Then there’s the evidence of Dre’s and Cube’s modern day sexism. But when we, as a society, act like the pain N.W.A members have inflicted on the bodies and spirits of black women is an irrelevant “side story,” we are sending a message that women, especially black women, are irrelevant. I agree that everyone deserves the grace to make and be forgiven for mistakes. Some “Straight Outta Compton” defenders also say it’s unfair to criticize N.W.A for actions that took place decades ago. But I won’t support a movie about artists who are misogynistic and are famous for producing art that celebrates misogyny just because the filmmakers made a decision to pretend their mistreatment of women is not central to their success. I don’t have to love or even like an artist’s personal choices to respect his or her work. Dre, because he is far from the only artist with a penchant for bad behavior toward women. Dre’s history of violence against women is a private matter that has no place in a narrative about the group’s collective journey. Dre wouldn’t still be glibly presenting skits and rhymes about the murder and rape of women in 2015, as he does on his latest album “Compton.” You’d have to be in pretty deep denial to not recognize that sexism is an essential element of the group’s brand. Gary Gray has said in order to explain its omission from the film. However, misogyny isn’t a N.W.A “side story,” as “Straight Outta Compton” director F. Dre gained a well-earned reputation as a batterer because of his vicious physical attacks on his former label mate Tairrie B, singer Michel’le, who is the mother of his child, and - perhaps most infamously- TV journalist Dee Barnes, whom he brutally stomped and punched at a 1991 record release party. At the same time, now-hip-hop super producer and headphone magnate Dr. But there is no doubt that N.W.A’s art also dealt in shockingly nasty misogynistic themes. The group spoke raw truths about the grit and pathos of life in the ’hood. There’s no denying that N.W.A’s impact on American culture in the late 1980s and early ’90s was significant. But the movie’s success has sparked a fierce debate about omitting N.W.A’s serious problems with women. Dre.Ĭritics and audiences alike say the film is a compelling look at N.W.A’s founding and how its members were inspired to speak out against the Los Angeles Police Department’s brutal treatment of black men. I have been reminded of this African proverb in the wake of the phenomenal success of “Straight Outta Compton,” a biopic about gangsta hip-hop pioneers N.W.A that was produced by former N.W.A members turned entertainment moguls Ice Cube and Dr. “Until the lion learns to speak, tales of the hunt will glorify the hunter.”
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