W orking on Straight Outta Comptons, a bio-pic on gangsta rap group NWA, was a great experience for Neil Brown Jr. Talking from Los Angeles, Brown says, “I love the fact that it is a 80s, 90s movie. I am an 80s kid, so seeing the clothes, the gear, the cars and the hairstyles, they bought back so many memories for me. The big hair and all that!” (laughs)
Brown who plays DJ Yella was cast after a re-audition. Talking about the research for his role, the 36-year old actor says, “I grew up listening to NWA and watching them. So I already had a good foundation. I also watched all their videos, read everything I could, every article, watched DJ Yella’s interviews. I met DJ Yella and hung out NWA for a while and learnt how to become a DJ and how to perform.”
DJ Yella was a creative consultant on the film. “It was a great help. He was very kind, he was available for me, always giving me pointers. He said by the time he met me, I had a good hold on the character. He was very proud and happy which made me happy.”
Talking about the pros and cons of playing a real-life character Brown says, “The difficulty is when people know the person, they expect a certain amount of realism. That would be the hardest thing as opposed to coming up with my own version of a character. But I knew if I made Ice Cube, DJ Yella, Dr Dre and all those guys happy, the audience would be happy.
“The good part is bringing back fond memories for people who grew up with the group, having people respond with a lot of happiness and joy that we affected them positively. They would come up to me and say, ‘man you remind me of my childhood, you were DJ Yella. Playing a character like DJ Yella also helped me introduce or re-introduce people to the music and the group.”
While musicals are all the flavour of the season with La La Land winning big at the Globes and getting the maximum nominations at the Oscars, Brown would not like to describe Straight Outta Comptons as one.
“It is more of a bio pic. We weren’t necessarily dancing (laughs) but we were performing and there is a lot of music. Not a musical but it definitely had some musical aspects. I’d say it is a concert movie, musical, bio pic, documentary-like, the movie version of NWA’s story. Straight Outta Comptons is a fun ride and it also opens your eyes to the time.”
The film’s soundtrack was a huge success debuting at No. 1 on the Rap Albums chart. “After watching the film a lot of people said they felt they had been to a NWA concert. I did too when I first saw it. My wife said ‘I got to go to a NWA concert!’ People who had been to an NWA concert back in the day, said it reminded them of those days. Even the NWA got excited when we were performing, because it reminded them of when they performed. The music speaks to people, the movie provided context for why they had the lyrics they had...”
NWA were the most significant propagators of the sub-genre of Gangsta Rap. “It wasn’t something they came up with; Gangsta Rap was something they were labelled with by the media. They were street reporters; that is what they liked to call it. They were like journalists unto themselves. They talked about what was going on in their lives, in their community, just like a reporter. They put it in a song. Also they were young, so there was that as well. When you are young you have a lot of fire, energy and frustration and that’s how they got it out. The movie helped people realise that’s what they were doing.”
All praise for Gary F. Gray, Brown says, “He is a composer more than a director. He has got a wealth of knowledge. He grew up in this time and knew the group so well. He is passionate about doing their story correctly, making sure it looked and felt right, and that we were true to the spirit of NWA. He got us to be as close to them as we could, he got us to know how to sound like them, to do their music and to perform like them and capture that spirit.”
In the pipeline is another bio-pic for Brown. “I am working on another true story called LAbyrinth with Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker. It is based on Russell Poole who investigated Tupac and Biggie’s murders. I play a very bad guy. I play Rafael Perez who was the LAPD officer and part of the Rampart Scandal. Denzel (Washington) based his Training Day character on Perez.”
Straight Outta Compton airs on Sony Le PLEX HD on January 26 at 3 p.m.
