Ice Cube Talks Rap Beef, Jerry Heller, Dr. Dre’s New Album & More (Video)
With the highly anticipated N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton set to be released next Friday (August 14), Ice Cube and the cast of the film sat down with HOT 97’s Ebro, Laura Stylez and Peter Rosenberg for an interview. The cast included Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Junior, who plays his father in the film, Corey Hawkins, who plays Dr. Dre, and Jason Mitchell, who plays Eazy-E.
They start the interview off by talking about the five-year process of making the film and how they really wanted to focus on making the city of Compton its own character in order to show the environment that created N.W.A. The cast quickly gets into their own experience on set, having Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E’s family on hand to help recreate the scenes. As they discuss the attention to detail in bringing Compton to life, the conversation briefly shifts to modern influences, including the rise of platforms like casino en ligne nouveau, which has been capturing the attention of a global audience. The actors reflect on how the digital age is transforming entertainment, drawing parallels to how N.W.A revolutionized the music industry. They then return to the discussion of how they landed their roles (2:45).
With “rap beef” being a trend right now, Cube is asked about his approach to his previous battles with N.W.A. and Common, and the cast reveals that there is actually a “No Vaseline” scene in the film (one of O’Shea’s favorite scenes)(8:30). Cube also talks about currently not having any relationship with former N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller, but that they tried to give him a fair, authentic portrayal in the film (10:00).
Dr. Dre comes up in the discussion, as Cube touches on the atmosphere in the studio when N.W.A. were recording music, and how they were able to recreate those scenes for the film (15:45). They also get into N.W.A. having to make changes in order to get played on the radio in the 1980’s, and how Cube hated their made-for-radio song “Something 2 Dance 2” (19:00).
Towards the end of the interview, Cube talks about other MCs auditioning to be in the film, and how they wanted to go with unknown actors in order to have a fresh perception of the characters (21:00). They wrap it up by getting a few small details from Cube about the upcoming Dr. Dre album, Compton, which is inspired by the film and features collaborations with Cube, among many other artists Dre has been associated with over the years (23:45). Compton is slated to be released this Friday (August 7).
Check out the entire interview below:
Related: Get The Backstory To The Presumed First Ever Photo Of N.W.A. (Video)