Straight Out of Compton Fact Check: 7 Things The Movie Got Wrong

There’s no denying Staight Outta Compton is a box office hit. Anyone who grew up listening to hip hop in that era can appreciate the nostalgia and production of this amazing film.  However, although it is a biopic we must remember Hollywood takes great liberties in films that aren’t documentraries even if Cube and Dre were on set everyday.  So in case you were wondering what was real and what was fabricated, we put together a short list we dubbed Straight Out of Compton Fact Check: 7 Things The Movie Got Wrong.  Let us know what else you noticed didn’t seem to add up in the move.  Chime-in on our comments section!

Ice Cube & Dr. Dre’s Debut Performance

Hollywoood: In the movie Dr. Dre & Ice Cube cook up a plan to perform in front of gangsters at a local club named Dooto’s. While the owner leaves the duo to their own devices while he attends business, Dre and Cube then proceed to rock the crowd consisting of blood gang members to the tune “Gangsta Gangsta.”

Facts: Cube and Dre did make a debut appearance but it was actually at the Compton skating rink “Skateland” which consisted of a much younger crowd than depicted in the movie.  Cube did indeed perform Gangsta Gangsta but he also performed popular songs at the time with a street twist such as Salt & Peppa’s “I’ll Take Your Man” and turning it into “I’ll Fuck Your Friend”  Cube was quoted as saying, “It was a rough crowd. I was anxious to go on. I wasn’t sure what we had created was gonna work. I knew we were ready, and that we were good, but still you never know how you’re gonna be accepted by a crowd.” But it came off? “Yeah, we killed that shit. It was great. Audience was into it. They was riding on every punchline.”

Tupac Being on Deathrow Making “Hail Mary”

 Hollywood: The scene were Tupac makes his cameo is pretty dope.  The actor Marcc Rose plays probably one of the best on camera Tupacs to date.  In the scene Dre walks into a recording session where Pac is laying down the tracks to Hail Mary.  Dre interrupts the session and plays California Love for Pac who then agrees he needs to hop on the track.

Reality: This is probably one of the biggest timeline discrepancies.  The scene was supposedly taking place in 95, however Hail Mary was not released until after Tupac’s death in 97′.  In fact Dr. Dre was not on Death Row with Hail Mary was released. “Ambitionz Az A Ridah” would have been more accurate of a songTupac would be recording when he was released from jail around this time.

 Jerry Heller Sought Out Eazy E to Sign Him & NWA

Hollywood: If you recall during the movie Eazy E released Boyz in the Hood and saw massive success.  Jerry Heller catches wind of Eazy’s hit and approaches him to offer a deal.  Eazy seemed reluctant but ultimately agrees to bring Jerry on to propel Ruthless Records to the next level.

Fact: It was Eazy E who sought out Jerry Heller. In fact Eazy paid his friend Alonso $600 to set up a meeting between him and Jerry Heller.  The deal with Priority did not happen immediately after the show but did happen a week later.

Eazy E Sells His House and Resorts to Bagging Weed

Hollywood:  The group breaks up and Eazy is ultimately left with no artist except Ren and Yella.  To cope with his financial whoas, Eazy E sells his mansion and downgrades to a modest home and resorts to bagging weed to try to make ends meet.  A desperate Eazy then tries to get the group together for one last hurrah before he eventually succumbed to AIDS.

Fact: Eazy E was far from broke.  Not only did he receive royalties from both The Chronic and Doggystyle he was also getting paid off of the success of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.  In the movie Bone Thugs were just about to pop-off just when Eazy passed.  However, Bone Thugs were actually already in the middle of their success before Eazy passed. They were actually in the middle of creating their sophomore album E. 1999 Eternal.  The reality is Bone Thugs actually saw more commercial success than NWA. So Eazy was actually doing very well.

NWA Was Arrested in Detroit’s Joe Luis Arena After Performing “Fuck the Police”

Hollywood: The group was given a stern talking to by Detroit police officers backstage before the performance.  During these talks the cops threatened the group that they would be arrested if they performed Fuck the Police.  Sure enough the group defied orders and performed the controversial track which ultimately incited a riot resulting in shots ringing out.  The group then takes off for their tour bus but were arrested in the parking lot.

Fact:  NWA was warned about performing the song and went through with it anyway.  The audience did get rowdy resulting in some melees. However, NWA was not arrested at the venue. In fact they made it to their tour bus and were arrested at their hotel.  Jerry Heller’s tell all book stated that he warned them to stay in their rooms but the group decided to hang out in the lobby with groupies and friends and the cops just strolled right in and nabbed everyone.

Dr. Dre Was Arrested After Punching Someone and Bailed Out By Eazy E

Hollywood: In the beginning of the film Dr. Dre finds himself defending his little brother by punching out a dude in the parking lot.  “One-Time” aka the cops roll-up and end up arresting Dre.  Eazy bails him out which Dre takes the opportunity to convince Eazy to start a rap label which Eazy creates on the spot calling it “Ruthless.”

Fact: Dr. Dre was arrested but it wasn’t for fighting.  It was for something a lot less “gangsta,” parking tickets.  That’s right outstanding parking tickets landed a young Dre in the slammer.  Eazy E did bail him out but he had already started Ruthless and in exchange for bailing out Dre he asked for Dre to produce a record/beats.

Ice Cube Gets Pissed With His Contact Situation and Leaves the Group

Hollywood:  After walking in on Heller and Eazy eating a lobster dinner with champagne, Cube gets increasingly frustrated with his contract situation. Heller eventually offers Cube $75K and a contract which Cube turns down knowing he was getting bamboozled. Cube eventually quits the group and enters talks with Priority Records’ owner Bryan Turner.  Turner stalls with Cube’s money which he then wrecks havoc on his office. Ice Cube then eventually gets his deal.

Fact:  Jerry Heller claims that Cube was voted out of the group by the other members because of his griping over contracts.  However, Cube states personally that a friend/publicist  publicist Pat Charbonnet brought his contract situation to light prompting him to leave but it took a while to decide.  Ice Cube was living with his parents while Eazy and Heller were in mansions. Cube stated, “Pat Charbonnet was very instrumental in me recognizing that the situation with Ruthless and Jerry Heller just wasn’t right. Just by her being so smart about the business, I ended up naming her my manager, and the first person she went to was [Priority’s] Bryan Turner. She said: ‘Cube’s solo, you want to give him a deal? Or if not we’re going to go get it somewhere else.’ So he stepped up, and I’m glad he did.”