by Contributing Writer, Shanaya Nalls
Straight Outta Compton features the birth of the nation’s most controversial rap group: N.W.A. and their rise to fame in the late 80s at a time when it was especially difficult to successfully crossover to mainstream America in the music business.
The film stars several new up and coming actors including Ice Cube’s oldest son O’Shea Jackson Jr. who gives an eerily similar portrayal to his father. The film gives an accurate interpretation of events which lead to the breakup of the group and the untimely death of rapper Eric Wright, better known as Eazy E, who died in early 1996 due to complications from AIDS.
Several rappers such as Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg are also featured in the film; however, director Gray focuses primarily on the members of N.W.A. The film also centers around the livelihood of young African American males growing up in South Central Los Angeles and their frustrations with the LAPD as well as the Los Angeles Riots in 1992.
It was an exceptional view by director, F. Gary Gray who also directed the well-known Friday and Set it Off in the mid 1990s. Straight Outta Compton is due out in theatres this Friday, August 14th; don’t miss this one, it’s definitely a movie for the big screen!
