Hip-hop legend and actor Ice Cube has enjoyed a year of serious accolades, and we’re only halfway through 2016. First, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame along with the rest of NWA, and now, Cube, real name O’Shea Jackson, is set to be honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Although he is a well-received and celebrated actor, Cube will be honoured as part of the Class of 2017 for his contributions to recording music. The recording category will also honour the following artists: Clarence Avant, Jerry Goldsmith (posthumous), Hall & Oates, John Legend, *NSYNC, New Edition and Selena Quintanilla (posthumous).
Along with this category comes a list of others to be honoured for their contributions to film, TV, radio and theatre/live performance, and will include Amy Adams, Jason Bateman, Dwanye “The Rock” Johnson, Hugh Laurie, Lee Daniels, Jeffrey Tambor, Sarah Silverman and others – you can find the whole list here.
Each inductee will get their own ceremony, which is typically announced around ten days prior to the event. The 2017 honourees will receive their stars at some point within the next two years.
Below, you can watch the Wakl of Fame’s official video announcing the Class of 2017:
https://youtu.be/OwZgut8J9A4
Congratulations, Ice Cube!
Image: boom92houston.com
Over the weekend, history was made as Kendrick Lamar inducted legendary rap group, N.W.A, into the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame. Detailing what each member brought to the group, as well as what the group gave him, Lamar outlined why it is about time these pioneers got some of the recognition they deserve. “It was dubbed gangsta rap, but what it was for me was an intimate look at what was actually happening in our community in Los Angeles, and in Compton in particular,” He said.
However, not everyone was too happy about the Hall of Fame’s most recent additions. KISS‘s Gene Simmons, who is like a bad smell that just happened and now won’t go away, has shared his unwanted opinion on the situation saying N.W.A are not technically “rock n roll”.
“You’ve got Grandmaster Flash in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Run-D.M.C. in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? You’re killing me. That doesn’t mean those aren’t good artists. But they don’t play guitar. They sample and they talk. Not even sing,” He said, before exclaiming his excitement for the death of hip-hop to Billboard.
Now, aside from the fact that the Hall of Fame has inductees like Aretha Franklin, James Brown and more artists who aren’t technically “rock n roll”, it has to be said- who the hell cares what Simmons has to say? The man has come into recent media attention like that weird uncle that comes to Christmas lunch and just talks to make noise, and Simmons’ desperate attempts to become relevant again are thinly veiled. But thankfully, even people like Ice Cube can see through it too.
Cube hit back at Simmons in his acceptance speech, drawing attention to the facts that they sure as hell deserve to be there, and that it’s happening whether Simmons likes it or not. Cube said in his speech, “The question is, ‘Are we rock ‘n’ roll?’ And I say — you goddamn right we rock ‘n’ roll. Rock ‘n’ roll is not an instrument. It’s not even a style of music. It’s a spirit that’s been going on since the blues, jazz, bebop, soul, rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, heavy metal, punk rock, and yes, hip-hop.”
Unfortunately for Simmons, he doesn’t know when to quit, and had this to say in response to Ice Cube:
https://twitter.com/genesimmons/status/718903122874097664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
You’re playing with fire, Simmons…
Image: NY Daily News
Words by Maxine Johns
His story reads like a cautionary tale that stretches far beyond the realms of the hip-hop music industry. It is a story of a man who has shared his extraordinary talents time and time again with the world, with his hip-hop peers in a selfless manner, and yet, has been overlooked for rewards and recognition that is rightfully his to bear. Don’t get it twisted, Tracy Curry aka The DOC is not a man who seeks acknowledgment, but when you cast an eye back on his resume as one of the industry’s most slept on songwriters, producers and rap artists in his own right, one could be hard pressed to wonder why he has done so much and received so little recognition in return.
As one of the original members of 90’s iconic hip hop group N.W.A, Dallas born Curry arrived in the City of Angels with a focus on just doing what he was good at and what he loved, making honest hip-hop with a cause, with a brotherhood he loved. Originally beginning his career as a member of Dallas based hip-hop group, Fila Fresh Crew, the group had four tracks featured on the compilation album N.W.A and the Posse, which was released in 1987. The same four tracks would later appear on the group’s album Tuffest Man Alive, released in 1988 with the group disbanding shortly after its release.
D.O.C was signed to Ruthless Records and wrote numerous lyrics for N.W.A’s debut album, Straight Outta Compton, Eazy-E’s debut, Eazy-Duz-It, as well co-writing Keep Watchin‘ from Michel’le‘s self-titled debut album, with all three albums produced by Dr. Dre. In 1989, The D.O.C. released his Dr. Dre-produced debut album, No One Can Do It Better, which peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200 and achieved platinum status, solidifying Curry as a sure fire hit in the communes of West Coast Rap. As life would have it and often does, what goes up must come down. In November 1989, Curry was involved in a near-fatal car accident, leading to critically damaged vocal chords and other serious injuries. Falling asleep behind the wheel, Curry’s car veered off the freeway, and because he was not wearing a seatbelt, he was thrown out of the rear window and slammed his face into a tree. His voice and life thereafter changed forever.
DOC is more than a survivor, he is a phoenix of spiritual proportions. A proud father of four (his fourth baby, a son, is due to be born later this year,) he has created a comeback career that has seen him embark on international live speaking tours, a forthcoming album and music and reality TV shows in the works, not to mention having made peace with NWA.
https://youtu.be/9k1XyvwM4no
Happy New Year DOC – how are you and how has 2016 been for you so far?
I’m doing fine, I hope you are doing fine as well. The New Year has started off really well for me, I have just moved back from LA to Texas and just found my girlfriend is pregnant with my second son so I am so happy, it’s really cool.
Wow, congratulations, that is amazing news! It is such an honour to finally get to chat with you – I was blessed enough to be able to catch your speaking tour in Sydney last year and man was it an education of the highest order for me. You have such an incredible, important and necessary history in hip-hop and a story that is truly inspiring – do you ever sit back and think “how did I ever get through it all?”
Firstly, I am so thankful that the people in Australia were gracious enough to have me out there and listen to my journey, it’s a beautiful place and I really had such an awesome time there. It was a first for me to do this kind of tour and I thought it was really dope, the audience was really receptive and I really enjoyed doing it and some of the coolest things I noticed was that there were a lot of father and sons in the audience together. It was awesome to see them share that sort of love for the music and for the art that I created so that was something I really enjoyed.
I am spiritual person, and I believe everything happens for a purpose. I was actually thinking about this the other day, there are so many guys that are no longer here you know, Pimp C, Jam Master Jay, Eazy-E and Biggie Smalls, Tupac and all of these great artists and people who are no longer here. The fact that I am still here, there is a purpose for it and so I just try to recognise that purpose and do the right thing by it.
Looking back at your beginnings and your early days in Dallas, knowing what you know now about the hip-hop game and life in general, what do you think your advice would be to the younger version of Tracy Curry before he boarded that plane to LA all those years ago?
If I can tell that young dude anything it would be to know you’re worth son. You are special individual, and if you know that, they will be hard pressed to take advantage of you, because you love yourself enough to know what your worth is. I think I was just trying to prove to so many people that I was worth it, and maybe even prove to myself that I was worth it, that I let people take things from me that really cost me in the long run. But like I said I am still here, I’m blessed and I got a new son on the way. I know that boy is going to be special and I will make sure that he knows his worth every day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-IJ9vbdNfA
You were part of one of the most influential groups in hip-hop history – NWA! You were instrumental in writing, creating and forming the basis of what that group was founded on, yet never got the credit you deserved for all the writing and collaborating on the NWA album and subsequent other projects you worked on with Dr Dre. I remember being so shocked hearing you speak on your reality of being in NWA, and at times felt a little robbed for you hearing of your experience yet being so amazing by your humility – how have you remained so humble in the midst of this storm for so many years?
Well I went through all of the emotions, trust me *laughs*. I went through anger, resentment, frustration, depression, all of it. But like I said, there are so many great artists that are no longer here with us, and I am still here. I realised I was so blessed that I had to let go of those feelings and find my own purpose before all of those bad feelings ate me up. I had to look in the mirror and realise that God loves me because I am a good man, I’m a good person and I gave to that group because I wanted that group to succeed. The fact that they never gave back to me isn’t a testimony to them or me, I don’t look at it on those terms. I gave all I could for their success and I am happy for them, and now it’s time for me to give all I have to my success and hopefully things will turn out the same.
NWA is the playbook group given to the beginner hip-hop lover and it is a story and journey that is bigger than hip-hop at times. Now that the story has been immortalised as the hit movie Straight Outta Compton, what are your thoughts on how the history that you are a part of has been captured by Hollywood, and the fact that your role in the movie was as small as it was? Is this movie an important legacy for NWA?
I think that the people that produced that movie did it for financial gain, and I’m just speculating, but it was a way for the guys who already have a shit load of money, to make another shit load of money and it worked. It premiered all over the world for which I wasn’t given one red penn, but such is life. I enjoyed the movie, I thought it was great. Was it honest? Hell no! But it was good. I never thought that when I was leaving Dallas all those years ago, moving to LA, that I would one day be a character in a movie. So it has its pluses but it also has its minuses. I hope that one day in the future I get to share my side of the story for the fans, as there was a lot of valuable information left out of this version. It would really help the younger generation coming up now.
The music industry is a dirty business and you have to be prepared, so the things we went through would really be important to show. This wasn’t a truthful account of what happened in the reality of what life was like being a part of NWA, and if I have to be the revolutionary to the buck the system and go out in front of the firing squad, so to speak, and be a martyr for the masses, I don’t mind that at all. I’ve always seen myself as the kind of person who cared about hip-hop almost more that I care about myself, so if I can be the one who can make these guys feel some of the pain that I went through during the last few years, as this is my history and story too, then so be it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yklj-P1NaDI
What are your thoughts on hip-hop community today and where do you think it’s headed from a cultural aspect?
Artists like J Cole and Kendrick Lamar are offering, in my opinion, a very bright future for hip-hop art. They are being very honest and positive and conscious about what they are doing, as well as being really great artists. They are not just throwing crap out there to be sensationalised, they really are having an effect on our world socially, and reflecting on the times we are living right now. We need to get a grip on ourselves and try to figure out how to better as a human family or we are all going to be screwed up. If attitudes like Donald Trump’s are allowed to succeed in this world, then my unborn son won’t even have a fucking world when it’s all said and done. It’s just going to be a world full of fear, yet at the end of the day, we are one human family striving to live good lives. So I think hi- hop right now, needs to be honest and positive and continue to speak the truths we need to hear and make people more aware.
Looking at your own solo rap career, you were an artist on fire and you were one of the most sought after rappers in the game after you left NWA, giving us amazing albums including No one Can Do It Better, and Helter Skelter and Deuce, which were recorded after your horrific car accident. Now you speak on those as a heady cocktail of drugs, sex and alcohol pushed to the limit, yet you were always determined to get in the studio and knock out the hits no matter what came your way. Are there any stand out moments from those days that you can share with us on that particular time in your career?
The thing that stands out the most for me during those times is the way the way people who really loved me as an artist, and as a person, went out of their way to push me up even when I had no belief or love left for myself at the time. There were people who really worked hard at trying to make me know that I was worth it, you know, people like my friend MC Breed, who passed away, rest in peace. He really worked hard to let me know that I was great and I really appreciated him and the people that cared for that.
All the Long Beach Guys were there for me, too. Cube was there, Ren was there, but anybody else acted like they didn’t care and that bothered me for a long time. I put so much into their success that I just knew at some stage they would reach back and pull me up – but that never happened. I had to go through so some dark days dealing with all that, and it wasn’t pretty *laughs*. But now my spirit is free and I don’t hold anything against any of these guys. I wish them all the success in the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQmsC4XwZJ4
DOC, if I could be so bold as to ask, why do you think you have gone through this period of your life not being acknowledged, or even mentioned or paid at some parts for the work you have done on such a large scale? What do you think it is that made the men you started one of hip-hop’s most iconic groups with, want to shut you out of their success story?
To me, it comes down to a sense of power. So the men with the money have the power and the men with the power have the control, and they are only interested in more power and control. They don’t have consciences to want to make sure they do the right thing, but they want to allow their legacy to get more light – and sometimes that doesn’t include the truth. That’s just the way of the world unfortunately.
What is DOC working on musically and creatively right now, as you continue to forge ahead on your own path?
Having just come back home to Dallas now and the fact that my vocal chords started working actively again last year, praise God, I am beginning to work on a new record. I am really excited and blessed to say that and begin that process. I also have a round of meetings involving a reality show, which was sparked after this network found out about the speaking tours I did in Australia and the great feedback I received from my fans down there. They want to look at developing a reality show chronicling my comeback effort. So I’m back working and I’m working for DOC and for my kids and it’s the best feeling. So God willing I can bring Hollywood back to Texas and show ’em how it’s done out here.
If you could take four albums with you into the afterlife, what would they be and why?
I would take Biggie Smalls Greatest Hits, I would take Slick Rick, I would take No one Can Do It Better and Eric B for President. Because those men, these artists are probably my most favourite rappers of all time, they did so much for hip-hop and for me as an artist and a lover of this music. And, I would have to take mine just so I could hear my voice again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nSaRQ7QRoE
This was originally posted on Ms Hennessey Speaks Blog with full permission.
Straight Outta Compton producer Will Packer has criticised this year’s Oscar nominations via a lengthy Facebook post. The Academy released their nominees lists last week, and as such received a lot of criticism over a lack of diversity, particularly in the Acting categories, which are entirely comprised of white actors.
Packer congratulated his Straight Outta Compton colleagues who were nominated, as well as the other nominees across the other categories. He then gave a list of actors, directors and producers he believed did an incredible job, but were not nominated, including “Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan, Will Smith, John Boyega, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tessa Thompson, Audra McDonald, Adepero Oduye, Samuel L.Jackson, Oshea Jackson Jr, Jason Mitchell, Corey Hawkins, F. Gary Gray and Ryan Coogler.”
He responded to those on social media who are driving the #OscarsSoWhite train, and addressed the Academy directly, demanding that changes be made. Finally, he acknowledged those who have attempted to bring more diversity to the ceremony, including Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs and producer Reginald Hudlin.
His sentiments are echoed by Ice Cube, who played a heavy role in the film’s production and whose son, O’Shea Jackson Jr., portrayed him in the N.W.A biopic. Cube spoke about his Oscar’s snub in an interview with Wendy Williams, saying “I’m not surprised. It’s the Oscars — they do what they do. The people loved the movie. The people supported the movie. Number one at the box office, over $200 million worldwide, you know? I can’t be mad.”
Straight Outta Compton‘s Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus were nominated for Best Original Screenplay. It was also named one of the highest grossing films of the year and one of the most successful biopics of all time.
Read Packer’s post in full below:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=551197321706947&id=174101652749851
Master producer, entrepreneur and Apple Music exec, Dr. Dre will release his first album in a whopping sixteen years at the end of this week. Inspired by, and the soundtrack to, upcoming N,W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton, the album will feature the rap legends old and new, including Ice Cube, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem.
The rumours were started by Ice Cube last week, who also revealed that an N.W.A reunion tour might be on the way – potentially featuring Eminem in Eazy-E’s place. We all got very excited by the news, but needless to say, it was hard to believe. Considering the number of times we’ve heard hints about new releases in the many long years since Dr. Dre’s legendary The Chronic 2001 (read our 15th anniversary celebratory feature here,) we’ve been understandably tentative.
Taking to his Beats 1 radio show on Apple Music, Dre finally revealed the news that we’ve all been waiting for. Simply titled Compton, the album will be released via iTunes on the seventh of August.
Keep in mind that this album is an entirely separate entity to the long-awaited Chronic follow up Detox. Compton has been exclusively created as the soundtrack to the film. In case you were still a tad confused, don’t be: Dre also officially declared that Detox has been completely canned. “The record (Detox), it just wasn’t good… I don’t think I did a good enough job, and I couldn’t do that to my fans, and I couldn’t do that to myself.”
Fair enough.
You can pre-order the album right here, right now. One of he most important producers in the history of hip hop, he has called this his grand finale. I have a feeling it’s going to be a really, really cool.
Watch the minute-long announcement here:
My grand finale. #Compton http://t.co/nbebhWfLqw https://t.co/DF0i2fqaQF
— Dr. Dre (@drdre) August 2, 2015
Here’s the track listing:
1. Intro Dr. Dre
2. Talk About It feat. King Mez & Justus
3. Genocide feat. Kendrick Lamar, Marsha Ambrosius & Candice Pillay
4. It’s All On Me feat. Justus & BJ the Chicago Kid
5. All In a Day’s Work feat. Anderson Paak & Marsha Ambrosius
6. Darkside/Gone feat. King Mez, Marsha Ambrosius & Kendrick Lamar
7. Loose Cannons feat. Xzibit & COLD 187um
8. Issues feat. Ice Cube & Anderson Paak
9. Deep Water feat. Kendrick Lamar & Justus
10. Jon Connor,One Shot One Kill feat. Snoop Dogg
11. The Game, Just Another Day feat. Asia Bryant
12. For the Love of Money feat. Jill Scott & Jon Connor
13. Satisfiction feat. Snoop Dogg, Marsha Ambrosius & King Mez
14. Animals feat. Anderson Paak
15. Medicine Man feat. Eminem, Candice Pillay & Anderson Paak
16. Talking To My Diary
Here’s the album cover. Watch the film trailer below.
Straight Outta Compton comes out on September 3 in Australia
On August 14, Universal will release Straight Outta Compton, the biopic that tells the story of rap supergroup N.W.A. There’s also been chatter about a Tupac biopic to begin filming this June. It’s maybe surprising that we haven’t seen more hip hop biopics, considering how well rappers’ stories lend themselves to the big screen. There’s the rags to riches elements. There’s violence. Drugs. Sex. Not to mention a guaranteed killer soundtrack.
In prep for Straight Outta Compton we take a look at some of the lessons we’ve learned from hip hop biopics so far.
1. Always moralise your gangster
A hip hop biopic makes for the ultimate rags to riches story. Going from extreme poverty to extreme wealth, all overnight, and any film audience loves to root for an underdog. It’s classic Hollywood formula – the hero overcomes insurmountable odds to claim his reward. Unfortunately for screen writers, the journey that rappers embark upon before – and after – obtaining their rewards are much less heroic, and much less family-friendly. Many sell drugs to their neighbours to make their money, and there’s violence galore. And once they make their millions, instead of giving back to the community from which they came, they choose to live a life of mind-blowing excess. The stories of Biggie and 50 Cent are much closer to Tony Montana than Robin Hood. Heroes they ain’t.
So writers have to move heaven and earth to make these cold-hearted killers and dealers even mildly likeable for a full 130 minutes. They do this by trying to make every other minor element of their lives honourable.
So in the opening scene of Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ 50 Cent is doing a bit of casual armed robbery. We see that some of his associates are violent sociopaths, but not 50. 50 calmly explains to his hostages that he would never hurt anyone. He’s a pacifist at heart. Sure, he’s perfectly happy to steal their livelihood and subject them to fear and humiliation – but he’ll never hurt them!
Similarly, 50 is a lover of Shakespearean proportions. Despite the legions of women who throw themselves at 50, he is always true (in his heart) to the girl next door. And he would never cheat on her. Cheating is wrong! Selling drugs to his neighbours on the other hand, and being personally responsible for the addiction and destruction of his own community, is not such a hang-up for old 50. He is a man of principle.
“I’m pregnant!” *internal screaming*
Even 8 Mile tries to gloss over some of the moral defects of its protagonist. He’s anti-gun and cares deeply for his younger sister. In one scene, B-Rabbit shows he’s a card carrying GLAAD member, sticking up for a gay construction worker. The scene is great, but it’s completely at odds with Eminem’s unequivocal lyrics in Criminal: “Hate fags? The answer’s ‘yes’.”
In Notorious, Biggie is appalling to his first wife. He even cheats on his second. But he would never, ever, never do anything to upset his dear old mamma. That’s a really admirable trait in a man: obsession with his mother. “We can’t change the world unless we change ourselves,” someone mutters pointlessly at one stage. This message sounds deep, but Biggie fails to change the world at all. All that Biggie does for the course of the film is strive to be richer and more famous. It implies that money, power and sex are the rewards that the righteous deserve.
You can already see this type of moralising happening in the Straight Outta Compton trailer. “What a lot of people don’t realise about NWA, it’s non-violent protest” says Ice Cube. Umm, what? I failed to pick up that message in Fuck The Police. “Beat a police out of shape, and when I’m finished, bring the yellow tape, to tape up the scene of the slaughter,” is one memorable line from Cube. Later, after the LA riots, Jerry Heller suggests that the group has the “power to change things.” He doesn’t explain how.
Of course there was an element of NWA that was political. (His name was Ice Cube.) And of course there’s a message implicit in Fuck the Police of defying horrendous police brutality and profiling. But it’s ridiculous to suggest that the legacy of NWA was using hip-hop for political agitation. That’s the legacy of a completely different rap group – Public Enemy. The legacy of NWA was the popularisation of ‘gangsta rap’. In fact, in many ways, NWA was the antithesis of Public Enemy. NWA is famous for glamourising and glorifying the gangsta rap lifestyle, drug dealing, misogyny and violence. Any attempt to say otherwise is revisionist. No doubt there’ll be a scene where MC Ren volunteers at a women’s shelter, or Eazy-E encourages safe sex.
NWA prepare for a stint at the Animal Rescue Shelter.
2. Try and use the artists’ music
Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B is remarkable for the dogged persistence of the movies’ producers, who managed to make a biopic without obtaining the rights to a single one of her songs. The courage of the producers is admirable. In a case of life imitating art, the whole thing smacks of the NBC Janis Joplin biopic (on 30 Rock, that is,) which after failing to acquire the life rights, had to be changed to Jeanie Jimpler, and then finally to Sing Them Blues: The Jackie Jormp-Jomp story. Jack Donaghey expresses surprise that “not having the life rights, or any Janis Joplin songs was a negative for audiences.”
This leads to the absolutely mind-bending result of watching her meteoric rise to stardom without hearing a single one of her songs. In the scene where the young starlet prepares to lay down a track for speculative record execs – you might expect to hear one of Aaliyah’s classics. Maybe Are You That Somebody?, Try Again, or One in a Million. One of the iconic songs that is so associated with the singer that just hearing it makes you think fondly of her. Instead we get a Marvjn Gaye cover. That just makes me think fondly of Marvin Gaye. Not only does it create no nostalgia, but it literally makes no sense in the context of her recording her first studio album.
This leads to the golden rule of hip hop biopics: if you’re going to tell the life story of a musician, try and include at least one of their songs.
Get Rich or Die Tryin’ also contains very little music. There’s no rap battles. 50 barely even steps behind the mic. Would anyone in the audience have really cared if we were told that Marcus’s first song just happened to be called In Da Club? Probably not. Instead of making use of 50’s talents as a musician, the director chooses to tell a lukewarm Scarface –both leads in both films are barely intelligible. Notorious succeeds because it’s soundtrack is the just The Best of Biggie Vol. 1.
And then there’s 8 Mile. There’s nothing exploitative about the use of hip-hop here. Director Curtis Hanson shows us a world steeped in hip hop, affected by it. The crew listen to Shimmy Shimmy Ya in Jimmy’s car as they discuss hip hop legends and the final rap battle is done over an unforgettable Mobb Depp beat. There’s even Ten Freak Girls Inside the Chin Tikky the greatest non-song ever put on film. We can only hope that in the fictional 8 Mile universe, Sol George went onto to enjoy one-hit wonder status with the club remix of that freestyle.
“Anything goes when it comes to hoes, I’m the kingpin when it comes to flows” … why doesn’t this go for 4 minutes!?
And what are the actual odds that Eminem is able to produce his magnum opus, just in time for his feature film? How much would Get Rich or Die Tryin’ have been improved if it was the first time anyone had ever head In Da Club? Instead we are given the anthem that sums up both the film, and Eminem’s entire career. The iconic guitar riff makes this different from a classic rap beat. The whole thing has the feel of pressure about to burst. Just like B-Rabbit himself, who’s about to blow. It’s completely deserving of the first rap song to ever win an Academy Award.
3. Try and get lookalike actors
There’s something unsettling about seeing a biopic when the subject matter are still very much alive. Well, ‘alive’ might not be the exact word I’d use to describe Snoop Dogg, but my point is that the public are still very much aware of what he looks like. The images of NWA are still very firm in the public mind.
This means that you can’t just have your pick of actors. Denzel Washington can’t play Suge Knight. Terence Howard won’t get away with Snoop Dogg. Strangely enough, Paul Giamatti is absolutely perfect as Jerry Heller. So you’ve got little choice but to pick from a group of individuals whose sole accomplishment in life is nothing more than looking like someone famous through freak coincidence.
Notorious works overall because of the solid physical resemblance between Jamal Woodward and Biggie. The illusion succeeds at the outset, and that’s the hardest part. From here it’s a boon that Woodward is also a very capable actor, accurately capturing Biggie’s affectations. The fact that he is also a rapper probably helps too.
The same cannot be said for Princess. You have to wonder whether the casting team were ever directed to say, a photograph of Timbaland or Missy Elliot. You’ll give yourself a brain aneurysm trying to pretend that the skinny light-skinned man with the beard is Timbaland – who is very much alive and pictured in the media regularly. The two actors hired to portray the musicians should have been required to wear placards, so as to constantly remind the audience of who exactly they were supposed to be. That’s to say nothing of the bizarre ‘shadeism’ of the casting.
The abysmal casting decisions spawned a litany of hilarious memes.
Of course 8 Mile and Get Rich can’t possibly suffer from this problem as the rappers plays themselves. But I can’t help but think in the case of the latter, the film might have been greatly improved, if like anyone else, had played the role of Marcus.
Anyway, let’s hope that the lessons learnt will be reflected in the upcoming NWA film. Judging by the controversy already surrounding it, it’s sure to be wild ride nonetheless.