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Straight Outta Compton - Film by Gary Gray

An African American man has made a riveting movie about black culture in America.   Born out of the ghetto that is Compton, CA (a burb of the City of Angels) circa 1980s it is the portrayal of a marginalized and maligned race that fights for what is theirs.

The story is a biopic of the rap group NWA (niggers with attitude) that gave rise to the likes of Dr. Dre (who sold his Beats headphone brand to Apple for $3B) and Ice Cube, a famous Hollywood actor, producer but foremost a music maker in his own right.

It traces the origin of Rap and Hip Hop as a form of musical expression of a hard life lived.  It also puts the realities of fighting for survival in your face where the value of individual life is not held sacrosanct but is lived to its fullest on a daily basis like it was your last.

It portrays some of the struggles and challenges of going from a street tough's life to that of national fame and wealth.  The mistakes one might make without a formal education and with no real interest in scoring big in a capitalist kind of way.  The original gang was in it to make music and enjoy life and tell their story their way.

Fame came through opportunistic capitalists that wanted to cash in on the talent of these rappers.  How much is real and what is screenplay gets hard to tell but the end result is a raw emotion driven drama with some good foot tapping music.

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