Hip-hop is a whole culture that combines not only music, but also a lifestyle, clothing style, slang and much more. Voice of the Streets (film 2015), whose actors brilliantly coped with their tasks, is a great visual example of how this culture was born, what difficulties were there.
Plot
The action of the tape begins in the late 80s, when a group of ordinary guys from the African American ghetto decide to seriously engage in music. Eric Wright (Eazy-E), who invested his own money from the sale of drugs, becomes the sponsor of the new rap team.
The film is a biographical drama, which tells about the legendary hip-hop group NWA. The fate of its members is very different, but the influence of this group on world contemporary culture is very high.
The plot of the film is as close as possible to real events. The creators tried to make the film as authentic and believable as possible. No wonder the participants of the disintegrated group, which is discussed in the picture, took part in the creation of the film.
A little background
As mentioned above, the film is about the NWA group, which included such legendary rappers as D. Dre, Dr. Ezy-E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella ( DJ Yella) and EMC Ren (MC Ren). Each of them is today a cult rapper.
The most famous and recognized today are Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, who were the first to leave the team. Both rappers were directly involved in the creation of “Voice of the Streets” (film) in 2015. The actors who played each member of the musical group were matched as closely as possible to make it easier for fans to associate the characters with their favorite rappers.
This cinema reception has long been one of the main ones in biopic. But then a very strong visual similarity between the actors and prototypes is immediately evident.
Voice of the Streets (2015 film): actors and roles
They started working on the film back in 2009, but production was a little delayed. A special place was given to casting the actors, which was approached with particular care.
Initially, it was stated that the role of Easy Is performed by his son, but in the end the actor was replaced. The final cast for the lead roles looks like this:
- O'Shea Jackson Jr. in the role of Ice Cube;
- Jason Mitchell as Eric Wright (Eazy-E);
- Corey Hawkins performed by Andre Young (Dr. Dre);
- Eldis Hodge introduced Lorenzo Patterson (MC Ren);
- Neil Brown Jr. demonstrated by Antoine Carrabi (DJ Yella).
The picture also features two more famous rappers: Snoop Dogg (Keith Stanfield) and 2Pac (Mark Rose).
Voice of the Streets (2015 film): reviews
The NWA group, despite the fact that it broke up more than 20 years ago, still has a huge fan base. Therefore, the creators of the tape faced a difficult task. In case of failure, the anger of fans and fans of rappers would be destructive for the film.
However, as practice has shown, the film turned out to be of very high quality and was very warmly received by the public. Even professional film critics spoke mostly about the film.
Especially fans were pleased with the fact that Dre and Cube themselves took part in its creation. They were not only producers of the picture, but also inspired the entire film crew, and also acted as consultants for screenwriters, telling about their impressions, memories, etc.
Thanks to the common efforts of everyone who participated in the creation of “Voice of the Streets” (film, 2015): actors, director, screenwriters, etc., the film turned out to be simply magnificent. Spectacular love and recognition speaks for itself.
Unprecedented success was consolidated and simply fantastic box office success. The picture, whose budget was only $ 28 million, managed to collect more than 200 million at the box office, having recouped production costs by about 7 times.
Interesting Facts
The original name of the film is Straight Outta Compton, which is identical to the name of the group's debut album, which was released in August 1988.
The role of one of the key members of the rap group, Ice Cube, was played by his own son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., who not only looks very much like his father in his youth, but, like him, also makes hip-hop music.
Interesting is the fact that the actors of the film re-recorded the entire debut album of the group. As the creators of “Voice of the Streets” (film, 2015) and the actors of the film themselves explain, this was done to get used to the images better and faster.
The son of Ice Cube claims that at first he was uneasy because he plays his own father. But he could not allow anyone else to fulfill this role. He had been preparing for it for more than two years. This is partly due to the fact that the rapper Ice Cube did not want to be accused of promoting his son, using the position of producer.
Jerry Heller, who was an agent of the NWA group, did not like the way he was shown in the film. Heller also once declared that he most regrets that he once convinced Isi-I not to kill Merion “Sug” Knight.
The actors of “Voices of the Streets” (2015) and the entire film crew gave everything 100%, creating this movie masterpiece. Their works were fully rewarded not only with fan love, but also with the fact that the picture became the highest grossing biographical tape about musicians in history.
The film was released 2 decades after the death of AIDS Easy-Y. Thus, his friends and relatives paid a peculiar tribute to the outstanding rapper.
Conclusion
“Voice of the Streets” is a film (2015), whose actors were lucky enough to play real hip-hop legends. Everyone considered it an honor to execute their characters. Therefore, the main incentive for them was not money, but the opportunity to become part of something truly valuable and great.
The Voice of the Streets can be considered just such. The film of 2015 overnight became a cult. That is how it should be, according to viewers and fans. About the legendary rap group and the film was supposed to be made no less legendary.