F Gary Gray's directorial effort is an incredibly impressive epic spanning nearly 10 years. It covers a large ensemble cast and so many points, ideas, and cultural events, it's a wonder the film didn't wind up double its run time of nearly 3 hours. What we have is a fast-paced and exciting look into the world of music: the inspiration, writing, and collaboration of it. N.W.A. is the group ("No Whites Allowed?"), and they're using music to voice their anger. While other musicians saw songs as an abstract way to tell a story, Easy-E and Ice Cube were performing "Fuck The Police" to sold out arenas. Reporters and even FBI saw their work as a potential threat to the safety of armed officers; terrorism in a way. NWA saw it as giving a voice to the voiceless.
The cast is nearly beyond belief, not just in physical looks (it's great that Ice Cube's son inherited his father's role, but everyone down to the uncanny transformation of Jason Mitchell into Easy-E is eerie to say the least). The cast works together to present the creation of this rap ensemble with a great passion and honesty. There is love behind this film, and seeing the original artists as producers on the film only confirm this.
Storywise we follow a fairly traditional plot: the rise to power and the struggle to adapt to a life of wealth, etc, etc. I think the more interesting aspects focused on the influence of their founding manager, Jerry Heller (Paul Giamati), and the stake that it drove into the group over time. I'm no expert on rap music and especially not on music of the time, but seeing the unique impact such records could have was eye-opening to say the least. With Ice Cube leaving the group over salary issues and recording music against NWA and his former boss (right down to anti-Semitism), Heller responds with anger. It's defamation of character, perhaps he should sue. Easy-E simply steps back into the recording studio to retaliate through music.
In a way, music is the most powerful weapon.
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