The Breakfast Club - Ice Cube and F. Gary Gray Interview

Episode Date: August 18, 2015

Ice Cube and Director F. Gary Gray discuss what it took to make 'Straight Outta Compton' and how authentic the movie is to what happened in the lives of N.W.A. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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listen to 10. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Angela Yee, Charlamagne Tha God. We are The Breakfast Club. We got two special guests, two legends in the building, F. Gary Gray and Ice Cube. Hey. What up? What up? Morning, guys. What's happening with you?

Y'all got another one, right? Yes, sir. Straight out of Compton. Straight out of Compton. I saw it this weekend. I had the pleasure of seeing it in LA. That's a nice place to see it. Yeah.

That's right. You know what I mean? It was a good experience. I liked the movie a lot. I got so many questions, man. You was under contract with N.W.A. the whole time? I mean, you wasn't under contract with N.W.A. the whole time? No.

No contracts. You never signed a contract? Never signed a contract. Not with N.W.A., no. Really? Really. Really. It's real.

That was a lot of bad business back then. It was. It was. I'm like, so you didn't get paid on the road? That's what I was trying to figure out. That's real. That was a lot of bad business back then. It was. So you didn't get paid on the road? That's what I was trying to figure out. Yeah, yeah, I got paid on the road. It wasn't a lot of money. You know what I'm saying? But we got paid on the road.

So let's bring it back. How did NWA come together for people that don't know? Well, you know, Dre ended up moving down the street from me with his cousin, Sir Jinx. Sir Jinx, you look on my old records, he helped me produce a lot of records. So me and him was real cool. So when Dre went down there and started living, I started to go down there a lot, you know what I mean, and just kind of spit my rhymes. And Dre started feeling me.

We started collaborating together. He was with a group called The Wrecking Crew. World-class Wrecking Crew. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we started to, I started to help him write rhymes for The Wrecking Crew, and then we started doing mixtapes where we just talk about what was going on in the hood. Now, when did his image change? Because the world-class Wrecking Crew, if you see the pictures of the album covers they had on

shiny glitter suits it didn't seem like y'all kept the lipstick out the movie too what lipstick it was what lipstick they may have lipstick on one of the covers the world class wrecking crew we didn't show no album cover on the movie I know but they had the shiny he had the shiny suit Yeah, he was DJing at a club. Yeah. Did you see the movie, man? Yeah, I saw it. Yeah. All right. Now, what's the image in the world-class Wrecking Crew to NWA as we know it? Well, the Wrecking Crew, he was in somebody's crew.

That was ran by a dude named Grandmaster Lines. So they had to do it his way and play it his way. But, you know, we was all right there from the hood. So your image don't change. You just grow up. know we was all right there from the hood so your image don't change you just grow up What's what you know you right there? So I haven't seen the movie yet, so I can't even say what happens in it But a lot of people haven't so if we ask questions From people who haven't seen the movie from our point of view I know there had to be a lot of discrepancies between people's recollections

Like I'm sure what you remember is different than what other people remember. So how do you put all of that together? Well, you know, you try to make a movie that tells the origin and tells the story. We're trying to cram 10 years into two hours. So, you know, you're not going to get everything in. Sorry, Shalem. You want the lipstick?

Sorry we didn't get your lipstick in. That's what he was there for. Sorry. You know what I mean? But we didn't get your lipstick. That's what he was there for. Sorry. You know what I mean? But you can't get everything in. You know what I mean? You just got to tell the story and tell what happened in a comprehensive way. And it's still a movie.

You know, it still have to adhere to the laws of cinematography and film. So that's what we're trying to do. We got to make sure that we're telling a story that people can understand, comprehend, follow the characters, and really get behind the group and get behind what we're trying to say. You said you learned a lot that you didn't even know

while you were making this movie. Right. Yeah, I did. Because when I broke out and left the group, that was like 1989. So. Yeah, I did. You know, because when I broke out and left the group, you know, that was like 1989. So I'm doing my thing. I don't know what's going on over there. So until we started to research the movie

and interview everybody and hear everybody's story, then I started learning like, oh, damn, snap. It was going through that. I was going through this. So, you know, I was able to discover a lot, you know, putting this movie together. And I was like, damn, snap, they was going through that. I was going through this. So, you know, I was able to discover a lot, you know, putting this movie together.

And I was like, damn, this shit going to be good. Right, right, right, right. You was in the group CIA, right? That's what it's called? Yeah. They said they mentioned it in the movie that you was in the group, so you probably couldn't get down with NWA, but they never showed how you broke apart from that group to get with NWA.

Do you really care? I don't know. I mean, you know, it's like it's about N.W.A. You know, CIA is like a startup group. You know what I mean? That's like your first crew you get with when you first start rapping. So, you know, it's like it's so much information, man. I've been on this film for about four years and it's so much drama, so much controversy, so many good times,

and high points and low points, that you could actually make three NWA movies out of the information that's out there. So, you know, we did our best to put the right information in there to serve the narrative, and to make it entertaining, and make it, you know, edgy like the Strata Compton album. Now, F. Gary Gray, how hard is it for you

to do a movie of this magnitude with new actors? There's a lot of these guys that I haven't seen before. Very hard. You know, one of the hardest things about making a movie was casting it, you know, because everybody's looking at me like, you better not screw this up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got to get this right. Perfect, right. And so, there's so many ways to get it wrong.

You know, the moment you introduce L.A. 80s, Jerry Curls, that whole thing, You know, you walk a fine line between humor and reality. So I wanted to make it really authentic and make it raw. I don't know how you felt about the movie, but we feel like it's extremely raw. And you're going to get a piece of not only hip-hop history, but American history. And, you know, I think we hit it. We wanted to make sure, too, that we had new faces up there because you can see them as NWA. You know, actors sometimes carry baggage,

and you'll look at a movie and the baggage of that actor, if he done messed up this week or, you know what I mean, had the wrong Instagram or whatever, you know what I mean, that baggage will follow them into the movie and take people out the movie. So what we wanted to do was have unknowns that you you know, we've done this a lot with my movies to have unknown faces

and new faces so you really see them as the character we're trying to present. Now your son was playing you. You did a great job by the way. Thank you. You better do this right. Yeah, you know how you do. You know what I'm saying?

You be on your kids to stand up, to, you know, show they talent. I knew he could do it. You know what I mean? I just wanted him to be focused,

take it serious, extremely serious. I wanted him to trust Gary, you know, because Gary told me, you know. I wanted him to trust Gary because Gary told me I got him. You know what I'm saying? I had trust

in my son. I had trust in Gary. I had trust in the process. He did a great job. You got to back it up just a little bit because I want to dispel any rumors about people feeling like his son was handed the job right there was no nepotism involved whatsoever it took him two years of auditions and acting coaches he trained on the East Coast and the West Coast all types of callbacks chemistry tests and

things like that so but he was good though he was really good he worked the hardest to get the role the heart I remember when ice cube was up here i asked you i said is your son gonna play you in the movie and you was like he has to audition and that's right i didn't know i'm not just giving him that because you know universal the the universal brass had to okay him so i never knew if they was gonna be like yo we need, we need a more seasoned actor here. And at the callbacks, it was two or three cubes, two or three drays. You know what I mean? We had to make sure that we wasn't, you know, giving him anything.

He had to earn it and be the best man for the job, and I think he was. Y'all had Wale play Tupac. Nah, nah, nah. Is there anything that you had to tell himupac. Nah, nah, nah. Is there anything that you had to tell him? You a fool, Charlamagne. Is there anything that you had to tell him before? Like, you know, like, look, let me tell you back then your daddy did this that I ain't tell you about before.

Is there anything that you had to tell him, pull him to the side and be like, let me tell you about this. I might have knocked off these many chicks. I'm sure his son heard I ain't the one before. He done heard it all. He done seen it all. Done lived through it all. You know, he was born in 91. Right. You know what I mean? I was still in the mix. You know what I'm saying the one before. He done heard it all. He done seen it all. Done lived through it all. You know, he was born in 91. Right.

You know what I mean? I was still in the mix. You know what I'm saying? Back then. So, you know, he know the stories. I didn't have to show him or I wasn't embarrassed to show him nothing. You know, not my kids.

Now, Easy Son, Easy Son tried out for it as well. He didn't make the part as an actor. He wasn't that well as an actor or he had no seasoning or he had no training. Well, you know, it's not that. It's one of those things where, again, nepotism does not play a role in making a movie.

The bottom line is once the novelty of your son wears off that's playing the movie, you have to carry an entire movie. And Lil Eazy is good. He's from the streets. He's a real dude it's just we required someone who had the the strength and the Ability to carry an entire movie and the chops, you know With easy it's a it's a extremely hard art

That's right because you're going from him selling him selling dope all the way to him dying of AIDS. And you've got to have an actor who's got the chops to be able to bring that and not to flub it, miss it, or not give Gary what he needed to bring out the scene. It's a classic leading role, man. You have to have the ability to actually be vulnerable and masculine. You have to have the street credibility, which actually Lil Easy has a ton of that. He's the man. But when it comes to vulnerability, very few young men, black men,

from the streets could actually give you that. We're not used to doing that in real life, let alone being vulnerable enough in front of a camera crew to do that. Especially with the age scene. That's real. You saw that? The whole theater got quiet, and all you heard was somebody say, man, I don't want no more.

Wow. Oh, wow. Okay. Here we go. We just started. No, it was tough, bro. It's a good movie, but you don't want to take a girl on a date if you ain't never knocked off before.

That's not true. That's totally not true. That's not true. This movie going to make you laugh. It's going to make you cheer. It's going to make you cry. Make you dance. You know, it's everything that you want in a movie.

That's right. Now, F.J., I agree. You said that you are encouraged by the progression of law enforcement. But, you know, when I watched the movie, I feel like things were really bad then, but I feel like they've gotten worse. What did you guys think? I said I'm optimistic. I'm cautiously optimistic because, you know, we didn't

have cell phones and the internet and social media back there. They took a pen and pad and a microphone to shine a light on, you know, excessive force. And now with a light on, you know, excessive force. And now with all the headlines, with CNN, with you guys, with everybody kind of shining a light and you seeing the videos, I think the pressure is on the pressure is on our leaders. The pressure is on a leader and leaders in law enforcement. And, you know, maybe I'm too hopeful, but I kind of feel like if you got a son or daughter and you run the risk of being on television

every night shooting a man in the back and your kids got to watch this, maybe when you lean towards excessive force, you might make a different choice. So, you know, maybe I'm too optimistic, but I kind of feel like all this pressure, all these headlines, eventually something's

got to give. We're going to push towards change. And I'm kind of tired of protesting. I'm tired of burning stuff down. I think, you know, we got to look at federal law. We got to look at these body cams. We got to look at the dash cams. And we got to start charging people who tamper with these videos. And so with a combination of federal law and a combination of this pressure, I am optimistic

about what the future looks like. What I like about the movie is, you know, The Police was a very controversial record, but it showed what led y'all to make that record. It wasn't like y'all was just trying to create a song for shock value. Y'all actually went through experiences that caused y'all to make that record. Yeah, you know, with the whole movie, we wanted to show, like, why. You know, you know the what, the to wear but you don't know the why so

we wanted to show that you know we want to give Compton uh it's like the sixth member of NWA you know Compton is uh a part of the movie it is the backdrop you do feel like this is the reason why these youngsters from this area decided to go at it this hard. And, you know, to me, the movie really displays, you know, what forged N.W.A. and how N.W.A. changed the community. So it's a movie that really shows two sides of this coin. Not just the community, the rap game. I mean, it was one of the starts of gangsta rap.

You know? Yeah. And with you being from New York, was it difficult to do that movie? Because I mean, it was... I'm not really from New York, though. Really? I was born in Manhattan, but I was only here for two weeks. Oh, okay. So you can't really tell. You know, I love New York, but I was raised

in South Central LA. Oh, okay. And went to high school at the end in Chicago. So I got a little bit of York, but I was raised in South Central L.A. Oh, okay. And went to high school at the end in Chicago. So I got a little bit of both, but pretty much in South Central L.A., you know? In the movie, Jerry Heller told Eazy-E that you wanted to be him. Yeah. Was that ever true? No. Come on, for what?

I mean, I'm me. Why would I want to be him? I'm writing the rhymes. You know what I'm saying? It's like, so that was never true. You know, I wanted to be treated fair like he was being treated fair. You know what I'm saying? So to speak.

You know, so I just wanted, you know, I just wanted to be, you know, treated fair and get what I was supposed to get and at least have a chance to look at my contract before I signed it. You know, that's that's just criminal. Did you reach out to Jerry Heller when doing this movie to get any of his accounts? I know he wrote the book Ruthless before, but did you actually say, I know, you know, whatever situation. But did you say, hey, we just want to get your side of things ever? No. You know, Gary's the director of the movie.

He did his research. I don't need to talk to Jerry Heller. You know, the thing is, it was important for me to do my homework. Of course, I read the book thoroughly. I did a ton of research. And, you know, when you have Dre, Yella, Q, and Ren there to give you firsthand accounts of their interactions with all of these guys.

It makes it easier for you to pull it together. That's pretty much all you need, yeah. I'm telling you, it's first-hand accounts. I'm not Googling stuff. I'm not looking on Wikipedia to get details. I got the guys who were there. That was good enough. How hard was it for you to walk away from that $75,000, though, Cube?

Man. Explain the story. I don't want to tell too much of the movie well you kind of are like we wasn't in the contract okay you know and then finally they wanted him to sign a contract but in order to sign the contract he was like you can get the 75 grand if you sign this contract basically that's mine anyway it was like a million I was real close to pushing that man down and grabbing that damn check. You know what I'm saying? You know, I was thinking all kinds of stuff.

So I needed that money. But, you know, where I come from, man, if you know you ain't getting what you're supposed to get and you're still there and you're still in it to win it and you're still pretending like everything cool, you know, some of your manhood is just not where it's supposed to be. So, you know, I just had to walk away just for my own dignity and just because I already knew it wasn't right.

You know, somebody trying to get you to sign a contract without letting you get any representation or let anybody see it is just, you know, they trying to beat you, period. And I couldn't stay. And a lot of people were doing crazy contracts back then, though, so that's good common sense. Because I do feel like so many people back then signed contracts

just because they wanted to get that check. Yeah, I mean, they got crazy contracts now. You ever heard of them 360 deals? Man, please. Now, you mentioned earlier that you used to write for some of the members of NWA. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, of course, we have to talk about, Meek Mill said recently that Drake doesn't write his own rhymes.

Do you feel that that makes or breaks you as a rapper or it hurts your street credibility or hurts anything that you're doing? Because you wrote for a lot of the members of NWA. If you're making records, it don't matter. Only thing that matters is what's coming out to speak. If you up there emceeing and you just like a battle artist or you just want to be a a

true master of ceremony you should write your own rhymes you know i'm saying if you're making records records have been made by committee since records have been made so it don't matter it just matters what's coming out to speak that's all that matters on the record not who put it how it's been put together who who was in the studio, who wrote this line, who thought of this hook, you know what I mean, who was smoking weed, who rode the blunt. All that don't matter. You know, what matters is, is it dope when I hear it?

Because I don't care about all that. All I care about is the product that you're trying to sell me. And is it dope? And that's all that matters. Now, if you're on the mic you want to be you know mr battle artist and you want to battle everybody then you should write your own rhyme you should be a true mc and write your own rhymes because then then you're more interesting you know i'm saying you can't go to a battle when somebody wrote your rhymes i mean that's whack i wonder

what the author no vaseline thinks of these these modern day battles that are going on between Drake and Meek Mill. I love them. I love them. You know what I mean? That's what hip hop is all about. It's always been a part of hip hop. Yeah, you know, I grew up on Kumo D and LL going at it. You know, so I always love the battles.

You know, as long as it stay on wax, you know, once it go to the street, it's the street. It ain't hip hop no more. You know, so as long as it stay on wax, it's fun. It's dope. People should try to get off. Go for the junkie. Don't it feel like you could say crazier things back then? I feel like now, if you... They detail it in the movie,

by the way. But I'm saying, I feel like now, anything you say gets under scrutiny. Like, oh, he said that. That's wrong. You shouldn't have said that. I feel like back then, it was like no-holds-barred. Say anything. That's wrong. You shouldn't have said that. I feel like back then it was like no holds barred. Say anything. And now artists shouldn't care what other people got to say about what they do. And if they if they didn't care and if they just really did what they felt, then they'll say what they feel and not be worried about what's going to what's going to be the Twitter out. Or your endorsement situation.

Some people lose endorsement situations because of their lyrics. That's not hip hop. Man, I done seen people lose careers. You worried about endorsements. You know what I mean? I seen people get their careers,

you know, basically hacked in two. And so, you can't worry about nothing. You gotta go for that jugular. You said it was issues after No Bastard Lane because in the movie

they show everybody getting mad and acting like they wanted to do something, but they didn't show nothing actually happening. You didn't mention that easy had you jumped or something like that. It was a couple fist fights. It was a couple fist fights.

Was it in your head from the beginning for Dr. Dre to do the soundtrack for the movie or soundtrack inspired by the movie? Did you say, alright, at some point I know he's going to want to do a soundtrack? Or was it a surprise when he said, I was so inspired, I decided to do this? For me, it was kind of a surprise.

We went on a boat trip for like two weeks and I told him what type of movie I wanted to make. I kind of illustrated the vision and he said, you know what, I'll join the crew and help you guys develop it and put my two cents in. And then during the process of development,

he just jumped in the studio and the songs just started coming. He made a ton of songs and I don't know if I can say it on air, but it's crazy. It's crazy. So there might be a part two soundtrack. I don't know if it's a part two, but all I know is that I'm happy he was inspired by the movie and What he's got coming is crazy. It's dope It also shows you coming to New York to record with the bomb squad if you know the story

You know if the boss walk you see the public enemy jackets and stuff like that Was it a time where you ever felt safe in New York than LA? No Where you get these questions from? I see in the movie you got into the fight coming off the escalator. I'm just saying. He was good in New York. We love Cuban New York. Yeah, you know, but I feel safer at home than anywhere on the planet. I was reading Luke, Uncle Luke's book, and he was talking about how hard it was for him to be embraced in New York.

And he said NWA had a similar issue coming to New York and not being embraced when you guys first started. When we first came to New York we got booed it was a seminar that was out here and uh they had all the rappers go up to to uh to the Apollo and perform you know I mean and we was like fresh new you know I think Eazy had we won Eazy out like so we only had a few little songs. So we jumped on stage. Man, they saw them. Jerry Curls. It was over.

Hey, boo, boo, boo. Jerry Curls aren't that big here. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know. So, so. I'm about to say, man, Curtis Blow Rock went. But anyway.

Good luck. Good luck. Good luck. OG. I'm about to say man Curtis Blowrock but anyway good luck good luck OG we was mad we was feeling bad about it we was feeling bad we was like damn man

you know we ain't gonna never crack you know it was like this nut we could not crack you know

Ice-T was the only one getting a little bit of love so we was like damn and then we was in the elevator with Run I think Run he looked love. So we was like, damn. And then we was in the elevator with Run.

I think Run, he looked, he saw Eazy. He was like, you're that kid that do Boys in the Hood, right? He's like, yeah, man. He's like, man, I like that. So when Run endorsed us like that, he was like, man, look, it's a matter of time, baby. They're going to love us out here. It's a matter of time.

So, you know, that kind of made us feel good. But, yeah, we got booed the first time we came to new york and performed f gaga was there anything that the stars cube and dre wanted cut out the movie when it cut out the movie what do you mean just in general like any any part of the story like you know what let's just keep that out no not necessarily i mean our biggest problem was you know too much we had too much the original cut was three hours and 30 30 minutes long and so a biggest challenge besides finding the cast was cutting it down so that's you know a two-hour movie but they didn't really show like the death row easy beef too much you know what it's we we show no Vaseline we showed some of the death row stuff you don't mean you know I want to tell the

whole movie but I think we put it in its right place. We tried to make sure everything that pertained to NWA was in the movie. You know, because everybody got their side stories. You know, we can all do movies. I could still do an Ice Cube movie and the NWA part would be 10 minutes. So, you know what I mean? It's like we just tried to make sure that we told a comprehensive story that you can follow and understand what happened. We know people are going to research us.

We know it's going to be documentaries. It's already documentaries made. There's plenty of articles. People that love this movie are going to go and find all the nooks and crannies. And, you know, even Charlemagne is going to put a movie together with the NWA stuff that wasn't in the movie so you know what I'm saying but it's enough

you know you can't show everything but we show what we needed to show to have a great movie and it's dope August 14th that's right there's a director's cut by the way I was going to ask you that it's long now it's a good long did you by the way. I was going to ask you that. It's long now. It's a director's cut?

Hey, but listen. It's a good long though. Did you want a 90-minute movie at NWA? Seriously. I'm going to be honest with you. It would have been like NWA fast food. That's what people say. That's the response.

That's the response we get. When people watch the movie, they say, you know what? We wanted to get more and more and more. And so we have a plan for that. But we want people to enjoy the theatrical release. Now, Ice Cube, does this inspire you to want to make your own movie about Ice Cube's life? Not really. You know, this was hard enough.

It's fun going back and doing the, you know, ride-alongs and just, you know, it's easier to make shit up as you go along than dealing with this real-life stuff. This real-life stuff is just hard because you can't just cut stuff out. You lose something here, you gotta lose something there. It just has this crazy effect and anybody who's put together a true story in a movie knows what I'm talking about

that it's just extra hard to get it right. Now F. Gary Gray, how do you avoid things like lawsuits? I saw when they did the TLC movie and then Pebbles was trying to sue because she didn't like the portrayal of herself in that movie. Right. How do you avoid something like that? It's too soon to tell.

You know, I just wanted to focus on making the movie dope. You know, I wasn't concerned with that. I'm sure Universal, you know, kind of did what they had to do to make sure they protected the movie and the company and stuff like that. But I wasn't concerned about that. I just wanted to make the movie as raw as the album. And that's what we did. So we'll see.

I can't wait to see. Talk to me in a month and a half. Was the NWA reunion actually going to happen? What you mean? Because in the end it was like y'all was trying to get everybody back together. Oh, yeah, yeah, no doubt. No doubt. We was definitely, you know, i had my head ready for it

you know so it's like he died right before we had a chance to really go in there and i mean you know y'all giving up the movie hold up yeah i want that hold up that's charlamagne doing all that i know but a lot of people haven't yet who better to ask than the director that's right i don't question about shiv was sugar involved Because I know he was mad about the movie. Clearly not. Was he mad because he wanted to put his two cents in? What was his whole thing? I don't know what he was mad about.

He probably heard what happened. He probably heard this is going to happen, and he wanted to come down there. It didn't go well. It didn't go well at all. Yeah, I wasn't there. It's a great movie. Good movie.

It's a great movie. He didn't look crazy in the movie. Thank you. Nobody looked crazy in the movie. He probably had no idea, though. Maybe it was just in his head. I don't know. But let me ask you one more question. How close were you with everybody else before making this movie? Did this bring y'all back closer together?

Or were you always in close contact? Close contact, I don't know what that is. It's like I had been solo for so long doing my thing they was doing their thing you know we we cool you know and we all busy as hell and we all you know but this might have been like a family reunion yeah you know i'm saying when we see each other it's like a family reunion we talking hugging talking and and reminiscing

about the old times and enjoying this ride. None of us can really believe that we was able to get a movie off like this at this quality level, you know, at a studio like Universal. So it's a prestigious moment for the group. And we know Eazy would love this movie and be proud of it. And, you know, that's what it's all about. What made you do so much reality rap back in the day because you know in the movie they show you on the school bus when you know

they show easy like actually in the street like what made you what do you mean man when you black you from the street what are you talking about how can you be in the hood and not be from the hood i don't know what you mean some people don't put no work in though can be in the hood what is put in work in your aspect? Like actually going out there hustling. Killing somebody, shooting somebody, robbing somebody. That's criminal behavior, man. That ain't got nothing to do with being hood.

That ain't got nothing to do with being hood, man. I'm so sick of that. You know what I'm saying? You got to do crime to write a rap. No. You got to be a boat to paint a rap? No. You know. Nah, it's poetry. It's poetry. To paint a boat?

Nope. Okay. That's right. Did you film any of the behind the scenes discussions of you guys sitting down and like what was going to go on in the movie and like conversations with each other? Like, remember when this happened? Remember when this happened? I did.

I shot some of it. What you going to do with it? Oh, man. I don't know. I don't know if we can release that, but it's good. It's good. I sat down with Dre for about four hours, and he gave me all the ins and outs of NWA, the Death Row stuff.

And it was, you know, he's a very private guy. And so it was good I had a relationship with him because he just opened it up. And I think that's what makes the movie authentic because you get things in the movie you will not, you know, Google or get from Wikipedia. Probably nobody else could have done this no no there's probably a couple people no because your relationship with Ice Cube with Dre I mean it's been really difficult for anybody else to get those I mean I was definitely there when they left NWA I did a lot of the videos for Q when he

went solo true to the game really though today was a good day and of course my first movie, Friday. And he did Natural Born Killers, which me and Dre got back together. With Tupac. Tupac got a shot in the movie. Who else could have done this? Really?

Nobody. Nobody. I probably had, you know. Not at this level. Not with this much love. You know what I'm saying? It would have been a chop. It would have been a chop.

It was a personal story for me too because I grew up a couple of miles away from Cube in L.A. During that time, it was dangerous personal story for me too because i grew up um a couple of miles away from cube in la during that time it was dangerous it was fun it was all those things so you know i got a chance to tell a little bit about my my life as well because you know none of us went to college for this stuff and we all made it out of that environment and built our own careers and movies and technology and all this type of stuff. So it was personal to me because I either witnessed or experienced firsthand what they were rapping about. So, you know, I don't know if I ever get a chance for all of these elements to intersect in a movie creatively for me.

So, you know, maybe I was the one for the job, but it was personal. That's it. Definitely personal. So, M. Guy Gray, are your names being thrown around to direct the black panther movie i keep hearing rumors man but you know they haven't reached out yet oh so you put that room out there i went on the blogs i started my own rumor no this wasn't the first movie um marvel movie i've i've been kind of involved in this was uh i I just keep hearing rumors, man. You know, I'm really just focused on straight out of Compton.

I'm not really worried about what's next. We're still lost in the world of NWA. I don't want to give too much of the movie away, but did you? You know,

you don't get away. No good. You still got to go see it for yourself. Thank you. Appreciate that. Did you actually go in the room with Eazy?

No, no, I didn't go in the room with Eazy. What are you talking about? You got to explain. What room? Yeah, what is this inside conversation? Go see the movie.

So that's how it really played out? We did the movie, man. We did what really happened. Why you gotta ask me? We did what really happened. What does that do? Well, guess what? It makes the listeners be like, well, I need to go see what they're talking about.

What's that room about, right? You know that that's how it's gonna be for the rest of y' go see what they're talking about. What's that room about, right? Yeah, what is that room? You know that that's how it's gonna be for the rest of your career. Now people are gonna ask nothing but questions about the past now, because of the NWA movies. That's dope. That's cool, that's dope. That means we did our thing.

That hotel scene with Felicia. All right! Stop! My goodness. I'm sure that inspired I Ain't The One. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.

Did your wife ever ask you about that record? All right! My wife don't need to ask me about no records. My goodness. It's the Breakfast Club with Ice Cube and F. Gary Gray. There we go. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own?

I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.

What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love.

I forgive myself. It's okay. Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best, and you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey y'all, Niminy here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families

called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it.

And it began with me. Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was Claudette Colvin. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone.

This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8th, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, and every single wig removal together. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.