When I listened to rap, NWA was not on my radar. I’m from the East Coast. If the rapper wasn’t a woman (Queen Latifah, MC Lyte), expresses pride in his or her culture (Jungle Brothers) or focuses on social issues (Public Enemy, De La Soul), I didn’t care. Ice Cube hit and stayed on my radar when he was in Boyz n the Hood and appeared on the soundtrack. Dr. Dre makes overpriced headphones. I didn’t know Eazy-E existed until I heard people talking about Straight Outta Compton. I know about Suge Knight because of the news footage of him appearing in courtrooms. I probably left rap because of how NWA influenced the rap landscape.
When I heard critiques of Straight Outta Compton not accurately representing NWA’s abusive relationship with women, I knew that I would not see it in the theaters. I want to support black movies, but not at the cost of erasing black women’s experiences. Audiences did not have the same concerns, and Straight Outta Compton was incredibly successful.
I finally saw Straight Outta Compton, and I can see why it was so profitable. Straight Outta Compton embraces and excels at embracing numerous movie genres and American biopic tropes (Camille cough), especially regarding the natural life span of a music group. If Straight Outta Compton feels different and new to audiences, it isn’t because the narrative is revolutionary, but because those conventional narratives have not been applied to a rap group in a drama feature length movie until now. Straight Outta Compton’s most powerful scenes address freedom of speech and police abuse of power. Unfortunately, these themes are still germane today.
I wanted more scenes of how the music was created or how Ice Cube and Dr. Dre learned how to be successful in business and leave. I highly doubt that just wielding a bat got them to where they are today. I was a little frustrated that Straight Outta Compton did not devote more time to how Heller financially exploited NWA instead of the alleged Suge Knight intimidation campaign. Knight’s intimidation scenes may have happened and are used to create further tension, but since nothing actually happened to Eazy-E or Heller, the scenes seemed redundant. It would have been sufficient for Straight Outta Compton to just include the scene with Dr. Dre intervening in the abuse of a man and eventually leaving Suge Knight.
I’m glad that I saw Straight Outta Compton…..at home. You can miss me and my money if every woman is either a pussy, a nag or just lives to be at home and help you.