“I chose to skip this one in the theaters. I fully own that. I just didn’t think it would be of interest to me. I know Dr Dre from his work with Eminem and know Ice Cube from his <a href=””>film work, but otherwise, NWA just aren’t my thing. I completely admit that it was all the positive feedback (and the Oscar nomination) it received that convinced me I should see it. And then the sale at Best Buy convinced me the time was now.
While the music may not speak to me, the movie does on some level (go figure). It mostly served to highlight just how different my life was from these boys. Their story is not my story, which is precisely why their music is not my music. While I don’t know first hand what their journey was like, I do know exactly what it is to hear your life in an album and have a profound connection (have we talked about my American Idiot obsession lately?) And through that understanding, I was able to connect with the movie.
To some extent, it’s not really different from any other biopic. We follow a group of artists from nothing to stardom, and all of their trials and tribulations in between. But what it did do for me was create a great respect for these guys and what they did. I may not be rushing to iTunes to download their music, but I can at least appreciate their contribution.”