Post: #26

(08-16-2015 08:52 AM)SHANbangs Wrote:  

(08-15-2015 12:46 PM)MidWest Wrote:  This movie was the shit!!!

i watched it yesterday with a couple of my guys. I loved it! Seriously great. I couldn't wait to watch it. Ice Cube's son killed it in portraying his father. I liked the fact that Dr. Dre was there making sure that every scene was accurate as possible.

One thing I didn't know was that even though artists became rich back in the day, they still kept it real gangster, as in they killed people who posed a threat to their albums. Almost like some Mafia, cartel type business.

I was also interested to see how the Jerry Heller character was going to be portrayed. I heard in the news that Jerry Heller went to the movies last night with lawyers, ready to sue if he was portrayed in a negative light.

All in all, I liked the movie. Two of my white friends were taken a little bit back at the portrayal of the white cops. They thought they made them look exaggeratedly evil. It is what it is though.

That movie was tight. Probably the best biopic i've seen in the last twenty years.

I mean, this did involve surge knight, and it was pre-Biggie vs. Pac. So some of that violence made sense.

And the cops - well, probably some exaggeration, but hey, rodney king happened. An unnecessary drug war happens. You can't argue with that, you know? It's funny how small government conservatives lambast government bureaucracies for being corrupt (rightly so), but they always have a blindspot for the PO-LICE, a generally underpaid bureaucracy with a lot of power ie. the recipe for corruption.

Really powerful at the end how you see the entire progeny of these guys. The influence they had on hip hop, and by that extension, modern pop music is profound - Pac, Snoop, Eminem, 50 Cent. Really makes you appreciate Dre.

Not a popular opinion, but do you know the REAL reason of the Rodney king beating? A black feminist activist on the city council banned the police from using humane techniques like wrestling suspects and forcefully putting their hands behind their backs. No joke. That's why the cops won the first trial. They literally weren't allowed to do anything other than hit him, ask him to comply, and hit him again when he didn't.

They also had 100% perfect proof that if you DID comply, you didn't get hit at all (the other passenger, who cooperated and was arrested without incident).

Even in the highly politicized second trial after the riots, only one guy that actually hit him got convicted. They frame by framed it and only found 3 strikes (by one officer) that were against policy (these were the 3 headshots). They also put the Sergeant in prison because he was present when these 3 shots landed.

Who would have thought that insane policies would have insane results?

You've got to keep in mind, if you honestly believe that a 120lb female is as useful in subduing a 250lb man as another man is, then all this manly wrestling stuff is just worthless macho bullshit.

Post: #27

Saw the movie the other day with my brother and loved it. I've listened to NWA in the past but knew close to nothing about the history behind it. Older folks call me an old soul because all I mainly listen to is old school rap, R&B, funk, and disco. Really made me appreciate the pioneers' blood, sweat, and tears into the making of the music in contrast to majority of today's garbage. This movie is definitely worth a re-watch.

Post: #28

In the span of 25 years, this group (along with the entire genre) has gone from being vilified to now celebrated.

Just shows you how far the culture has come since then

The album went platinum off virtually 0 airplay, but everybody I knew was bumping it and the taboo nature of the music made it a must-have for us impressionable youth

I would compare it to what Redd Foxx and Lenny Bruce records were to our parents

Pretty amazing to think about

Post: #29

(08-17-2015 06:51 AM)cuhcuh Wrote:  Really made me appreciate the pioneers' blood, sweat, and tears into the making of the music in contrast to majority of today's garbage. This movie is definitely worth a re-watch.

I agree. I didn't start to really appreciate the various talents of the group until later.

Ice Cube also produced Straight Outta L.A, a biopic about the Los Angeles Raiders of the 1980s and 1990s and their influence of gangster culture. A lot of the themes you would see in Straight Outta Compton you would also see here. Must see.

Post: #30

The film was great. But there was a constant theme about Police Brutality in this film which led to what happened to Rodney King and the riots that followed afterwards.

MC Ren and Yella also felt like minor side players. Seeing as Dr Dre and Ice Cube produced this film. You can see why Dre and Cube were the main characters in the film.

Post: #31

(08-17-2015 08:55 PM)Clemmo Wrote:  The film was great. But there was a constant theme about Police Brutality in this film which led to what happened to Rodney King and the riots that followed afterwards.

MC Ren and Yella also felt like minor side players. Seeing as Dr Dre and Ice Cube produced this film. You can see why Dre and Cube were the main characters in the film.

Yeah they could only put so much in a 2 hour time span. It was clear from the start that the meat of the story revolved around Eazy, Cube and Dr. Dre. MC Ren was a low key guy too in real life, very underrated and didn't say much. They probably could have gotten another guy to play him, but in the end I liked the way a lot of the guys were portrayed. I also liked how the actors were not known actors which really made you focus on the movie and the story.

Post: #32

I saw this with an old regular of mine. She genuinely loves rap music, but being a typical dumb broad, didn't know half of the history of what occurred, so I obliged her and whispered wtf was occurring and why in real time.

I'm glad they seemed to mostly hit all the major points of what occurred. I'm glad they made it very clear how things shifted from one record co., to the next and why.

Post: #33

(08-17-2015 09:33 PM)MidWest Wrote:  I also liked how the actors were not known actors which really made you focus on the movie and the story.

You know the story & script were written by a white gay guy and a white woman, and the movie was spearheaded and basically made by another woman. Just saying this because I think it breaks a lot of stereotypes that a lot of us here stick to in more ways than one.

Post: #34

I saw this movie on Sunday right after church, the Sunday matinee when everyone is supposed to be at the beach. (We were on our way, but decided to go see the movie instead). There were about 80 or 90 people in a 195 seat capacity theater. About half of the audience was black. 15% latino, and 35% white. Supprisingly, at least 3 of the white couples were well-heeled conservative types that looked to be in their 70s.

For me, the movie was an absolute must see. Eazy E has always been my iconoclastic hero. Never gave a fuck. Always kept his cool, but loved kids and spent a suprisingly large chunk of his time and money to make kids happy. The dude was just the Truth.

There are some problems with the movie. the timeline is all fucked up. LOTS of the side stories are left out. It is really just the partial biographies of Dre, Cube, and Eazy from 1987 to 1993, then cut ahead (without any warning or notice) to 1995.

And even though much of the story revolves around the money, and who was fucking who out of what, I really wanted an indepth breakdown of who got how much money at what time, and it never happened.

<Spoilers>

There are a few goofy parts in the movie, but my biggest pet peeve of the movie is how they kept referencing the Rodney King beating and trials. I never really gave a fuck about the Rodney King beating at the time and didn't think that it had any place in the movie, but it kept popping up in different places as if it was some disassociated way to justify "Fuck the Police" track. Completely unnecessary, along with the super cheesey shot of two gang bangers, one crip, and one blood, walking together in unity with their colored bandanas tied together into one link with their arms raised in surrender to the police.

I mean, c'mon, LA police were complete fucks during those days, and I don't doubt the violence by the cops in the movie was not exaggerated or embellished, but fuck me if two real G's are going to pull some social justice peace march in the midst of the riots. Maybe two suburban coconut black wanna-be's pulled that shit and it really happened. But no fucking way was it actually done by real crip and blood.

But there are so many very good to great scenes. Scenes that look so organic and genuine that you almost forget you are watching a movie.

And the scene where Eazy raps for the first time. Fuck me. Just fuck me that scene is incredible. yeah, it is scripted well, and the pacing and the diologue is pretty tight, but the moving part of the scene is that is it chronicling the moment where Eazy finds his voice and realizes that he has something to say. and that it is so much more than anyone realizes. and he is going to reach out and touch so many people in ways that no one could fathom.

Post: #35

here comes the backlash
http://gawker.com/heres-whats-missing-fr...1724735910

Post: #36

I saw the movie this weekend. I had also read Jerry Heller's book "Ruthless" a while back.

This music was a big deal for young guys back in the late 80s. So that's why I have some residual interest in the subject matter here.

It also is interesting to me because of the potential lessons it holds with regard to leadership, management, and personalities.

The big question is: why would they implode the biggest possible supergroup since the Beatles?

Who was responsible? Who did what to whom? This to me is the big question. You don't even have to be a music fan to be interested in this Shakespearean drama.

And make no mistake, I see the rise and fall of NWA as something that Shakespeare would have been interested in.

So, what are we to make of all this?

From seeing the movie, some big discrepancies jump out at me that directly contradict what I read in Jerry Heller's book.

Remember that the movie was made by Ice Cube and Dre. Heller and Ice Cube absolutely hate each other. There's no other way to say it.

1. The movie claims that Heller approached Easy E. The truth is just the opposite, according to Heller. He says that Easy paid some guy $750 just to get an introduction to Heller. According to Heller, he and Easy founded Ruthless Records with Easy owning 80% and Heller owning 20% as a management commission, which was a standard fee.

2. Where is the Arabian Prince? He was a founding member of the group and he has no voice at all in the movie.

3. The movie claims that Easy fired Jerry Heller at the end. Heller never mentions this at all, or even claims it happened. On the contrary: he says that he and Easy were tight right up until the end.

4. Heller's book basically paints Ice Cube as a spoiled, immature punk. Read it for yourself. He says that he was only 17 when the group was formed and was always whining about one thing or another.

5. The movie gives the impression that Heller was some sort of shady character, whereas Heller claims he never did anything remotely improper. Heller claims that everything was done in the standard way that music deals are done.

So, what are we to make of all this? I have my own ideas.

The root cause of all the tension was, as always, money. Jerry and Easy owned Ruthless and the other guys were basically left to get the standard fees.

And that may be fine in theory, but fucking Easy and Jerry should have known better. They should have rewritten the contracts once NWA made it big. Why?

Because you need to keep your talent happy. Jerry and Easy may have been right in principle, but they were wrong in business. They fucked up, and their talent walked.

Ice Cube may have been a prima dona. Dre may have been obnoxious. But this is how artists are. Deal with it.

My personal opinion--for what it is worth--is that Easy and Jerry didn't take care of these guys the way they should have. They may have been right in terms of contracts, percentages, and all that, but at the end of the day, Ice Cube and Dre were two of the biggest talents ever to arrive on the scene.

And Easy should have done something to make them happy. Maybe he should have made them equal partners in Ruthless Records. But he didn't do this.

So, that's just my impression from hearing all the stories back and forth.

I think Jerry was not a bad guy, and did the best he could with the tools he had. But he made some critical mistakes at key points.

The same thing is true of Easy. He got greedy and forgot where his bread was buttered.

But it's a complicated issue. And it's a great story to study from a business perspective.

They should be teaching this stuff in the business schools.

.

Post: #37

(08-23-2015 05:03 PM)Quintus Curtius Wrote:  1. The movie claims that Heller approached Easy E. The truth is just the opposite, according to Heller. He says that Easy paid some guy $750 just to get an introduction to Heller. According to Heller, he and Easy founded Ruthless Records with Easy owning 80% and Heller owning 20% as a management commission, which was a standard fee.

Yes, and that man was Lanzo Williams. They portrayed him in the movie as if he was some sort of a hater, but in reality he was the catalyst for the formation of NWA. Lanzo was the one who introduced Eazy to Heller for 750 bucks.

Quote:4. Heller's book basically paints Ice Cube as a spoiled, immature punk. Read it for yourself. He says that he was only 17 when the group was formed and was always whining about one thing or another.

I don't think Heller is being sincere here. When Ice Cube was finding out that he wasn't getting his fair share, Heller would say some dumb things about Cube like how he was jealous of Eazy and how "Eazy was getring more pussy than Ice Cube" which was a crock of bull shit coming from Heller. When you're that famous, there is no shortage of pussy. Just excuses I feel from Heller in my book.

Quote:5. The movie gives the impression that Heller was some sort of shady character, whereas Heller claims he never did anything remotely improper. Heller claims that everything was done in the standard way that music deals are done.

Yeah this is the only thing that I didn't like about the movie because they are giving the impression through the eyes of Cube and Dre. The whole movie you were guessing if Heller was a good guy or a bad guy. All in all, Heller did screw everybody over. Even Lazo Williams admits it and Heller still has a cordial relationship with Lanzo till this very day. Lanzo said that Heller did take advantage of the young group and he would formulate contracts for his advantage. Cube was smart enough to realize it.

Such a shame, the whole group could have been great if it wasn't for the money situation.

Post: #38

Saw it on Sat night. Enjoyed it very much. I didn't really know all of the details like you guys do, just been a fan of the music. The most talented living guys (Ice Cube and Dr. Dre) still managed to do pretty well for themselves. That school bus scene at the start was some real talk.

Post: #39

Midwest:

There are some other discrepancies in the movie that really contradict what Heller says in his book.

According to Heller, it was Dre who made the "set up" phone call to Easy, which caused him to get strong-armed by Suge Knight. This was the scene where Easy had to sign the releases to let Dre go. It was Dre who set up his own friend for the strong arm. Kind of undercuts the idea that they were best buddies.

Supposedly Dre called Easy late at night and asked him to meet him at the office to discuss business. When Easy showed up, he got ambushed by Suge.

In the book, though, there was no beat-down of Easy. Suge supposedly threatened to hurt Easy's family if he didn't sign.

I think the big problem with these guys was that Easy and Jerry never understood the realities of the situation: even if you're "right" on paper, you have to keep your big players happy. Nobody expected NWA to become as popular as it did. Easy and Jerry should have had a big sit-down with everyone, and made everyone equal co-owners of the business. Because let's face it: Ruthless Records was mostly NWA anyway. Who else did they have? Michel'le?

So it was a lack of personal relations skills that doomed things. More or less....

The lesson here is that if you don't know the gold you're holding in your hand, you're screwed. Your talent will walk on you in a heartbeat, and then you'll be screwed.

Post: #40

I'll wait till it gets on youtube. They were always a bit too corny for me, but it might be somewhat interesting.

   

Post: #41

^^

Come on, man...cut them some slack. Most of them here were very young, like 19-21. And it was the 80s, after all. Lol....!

Post: #42

(08-25-2015 09:53 AM)Quintus Curtius Wrote:  ^^

Come on, man...cut them some slack. Most of them here were very young, like 19-21. And it was the 80s, after all. Lol....!

I wonder who the white dude was?

Post: #43

(08-25-2015 10:06 AM)MdWanderer Wrote:  

(08-25-2015 09:53 AM)Quintus Curtius Wrote:  ^^

Come on, man...cut them some slack. Most of them here were very young, like 19-21. And it was the 80s, after all. Lol....!

I wonder who the white dude was?

Good question...I did some checking and his name is Krazy Dee. Here he is now.

   

   

   


I also found this out about him. At first I thought he might be like the drummer from "Spinal Tap" who just sort of vanishes and no one knows who he was or what happened to him.

But he was a Hispanic dude from L.A.

Krazy D

Also Known As: Damon Trujillo, Culo Popper, Crazy D, Krazy Dee.

Before the Photo: Krazy D is from Huntington Park, a heavily Hispanic and very poor suburb southeast of LA. He was a friend of Eric "Eazy E" Wright.

"I met Eazy the same day I met Dre [at Skateland in Compton where Dre's old group the The World Class performed]. Eazy and I became real good friends" Krazy D tells me. "Bottom line, I started selling dope. I was a rapper who became a dope dealer and he was a dope dealer who became a rapper, so we just kind of blended. Eazy and I were connected on the street, and it was pretty much that way even after I left the group."

Krazy D calls himself an "original member" of N.W.A. and has a writing credit on "Panic Zone," N.W.A's first single. He is also namechecked in "8 Ball:" "Krazy D is down and in effect. We make hardcore jams, so fuck respect."

In the Photo: As the only Latino ever photographed on an Niggaz With Attitude record, Krazy D stands out. Unlike MC Ren, Krazy D says he was actually a member of the group when the photo was taken.

"The crazy part about that photo is that everybody that was there was there because they just kinda showed up, whether it was just giving someone a ride or whatever. I know MC Chip, him and Train had took Ren up there to be in the photo shoot. And Ren wasn't even in the group at the time of the photo shoot. There's this big whole thing about original members, with Ren and Yella, they came way after."

"Not to discredit them, I think Ren's an incredible talent, a dopeass MC and he had a lotta flow and he earned his part and he did what he had to do and he's a cool cat too," D says. "Yella just kinda snuck in, even Dre could tell you too. Yella was basically there because he had an extra set of hands that knew how to run the boards, that's the only reason he came in the picture, to kinda be Dre's assistant."

After the Photo: Krazy D is probably best known for his very memorable singing part in "Dopeman," where he plays the part of an overdosed junkie's angry brother, threatening Eazy E: "Yo, Mr. Dopeman, you think you're slick..."

Unlike Arabian Prince, Krazy D never sued to collect royalties.

"I wrote half of 'Eazy-Duz-It,' I wrote my little thing on 'Dopeman,' I never got credit for it... I read little things on the internet, people trying to say that was Eazy trying to sound like a Mexican, no, that was me," he says.

Even the "Dopeman" entry on Wikipedia says Eazy did the vocals himself — a statement offered without attribution, of course. After listening to Krazy D rap the part to me over the phone, I have absolutely no doubt it's him.

Actually, Wikipedia has been especially hard on Krazy D. Volunteer editors took his entry down after a brutal deletion discussion: "A cover is not a source. Even I can make such shit and make it a source. Who knows if it's not photoshopped," said one editor.

"If appearing in a music video made one notable, think of all the anonymous booty dancers who'd have articles here," said another, apparently unaware Krazy D is credited as the first writer on "Panic Zone," the first single by the most important rap group of all time.

Now: Krazy D lives in Las Vegas and does real estate appraisals for a living. He's been working on a wide variety of new music but hasn't released anything lately. He also says he's working on a documentary about his time in N.W.A called Ghetto Godz.

More is here:

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/kra...se-6595047

Much thanks to JayMillz for posting that classic album cover. Just classic...

Post: #44

(08-25-2015 11:02 AM)Quintus Curtius Wrote:  "I wrote half of 'Eazy-Duz-It,' I wrote my little thing on 'Dopeman,' I never got credit for it... I read little things on the internet, people trying to say that was Eazy trying to sound like a Mexican, no, that was me," he says.

Even the "Dopeman" entry on Wikipedia says Eazy did the vocals himself — a statement offered without attribution, of course. After listening to Krazy D rap the part to me over the phone, I have absolutely no doubt it's him.

Actually, Wikipedia has been especially hard on Krazy D. Volunteer editors took his entry down after a brutal deletion discussion: "A cover is not a source. Even I can make such shit and make it a source. Who knows if it's not photoshopped," said one editor.

"If appearing in a music video made one notable, think of all the anonymous booty dancers who'd have articles here," said another, apparently unaware Krazy D is credited as the first writer on "Panic Zone," the first single by the most important rap group of all time.

Thanks for the info. I've noticed a lot of Eazy's stuff was written by other members of the group but then again he didn't really want to be a rapper and instead do the behind-the-scenes business dealings for the group.

Post: #45

(08-25-2015 10:06 AM)MdWanderer Wrote:  

(08-25-2015 09:53 AM)Quintus Curtius Wrote:  ^^

Come on, man...cut them some slack. Most of them here were very young, like 19-21. And it was the 80s, after all. Lol....!

I wonder who the white dude was?

Yeah, everybody is now starting to realize who the white looking guy is. Dude was a hardcore Mexican cholo from Huntington Park. He wrote many of NWA's songs. Very underrated guy and brought a more techno/Mexican dance element to the group to cater to the Hispanic/dance crowd so they wanted to blend in a little bit of that in.

Panic Zone was an example of a dance/type song that Crazy D wrote, which was sung by Arabian Prince






He would sporadically appear in some of the songs. For instance in Dopeman he started it off and ended it. Minute 0:00 to 0:17 and minute 5:25 to 5:37






Crazy D and Arabian Prince are in the same boat as both feel like they never got enough credit for their contributions.

I love West Coast Hip-Hop history. They should offer courses in college about this shit.

Post: #46

Damn, "Panic Zone" I haven't heard in years and years. It doesn't get more 80s than that. But that was the style at that time.

In those photos above, I love the fact that Krazy D looks like some random college kid...hilarious...love it. Nobody knows anything about this dude...

Post: #47

Krazy D wrote Panic Zone and originally called it Hispanic Zone but Eazy E told him more people will listen if they change the name.

Mc Ren should of been portrayed a lot better. He mentioned it on his Twitter that his real fans know the deal. His solos were good too.

Yella. I think Ice Cube called him the tape rewinder when asked what his part of the group was. Ren kind of shrugged and laughed when he was asked.

Post: #48

I had a listen to that NWA song, and I have to say, its "bloody awful". Gangsta rap is so 1988.

In the 2000's we have something much better :- chap hop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSflRlHPay4

Post: #49

Watched it last night.

One thing I don't understand... Eazy-E was embarrassed to rap in the booth in front of others and then when they all left he couldn't even catch a simple beat like that. That allegedly very charismatic rapper and lead voice in the group??

Say whaaat??!!

In the movie he looked like he's never rapped before that moment when Dre played "boyz in the hood" beat. I have no idea what that was all about.

Post: #50

XXL, he wasn't the lead rapper in the group. He had the money. Not everyone has a musical ear (naturally). If they did, the world would b saturated with good music.