You're now about, to witness the strength of street knowledge and you will love it. Straight Outta Compton was a pretty good movie

Rating: 8/10 (17 August 2015)

The subject matter inherent in most gangsta raps, has always caused a great deal of controversy of the years. Criticism against the genre, has always accused it as a foul way of promoting crime, street gangs violence, disregarding law enforcement, profanity, misogyny, homophobia, racism, drug abuse, etc. etc to today's youth. I can understand, their concerns, but clearly, I feel like, music like that, has always been unfair singled out, because how often the music reflects, the reactions of deep problems within urban society not being addressed or resolved, within those in power. While, it's alright that some people can condemned the genre; it's also, alright that a lot of people see it, as a way, to protest or address the several civil injustices within America and its dealing with race relations. Like the late 1980s, where the genre gain a lot of steam, many in the present day seem hungry for a smart look, direct or indirect, at the black experience and race relations today or at least in recent history. It's no wonder, why this movie became an internet sensation, even before it's released. People want an outlet! People want to see people rise up, against the system, and tells how things, really are. Directed by F. Gary Gray, this biographical drama film, tells the story of one of gangsta rap's most famous hip hop groups, the N.W.A. from their rise from Compton to their fall from the Billboard charts. Borrowing its title from the name of the group's 1988 debut studio album, the movie follows, the same often popular music theme biopic film clichés. Still, it does delivered something new, by presenting and addressing a more relatable topic that been in the news as of late, which is the relationship between black communities and mostly white police. This is by far, the movie's greatest hooking point, and the reason why this movie made so much, money. While, yes, the inner-money struggles of the rappers, might be engaging to a point; in my opinion, the majority of people, probably coming in, are more likely to relate to the group's 'F*** the Police' message, than anything else, that the film is delivering. After all, it's not like these rappers, are as popular as they were in the early 1990s; while yes, they still have their cult-following and, still able to sport some main stream status, but majority of their music skills has somewhat died down. Ice Cube became more of actor than an artist; Dr. Dre does more backseat-producing than anything else, and Easy E, well, we know what happen to him. Don't get me wrong, the movie does have a great cast, and the actors chosen to portray these real-life men were amazing. O'Shea Jackson Jr as Ice Cube was a near-mirror image of that of his father. Corey Hawkins really look and act, the part. While, Eazy-E's son, Lil Eazy-E didn't get the role, Jason Mitchell, who portrays his father in the film, really looks the part. Still, while, the movie is technically about the rap group, it's more popular message about police brutality and racial profiling, outshine the inner dramas of the group or the group's music. The movie rarely focus the songs, if any. The film play small bits of it, but the majority of the music use in the film, comes from later albums that, each member of the NWA did, on their own time, when separate from the group. It's nice to see the inner-working of other studios such as Death Row, and the Bomb Squad, but it's has little to do, with the overall N.W.A story-arch. The movie focus more on the three members being apart, than the group, being together. It doesn't hurt the film, but it's somewhat noticeable. For those wondering how accurate the movie is, to real life, the answer is that, despite Hollywood injecting some of its flair into it, it's mostly a true-to-life. There were some changes, such as how the 1989's events in Detroit, really play out and how certain popular rappers were introduce, but the majority, is the same. Sadly, the whole 'Bye Felicia' one of the most famous scenes in the film, was totally fake. The supporting cast for this movie was pretty good, as well. Despite, looking odd with the dye white hair, Paul Giamatti as the group's music producer, Jerry Heller was alright for the most part. R. Marcos Taylor as the sinister Suge Knight, was just crazy. I really hope, to see more from this actor in future films. One thing, that the movie loves to do, is have cameos. Don't be surprised, if you see, actors portraying real-life rappers such as Snoop Dog, Tupac, Public Enemy, and others have some small screen time, in this film, even if they don't really connect with the main story. Even at one point, the script, call a scene between Dr. Dre meeting Eminem. However, the script was changed, at the last second. The movie pacing is pretty good. It never felt long. Overall: While, this movie has strong language throughout, strong sexuality/nudity, violence, and drug use that might turn away, some viewers. For me, it's was very enjoyable. By far, one of the better hip-hop biopics, I have saw, and I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but it is must-watch for any NWA fan. You will like it.