People might know already that the bio film "Straight Outta Compton" dropped in theaters about a week ago, and has been showing crazy numbers in the box office. I’ve been seeing things all over social media about how good it was and how it was one of the best movies they saw this summer. Even some of my friends and family are saying how it was so good that they would go pay money to watch it again for the second time. Now I’ll have to it admit, growing up I didn’t listen to that much of N.W.A’s music. I mean I knew like two songs from them. I was always more of an Ice Cube and Dr. Dre fan growing up more than an actual N.W.A fan. But after watching this movie, I can see why it made such an impact at the box office. Here are my three reasons on why you should go out and see “Straight Outta Compton”.

• The cast in the movie is amazing!
• The movie touches on events that still happen today.
• It’s a great hip hop film for Christ sakes!

1.) Although most of the cast in this movie are newcomers to a big screen movie like this, I felt the whole cast did an excellent job. I think it was a smart decision on director F. Gary Gray part to cast group of unknown talent because that way when you look at them you can think of them as that character instead of someone from a show or movie. I love how you get a feel of who each member of N.W.A was, especially through the main members Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Easy E. Even though they all do some bad things to try get by in their neighborhood, you sympathize with them because they all want to do better with their lives and use their music to do it. I have to say my favorite character in the film was Dr. Dre because not only does he seem like the most reasonable one out of the group, but also he is the one who believed that they could really make a difference with their music and encouraged the group to get serious about it.

2.) Since this movie is set in the late 80s and early 90s, it's only natural that the director touch on one of the biggest problems during that time which was police brutality. During this time period, the incident with Rodney King and the police was still fresh in peoples’ minds and a lot of people were still angry about it. This aspect added to the film’s story because it showed why people were angry with the law enforcement and why a lot of people supported what the N.W.A was trying to do. There were parts in the film where the main characters had run ins with law and you sympathize with them because of how cruelly they were being treated. But what’s crazy is this same kind of police brutality still happens today in our society. It’s crazy to think how something that occurred over 20 years ago can still be a popular topic in the media to this day. When you see the police brutality happening in this film, you can’t help but think about victims in our generation like Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner. This just comes to show how some things don’t die, they just get passed on.

3.) I know I’m supposed to be professional as possible on this website, but I can’t help myself from geeking out from how awesome the music is. Being the big hip hop/rap fan that I am, every time you would see the group performing a song, I couldn’t help myself from nodding my head along with it. Not only did they perform the two songs I already knew, but they also had music by them that I had never heard before. I was so surprised by how good the music was it made me want to go home and start listening to some of their older music. This film really shows what motivated the group to make each of their songs and how they ended up using their unique style to change the rap game forever. Now I’m not the kind of person to spoil things in movies, but this part was too good, so sue me. One of my favorite scenes is when we got to see 2pac perform the song “California Love” in the studio. When that scene came on I went crazy jamming out to that song in my seat. I don’t know if it was because it was one my favorite 2pac songs ever being performed or the fact we got to see 2Pac performing on the big screen, but either way I was pumped.

Now I’ve heard some people might not want to go see it because either their not big hip hop fans or they might consider it too much of a “black” film. Hey, if you don’t want to go see it that’s fine. But just know that this film is more then what it appears to be out on the surface. To some people they might see a regular movie about a rap group; what I watched was a movie about five individuals who came together to not only change music forever, but also better their lives and discover what it means to truly have a friendship that lasts forever. Also for those people who might think it’s too “black” for their taste, do me a favor and shut up, OK? I don’t watch a movie like Inception or the Godfather and think it’s too much of a “white movie”, so get over it. Other than that I’d advise anyone to go check out this movie as soon as possible.