MUSIC AND ACTIVISM

THE ATTITUDE THAT BROUGHT YOU WHAT MATTERS

From N.W.A. to Black Lives Matter, a secret history

By Chang Hyun (Jono) Jun

The Attitude That Brought You What Matters

Who would think that two of the most significant and controversial figures of gangster rap would end up starring in and producing the Barbershop movies and founding a multi-million-dollar company dedicated to high-end speakers? Here’s another odd question: would you have guessed that these same two men would go on to produce a movie based on their younger days in the gangster rap scene, starring one of the men’s sons? Well, it happened. Mainstream celebrities Ice Cube and Dr. Dre produced Straight Outta Compton. Strangely enough, it’s not really a gangster rap movie. It has all the accoutrements of gangster rap—ho’s, cash, fast cars and drugs—but it’s really about something much more American. Business.

Directed by F. Gary Gray, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube released the film in the summer of 2015. Taking place in 1987, five young men use brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats to create some of the most searing music in American pop music history. They funneled all their frustration and anger about life in the ghetto into five albums that feel more like political weapons than art.

The film covers the young men coming together in 1986, using the drug profits from third founding member Eazy-E (Eric Wright) to form a record company, Ruthless Records. The very name tells you the conditions of its founding. In 1986, Ruthless Records became a platform for the upstart group, N.W.A an acronym for Niggaz with Attitude. They were one of the most influential groups of any genre for the last 30 years, not only beginning the rise of hip-hop, but setting the stage for the modern understanding of the African American experience, culminating in 2013’s Black Lives Matter movement.

N.W.A spoke the truth about life on the streets of Compton and managed to make the whole world pay attention by turning their problems into potent music. The film takes its audience back to the 1990’s when race relations were at their lowest point following the police beating of Rodney King and gang violence in Los Angles, leading to the 1992 Los Angeles riots. But it also looks forward to a world in which African-Americans take control of their lives and political future.

Rodney King, beaten

In 1998, N.W.A released their second album Straight Outta Compton. Without any radio play or media coverage it was able to become an underground hit and the notorious rap group introduced socially conscious gangster rap into the mainstream. “Fuck the Police” appears as the second song on the album which got a lot of attention from the world and stands out amongst the rest because of its controversial message. The narrative of the song highlights the ongoing tension between African-American youth and law enforcement. N.W.A wanted to show that California was less than beautiful beaches and pretty girls, and a whole lot more of grim, violent ghetto life.

In the film, Eazy-E is thrown against a cop car as officers insult his mother in front of their home, and the incident opens him to Dre’s idea of investing his drug money into music. Sometime later, local police officers accost all five members of the group in front of their recording studio. After the confrontation ends with their manager vouching for their presence at the studio, Ice Cube immediately goes in and writes “Fuck the Police.”

The song was the first in history to question pop music censorship and first amendment rights, causing N.W.A to soon become known as the “World’s most dangerous group." Four years after the controversial album’s release, the song even caught the notice of the federal government. The Assistant Director of the FBI Milt Ahlerich sent a letter to the group stating that “advocating violence and assault is wrong, and we in the law enforcement community take exception to such action. Recordings such as the one from N.W.A. are both discouraging and degrading to these brave, dedicated officers.”

Although African Americans were facing brutality at the hands of cops everyday, the rest of America still refused to believe what was happening. That all changed in 1991. Straight outta Compton revealed the dark side of Compton and life on the streets. N.W.A saw the present and predicted the future. On March 3, 1991 four white Los Angeles police officers brutally beat Rodney King, an unarmed black man, an incident captured on video by a man who happened to be walking by and had a camera. Footage of the beating spread fast. It was grotesque: the officers kicked and clubbed King 56 times.

The Eazy E Mantra

Kids on the street were happy to hear these stories finally being told. They gave shape and meaning to what had previously been an underground world. In the lyrics “Fuck the Police” Eazy E raps, “A young nigga got it bad 'cause I'm brown and not the other color so police think. They have the authority to kill a minority. Fuck that shit, 'cause I ain't the one. For a punk motherfucker with a badge and a gun to be beatin' on, and thrown in jail…”

This is what exactly happened to Rodney King. Over 20 officers were present and participated in the incident. Only four men were charged and the Superior District Court ruled them, all white LAPD officers, not guilty. That sparked a riot that spread throughout the whole of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The six-day uprising resulted in billions of dollars in damage and reported 55 lives lost.

Around the same time, with N.W.A was at the peak of its popularity, Eazy E, Dr Dre and Ice Cube got into a dispute over royalty issues. They all left N.W.A and formed their own labels, which produced a batch of diss songs. Ice Cube released a song called “No Vaseline” (date) which was a diss track towards his ex-partner Eazy E. Again, grabbing the attention of the media with his honest lyrics and stories, Ice Cube says, “When y'all motherfuckers moved straight outta Compton, Livin' with the whites one big house, And not another nigga in site, I started off with too much cargo, Dropped four niggas now I'm makin' all the dough, White man just rulin', The Niggas With Attitudes, who ya foolin’? Y'all niggas just phony.” The “White ones” was the main issue over the dispute. Even with the tension that was happening with African-Americans getting killed by white police officers, Ice Cube had a strong point of view that he was not going to allow a “White” person to take control of the fortune they had made to protect their own people.

N.W.A. laid the groundwork for...

N.W.A. laid the groundwork for how many African Americans view modern racism and the ongoing struggle against it. In 2012 the Black Lives Matter movement picked up the baton and has carried it even further. Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an international activist movement, originating in the African-American community, that campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people.

In July 2014 in New York City, Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black man, died after a white police officer placed him on a choke hold during an arrest. Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who wrapped his arm around Garner's neck before the man complained he couldn't breathe, was caught on video. This incident was the same as Rodney King’s case where the footage of the incident was immediately spread through the media, but also spread like wildfire online thanks to social media.

Unlike King’s trial, Officer Daniel Pantaleo faced separate charges for the use of a chokehold and for restricting the man's breathing, ultimately being found guilty. Nonetheless, protests sparked in New York City’s Times Square, leading even more organizations, like the women-led “Assata’s Daughters,” to rethink their ideas and start a new movement, which of course became Black Lives Matter.

Eric Garner

In an interview with the cast of Straight Outta Compton they revealed that Straight Outta Compton almost wasn't filmed in the city of Compton, listing Atlanta and locations in Canada as initial options due to budget considerations. "If you're saying it's Compton, I don't care what part of Winnipeg or what part of Toronto you found. It doesn’t look like Compton. It's not gonna be the same, you know?" Jackson, who portrays his father (Ice Cube) in the movie, explained. "You needed those people from the neighborhoods those people that remember to make it real, to make it authentic."

The people of Compton didn't disappoint when it came to showing support for the cast and crew. They climbed onto rooftops to peek into film sets, they brought food for the actors, and even rival gangs temporarily set aside their differences to come together as a community. "Compton came out and supported us hard. They were there every single day...just to make sure we were doing it right. But not in any negative way; it was all positivity," Hawkins said.

Compton

N.W.A.’s success was especially remarkable because the industry hadn’t figured out how to package “gangsta rap” as a product, and thus the artists had freedom to decide what they wanted to say. The film Straight Outta Compton does not shy away from the seemingly unchanged nature of police brutality and the hardships of being black in America, it’s not trying to sell the audience a comforting illusion about progress and reconciliation. But it does believe in the ability of artists and everyday citizens to be honest and critical about their situation. At a time when so little popular hip-hop music is eager to champion that same message, Straight Outta Compton and N.W.A. offer a welcome reminder of that collective power.

©Chang Hyun (Jono) and the CCA Arts Review