I watched Straight Outta Compton the other night, and I can’t believe how much I enjoyed this movie!
I’ve never considered myself an NWA fan, but I’ve loved “Express Yourself"* from the moment I heard it the first time, and do recognize the impact NWA has had on American culture (especially after Rodney King and the LA Riots). Some scenes in this film reflect on our unfortunate challenges in this country in regards to law enforcement’s treatment of African Americans. I appreciated the historical moments in the film, like NWA’s refusal to bow down to authority (the Detroit Police Department and the FBI both tried to curtail NWA from expressing themselves).
This is a really well done film and I highly recommend it.
When I talked with some of my co-workers at Martha Cooper, it led to a discussion of other films as well as a list. Unfortunately, some of our favorites cannot be included on the list since the library no longer owns the items or has just 1 or two copies left (probably on their last legs), but in some cases we still have the soundtracks.
Our list is called Martha's Musical Movie Must-Sees. Check it out!
*Edtior's note: for a less-spammy interface, annotated lyrics, and more perspective on Express Yourself and NWA's other work, as well as many other reference-dense lyrics, give Genius a try! While that song doesn't contain explicit language, some of the links on that page and the rest of the Genius site do.