into. Not just with their memorable capturing of the zeitgeist of communities disaffected by the confrontational stance of the LA police, Fuck The Police (a disaffection that swept the nation with the Rodney King trial, and exploded into rioting). NWA spread a culture of West Coast rap and various record labels, each with their own stable of greats and associated mythos. It is ridiculously rich ground for storytelling, and something we can only assume will be revisited many times over. 

So even as it starts out as a fairly standard, albeit well shot and acted music biopic, Straight Outta Compton soon outgrows this, becoming something richer. F Gary Gray perfectly captures the atmosphere - from a boarded-up crack house in Compton, to an amphitheatre on the verge of a riot. The cast of young actors also manages to recreate the attitude of the NWA crew. Although it must be said, O’Shea Jackson Jr has a distinct advantage in this regard, having had a lifetime to study his subject - Ice Cube, of course, being his father.

Grand scale myth making about a band that was indicative of an age and the culture it grew out of. Straight Outta Compton might be a more traditional take on the music biopic than, say, this year’s imaginative Love And Mercy, but it achieves its goals with aplomb. Entertaining, spectacular, energetic, and with a hell of a soundtrack built into it.

Originally published in X-Press Magazine