I was a young teen when I first heard “The Grand Finale” by N.W.A. and The D.O.C., and I can honestly say it changed my outlook on music. It was a hard-hitting, street anthem with blaring big band components and lines like, “F*ck a car, I do a muthaf*cking walk-by,” that I repeated for weeks after the first listen.
As riveting as their music was, the inception of the group and the drama that went on behind their recordings was just as compelling. There’s the story about how Ice Cube and the group taught Eazy-E to rap; Dr. Dre beating up TV personality Dee Barnes; the media backlash against their music; The D.O.C.’s car accident; Dre and Eazy-E’s beef, and so much more. I’m very interested in seeing how all these narratives are threaded together when Straight Outta Compton premieres on the big screen.
The film is scheduled for August 14, 2015. It’s directed by F. Gary Gray, starring Paul Giamatti as the group’s manager, Jerry Heller, as well as Ice Cube’s son O’Shea Jackson. The trailer should be on its way soon, but you can check it out — albeit in not so great quality — above, filmed during an Ice Cube concert earlier this month.
