August 18, 2015

N.W.A. Rules the Box Office. Who Woulda Thunk It?

                    No stupid-ass memes here   


A biopic of hip hop supergroup N.W.A. just rang up nearly sixty million dollars in its opening weekend.  None of that came from my wallet, though: I had prior engagements I had to deal with.  I understand Straight Outta Compton mostly plays as an Ice Cube origin story that also brings up his writing the screenplay to Friday (which, like Straight Outta Compton, was also directed by F. Gary Gray, thereby completing the circle of life), reducing MC Ren's role to that of "the other guy, no, the other other guy", and most likely skipping past N.W.A. & The Posse entirely, thereby erasing Arabian Prince from our timeline, but honestly, the movie does look pretty good, and I'll catch it in theaters as soon as I can.

Nobody really saw this coming, since none of the main characters are played by name-brand actors: the closest we get is Paul Giamatti as Jerry Heller, who I hope is playing the man similar to how he portrayed Pig Vomit in Private Parts but probably isn't. But the main players and their producers (read: Cube and Dr. Dre) have been hitting the publicity scene pretty hard the last few weeks.  Hell, Dre even released an album, an actual rap album, out of fucking nowhere just to promote the flick (and anyone who tells you otherwise is just lying to themselves).

As is to be expected, Straight Outta Compton's massive haul has movie studios looking through dollar-sign irises, and the race is on for the next big hip hop movie, revisionist-historic or otherwise.  Last week, it was reported that Master P is going to take another crack at bringing his life story to a direct-to-video bin near you, but his flick is going to be produced independently: if he doesn't drive a tank or at least an actual ice cream truck at some point during the goddamn trailer, then he'll just be wasting everyone's time.

Here are some of my ideas for hip hop events I'd like to see recreated on the big screen:

- the story of 2Pac leading right up to his signing his life away to Death Row Records, or, conversely, a 2Pac story that takes place solely within the time he was signed to Death Row Records, with a montage sequence featuring him writing and recording three hundred fucking versions of the same fucking song just to get away from Suge Knight as quickly as possible

- the story of Kool Keith, featuring the man reinventing himself every twenty minutes or so (I'd actually pay money to see this)

- the story of that time Erick Sermon was caught banging some other dude's girl and jumped out of that window

- the story of Kurtis Blow starring Kanye West as he looked during the 808's & Heartbreak rollout

How about you two?  Are there any events in hip hop history that you'd like to see represented on the big screen?  Leave some feedback below.  Also, if you could let me know if Straight Outta Compton is worth paying money to watch, that woul dbe cool.

-Max 

33 comments:

  1. - Ever listened to an ODB song and thought, "Man, I've seen David Lynch movies that made more sense than this"? So I wouldn't mind a Lynchian take on Ol' Dirty Bastard's life.
    - An "Avengers" meets "I'm Not There." telling of MF Doom's many personas.
    - The early days of the Wu-Tang, maybe leading up to their success but stopping right before they made music history in 1993.
    - A "Deltron 3030" animated version?
    - A private eye film investigating one of the biggest mysteries in hip hop history: what the f*ck happened to Prodigy's lyrical prowess?

    Nice post, by the way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like the Deltron idea. The soundtrack would be banging, anyway.

      Delete
  2. Melquan ShabazzAugust 18, 2015

    I thought Straight Compton was worth paying for. The first half, about them coming up from nothing, is absolutely fantastic. The dude playing Eazy is great, as is Paul Giamatti as Jerry Heller. Once Cube leaves, the movie loses steam in that they are trying to cover too much ground... I didn't really need to see Cube writing Friday, have a scene with Tupac etc. There is also a bit of a sense that some things were more about how Cube and Dre wanted to see themselves portrayed on film vs. what actually happened, or more importantly, what would have made for good storytelling. They probably could have edited about 20 minutes of minor plotlines and made a stronger movie. Despite that, the movie is a solid B. It's not gonna change your life, but as a fan, you'll likely enjoy it, and hearing the tunes in a theater with a killer soundsystem really makes the film a million times more enjoyable than it would be watching it on a tiny computer screen a few months later. I go to the movies a few times a year and don't regret seeing this one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm a movie theater guy, and all I'm usually looking for is something entertaining. I'm sold.

      Delete
  3. "no stupid ass memes here" LOL

    ReplyDelete
  4. Be interesting to see the Wu story, specifically what went wrong after the 5 year plan...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's easy: RZA stopped paying attention. Quality control went by the wayside. There's too many members of the group, though: this mike make for a better miniseries.

      Delete
    2. Thats not what happened. Their studio flooded and they lost 100s of tracks. Wu tang forever was the death rattle that happened after the fact.

      Delete
    3. RZA could have tried to put the pieces back together if he wanted. The flood, while unfortunate, was no excuse. Hence the "RZA stopped paying attention" piece.

      Delete
    4. I concur with the 'RZA stopped paying attention' argument, since Wu-Tang Forever is the absolute pinnacle of the group, together or apart. I don't give a flying fuck if Black Shampoo & Second Coming are on it. Everything else on there hasn't been done by them, before or since.

      Delete
  5. Max you gotta get a ticket.. especially since you run a legendary hip hop blog. The movie is an ode to hip hop. Maybe a movie about Jay-Z's rise from the streets to the booth would be dope.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Streets Is Watching if it weren't just a series of music videos, you mean?

      Delete
    2. Perhaps you have too much hip hop knowledge.. lol jk jk. Schooled by Max once again!

      Delete
  6. are you gonna do a write up for Sean P? just curious. RIP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you mean album reviews, check the sidebar. But if you mean something like an obituary, no. I've only done that once on the site (for Michael Jackson,) and I feel there are other sites that could do a much more thorough job than me.

      Delete
  7. This maybe too soon, perhaps in like 20 years or so, but I'd like to see a Kendrick Lamar "Good kid, maad city" type movie, that album is so vivid in its storytelling...I'd love to see a song like "The Art of Peer Pressure" playout on the big screen. Or maybe a Wu-Tang Biopic? I think they are long overdue for one especially since N.W.A got theirs. And yeah, I believe you need to see that movie. You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Art Of Peer Pressure would just make a cool title for a movie: I just don't want Hollywood to affix it to some YA bullshit. And I didn't say a Wu-Tang biopic only because I was trying to be different: of COURSE I'd watch that. Just like I'll see the N.W.A. movie, even though they've apparently left a lot out.

      Delete
  8. I'd like to see a KRS One movie and a mini series about the origins of hip hop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I wrote this post, my wife said the obvious answer was an animated adaptation of Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree series. No lie, same day, this hit the web:

      http://www.techtimes.com/articles/77568/20150818/ed-piskor-announces-animated-series-development-deal-for-hip-hop-family-tree.htm

      Delete
    2. True. But in that case I wouldn't mind a Dino 5 animated series or film!

      Delete
  9. I'd like to see a Death Row movie, a spin off, sequel type movie to Straight Outta Compton, showing all the shit that went on there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would too. I'd like to change my answers.

      Delete
  10. it would be cool if u reviewed the move.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Honestly, I probably won't, since that's just not something I do, but whenever I get around to watching it, I'll probably make a random mention of how I felt in an unrelated post or something.

      Delete
  11. Red in his Dare Iz A Darkside period. Dude otherwise is pure comedy, but said he was in a dark world at that time, without ever really elaborating on why.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I kind of like the mystique, personally. Not all questions have to be answered. Besides, a lot of comedians and generally funny people have darkness within.

      Delete
  12. A Kool Keith movie directed by David Lynch, an Eminem movie with him going into rehab and dealing with Proof's death. I heard they were working on a Geto Boys movie, don't know if it's true or not but I would like to see that.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The chronicles of why Super Producer Solar is a Fuckboy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you ever wanted anyone to get angry to the point of tears and rage in a movie theater, this is one way to do it.

      Delete
  14. I watched it last night. It's a solid movie, but I was disappointed that it completely skipped over the Dre/Eazy beef (basically making the emotional deathbed reunion seem like not a huge deal to the casual viewer who has no idea that they had spent the last two years of their lives disrespecting each other every chance possible).

    My idea for a rap flick is either late 70s Bronx with the OGs and how they shifted from gangs to hip-hop kinda like a more comprehensive Wild Style OR early 90s Memphis rap with actual teenagers instead of a middle aged pimp showing how that whole scene came together. I think there could be some great scenes of cutting mixtapes with horror movie samples and tearing clubs up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like your idea. I also heard that about the movie, but on the plus side, they probably didn't have to hire any actors to portray B.G. Knoccout and Dresta, so.

      Delete
  15. Great ideas above. I second the early hip-hop miniseries, Wu-Tang, the Death Row days, and everything mentioning Pac. I'd also love to see Bad Boy and Native Tongues done his way. Basically, hip-hop is in a cool place where it's old enough to be historic but the originators aren't dead yet. This is prime time for books and movies about the foundation!

    ReplyDelete
  16. webfoot wangdoodleAugust 29, 2015

    This is just as much for personal taste as what I think would make a good movie, but I wouldn't mind seeing a serious look at the whole "alternative" hip-hop movement. That first Souls Of Mischief album is one of my very favoritest hip-hop albums, plus I'm a big fan of Del The Funky Homosapien, they could deal with A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul,all those guys. It would most likely turn in to a bland feel good movie for smug people to pat themselves on the back for listening to not-gangster rap, but it could also be a cool investigation of that scene,and a good filmmaker could experiment with some colors, tones and scenery not ordinarily associated with hip-hop.

    ReplyDelete