Casting Call: Straight Outta Compton
In which we suggest who would star in the next big adaptation, remake, or historical film.
Nothing gets us excited quite like the biopic of one of our favorite seminal ‘90s rap groups. We’re not exactly sure why, rap biopics don’t generally turn out well, but we continue to hope. Perhaps we are optimists. This time, the rap group is N.W.A.—aka Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and then two members we forgot about named MC Ren and DJ Yella—and the film’s tentative title is, of course, Straight Outta Compton. While the biopic has been floating studios for a several years now, last month, the film got a new writer (Jonathan Herman) and a new studio (Universal).
N.W.A. was only active for five years—from 1986 to 1991—but the group’s unapologetic protest songs earned it a place in U.S. cultural history and shaped the West Coast gangsta rap movement of the 1990s. Look no further than the quintet’s most famous single, “Fuck Tha Police,” for evidence. The U.S. government found the single so threatening that the F.B.I. released an official statement disparaging the song and local police stormed the stage when the group attempted to play the song at a 1989 Detroit concert. Though N.W.A. has yet to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it was nominated in both 2012 and 2013. Perhaps 2014 is will be the year.
Casting Call runs every Friday. For more, click here.
