The True Story Behind 'Straight Outta Compton'

September 24, 2024

The Big Picture

Straight Outta Compton put the city of Compton on the map, showing the talent that is often overlooked due to prejudice and stereotypes.
The film fictionalized some aspects of N.W.A.'s story, such as the creation of the slang term "Bye Felicia."
The movie accurately depicted the controversies and conflicts surrounding N.W.A.'s career, including their disputes with Jerry Heller and Suge Knight.

When Straight Outta Compton first blew up on the screen during the summer of 2015, the fascination with the crew dubbed the World's Most Dangerous Group was revived. The film tells the true story of the N.W.A. rap group that emerged from the city's tough streets in Compton, California. The rap group that was led by Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), MC Ren (Aldis Hodge), and DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr.) began in the late 1980s and revolutionized gangsta-rap and hip-hop with their honest tales of police brutality and their lives in the streets. Their music even brought interest to the city of Compton, with many curious to see just how dangerous the neighborhoods were because of how N.W.A. made them seem. And as someone who has grown up in South Los Angeles all her life, yes, this group, along with other now-notable actors, filmmakers, and rappers like Kendrick Lamarput this city on the map and showed people the talent that is overlooked due to the longstanding prejudice and stereotypes of neighborhoods like Compton. There's so much more to cities like this and Straight Outta Compton proved that when it shattered expectations by scoring big at the box office and receiving an Oscar nomination.

The group endured a lot of controversy throughout their career, due to the heavy dispute between contracts, money, and their explicit lyrics that kept them on the FBI's watchlist. But like many other biopics, Straight Outta Compton did not fully capture the true story behind the popular rap group. A few things were fictionalized, such as the creation of the slang term, "Bye Felicia". The term originated from the 1995 comedy film, Friday, which Ice Cube co-wrote and F. Gary Gray directed, in addition to this biopic. In the film, the term is used to ward off a woman named Felicia who mooches off people in the neighborhood. Straight Outta Compton shows the conception of this now-popular slang to stem from an incident that happened in a hotel with the guys from the group and a woman named Felicia who her boyfriend was looking for. While the incident was false, the film remained honest about many of the important moments that happened throughout N.W.A.'s career.

Straight Outta Compton

RDrama

The rap group NWA emerges from the mean streets of Compton in Los Angeles, California, in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes Hip Hop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood.

Release Date August 11, 2015 Director F. Gary Gray Cast O'Shea Jackson Jr. , Corey Antonio Hawkins , Jason Mitchell , Neil Brown Jr. , Aldis Hodge , Marlon Yates Jr Runtime 147 minutes Tagline The world's most dangerous group

How Accurate Are the Formation and Break-Up of N.W.A. in ‘Straight Outta Compton’?

N.W.A. was formed in 1987 in Compton, California by high school dropout and drug dealer Eazy-E. He used the money that he made and co-founded Ruthless Records with businessman Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti), who also served as the group's manager. Eazy then recruited Dr. Dre for his masterclass beats, who brought along MC Ren and DJ Yella. Eazy also brought along Ice Cube, for his brilliantly crafted lyrics that portrayed everything the group wanted to say about their life in Compton. Cube told The Hollywood Reporter back in 2015 that the group's early lyrics, "Was always about free speech, being able to express yourself, whether people like it or not." The group released their debut studio album, Straight Outta Compton, in 1988 under Priority Records and Ruthless Records with the songs, "F*** tha Police," "Panic Zone," and "Straight Outta Compton," launching them to stardom. The Straight Outta Compton film kept the story of the group's formation accurate, but the breakup of the rap group was a bit confusing.

In 1991, the group broke up after putting out four albums over heavy contract disputes that involved Jerry Heller. In the film, Ice Cube expresses his suspicions of Heller to the other members and confronts him for not getting paid for his songwriting. Cube is called into a dark hotel room with Heller there waiting with a $75,000 check he will receive if he signs the label's contract. When Cube asks to show it to a lawyer, Heller denies him the check, which results in him leaving the group. In reality, Cube consulted with non-featured publicist Pat Charbonnet to help him launch his solo career within Priority Records, which then led to his departure from the group. The film accurately depicted how the lyrics to his solo career did indeed go after Heller and the remaining members of N.W.A.

Jerry Heller Has Regrets About Suge Knight's Involvement With N.W.A

After Ice Cube left N.W.A., Dr. Dre became dissatisfied with the music and the contract deal with Ruthless Records, so he left with brutal music mogul, Suge Knight (R. Marcus Taylor) to create Death Row Records. It was then that N.W.A. officially ended. The film never explored this, but Eazy-E, MC Ren, and DJ Yella went on to have solo careers, where they occasionally collaborated. In the film, Suge Knight created Death Row with Dre and sought out a young Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur for the label. Before leaving Ruthless Records, Dre expressed to Suge that he wanted to leave Ruthless but was held down by their contract. And that is where the notorious gangster lived up to his reputation.

In the film, Suge Knight threatens Jerry Heller and Eazy-E to let Dr. Dre out of the contract with Ruthless Records and Priority Records. He confronts Eazy at the studio with his men and beats him up when he refuses to let Dre out of the contract. According to Heller, this did indeed happen. In an interview with Music Times back in 2013, Heller discussed that one of his regrets before Eazy died from AIDS in 1995 was that he convinced the rapper not to retaliate against Knight. “One day I came into the office and [one of my clients] and Eazy were talking, and I said, ‘What’s going on here?’ And Eazy said, ‘You know this guy Suge Knight?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ He says, ‘Well, I’m gonna kill him.'" The film was also right in the many disputes Dre had with Suge over his lack of professionalism and menacing behavior. In 1996, Dre left Death Row Records to found Aftermath Records, which angered the mogul who is now serving a 28-year prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter of music industry vet, Terry Carter.

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The Making of N.W.A.'s Hit Song, “F*** tha Police”

In Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A. making their most controversial song "F*** tha Police" is a bit confusing. The film shows that Ice Cube came up with the concept after the altercation the group had with the police outside the Torrance studio. One Caucasian and one African American cop handcuff and force them to the ground for no reason other than looking like "gangsters." After they're released, Cube goes to write "F*** tha Police" in the studio. In Jerry Heller's memoir, Ruthless, an incident similar to this happened outside their recording studio. Cube, however, had the concept for this song before the incident, but Dr. Dre was hesitant to release the song due to the time he served in jail on the weekends for the traffic arrests he had on record. He said the inspiration for the song came from the constant mistreatment of black folks, “We were sick of being harassed by the police, just because we was young and black. [LAPD chief] Daryl Gates had declared a war on gangs. And if you think every black kid is a gang member, that means there’s a war on every black kid you see.”

The release of "F*** tha Police" immediately put the group on the FBI's watchlist, citing that the song incited violence and disrespect against law enforcement. The film's depiction of this was accurate, as the FBI did send a letter to the group a year after the song was released. Then assistant of the bureau's office, Milt Ahlerich, authored the letter that cited, “Law enforcement officers dedicate their lives to the protection of our citizens, and recordings such as the one from N.W.A. are both discouraging and degrading to these brave, dedicated officers.” When the group went on tour across the US, police officers in certain cities let it be known to the group that they were not going to act as security in their shows. However, they still protected them during their infamous Detroit show. In the film, the group was not able to escape because of the riot that ensued after the amplifiers were shut off. There are mixed accounts of what really happened, but according to Heller, their security team helped the group members to their hotel rooms, where they eventually got arrested. This film did take some liberties in mixing fact and fiction but did a wonderful job in the portrayal of how this group earned its name as the most dangerous group in the world.

Straight Outta Compton is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

Watch on Hulu

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