No matter how you feel about rap music in general and NWA specifically, the music and band are connected to the late 80s racial unrest in the way that Woodstock is connected to the late 60s Zeitgeist. Songs like ‘F**k tha Police’ made them few friends in the establishment, but they spoke to and for a generation still feeling oppressed.
Coming to theaters August 14th, Straight Outta Compton – The Story of N.W.A. tells the story of the group that became an incredibly polarizing force of change in the music industry and impacted how the entire country viewed race and urban music culture. Their songs, combined with the acquittal of police officers in a video-taped beating, had an incendiary effect of a people who had grown weary of living in a culture of oppression.
At the same time, growing concern of the impact of pop culture on kids was leading governmental task forces and subcommittees to look at censorship and labeling music based on lyrics and content, and possibly a rating system that would result in many releases being blocked from stores such as Walmart. Frank Zappa and John Denver were those who appeared to fight for First Amendment rights, the rights of people such as N.W.A. to express their ideas freely – after all the First Amendment is about protecting difficult unpopular speech, since comfortable and popular speech never needed protection.
From the release:
In the mid-1980s, the streets of Compton, California, were some of the most dangerous in the country. When five young men translated their experiences growing up into brutally honest music that rebelled against abusive authority, they gave an explosive voice to a silenced generation. Following the meteoric rise and fall of N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton tells the astonishing story of how these youngsters revolutionized music and pop culture forever the moment they told the world the truth about life in the hood and ignited a cultural war.
Starring O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell as Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E, Straight Outta Compton is directed by F. Gary Gray (Friday, Set It Off, The Italian Job). The drama is produced by original N.W.A. members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, who are joined by fellow producers Matt Alvarez and Tomica Woods-Wright. Will Packer serves as executive producer of the film alongside Gray.
For more info head to the official site.
NOTE: this is a ‘red band’ trailer, meaning it is basically the same rating as the film … which looks like a solid ‘R’ based on the trailer!
So what do you think… any interest?
Check out the ‘Straight Outta Compton – The Story of N.W.A.’ trailer:
