00:06yes me and last but what but not least
00:12and I'm apologize but if there are
00:15children here you already heard a lot of
00:16this a crazy [ __ ] named Ice Cube
00:42Wow it's a great night great movie great
00:47audience let's do this yet all right so
00:52I'm just gonna ask a few questions and
00:54then if everybody here has questions
00:57they have everyone's agreed to answer
01:00your questions as well so everybody's
01:02excited to be here I'm Gary yes this
01:06movie you know with such you made an
01:09epic picture you know it's a not the way
01:13most people would have done a kind of a
01:16movie about hip hop there's never been a
01:18movie about to pop quite like this you
01:21know how did you conceptualize that and
01:23you know how did you think about
01:26developing this story well first of all
01:28I'm honored to be able to tell a story
01:31about such as phenomenal group that
01:33changed the course of popular culture
01:37you know the history was changed when
01:38NWA came out and made Straight Outta
01:40Compton and how I approached it you know
01:44it was actually it was hard it was easy
01:47it was hard because there was so many
01:50major things that happen with this group
01:52so much controversy so much drama and as
01:55so many it's like five guys over the
01:57course of ten years to actually choose
01:59what to put in the movie was really
02:00really hard what was easy about it was
02:04it's not only hip-hop history it's
02:06American history and these guys
02:09seriously this is just the these guys
02:13wasn't really interested in serving
02:16polite society or being politically
02:19correct and this is something that you
02:23know you can go your whole lifetime and
02:25not learn that lesson and they did it as
02:27young guys and to tell that story it's
02:32just kind of a universal thing that I
02:33think anybody can actually identify with
02:35and when you have a story that has the
02:37Brotherhood and it has triumph and
02:39tragedy and rags-to-riches
02:41that made it easy for me because these
02:43are all Universal things that we all can
02:46identify with that has nothing to do
02:48with where you come from
02:50your culture is or if even if you like
02:52hip-hop or not so it was hard but it was
02:55also easy thank you for that
02:58great well great work appreciate but
03:08kind of coming off of that q you wrote
03:11[ __ ] the police so many Holies the
03:16police to pronounce it correctly that's
03:20in twenty six years ago now and as you
03:27know as gary said like you know how did
03:30you come across you know at that point
03:32so honestly to tell the truth like that
03:35and then how do you feel about how
03:39things have unfolded since then it's
03:41almost like we've waited till today to
03:45really understand that song well we was
03:49just so frustrated at the time you know
03:52we was dealing with Daryl gates who was
03:55the chief of police in Los Angeles at
03:57the time and he had declared a war on
04:00gangs now to most law-abiding citizens
04:04the war on gangs sound pretty good but
04:08if they think every black teenager they
04:13run across or brown teenager they run
04:16across is a gang banger that means it's
04:20a war on black young teenagers and brown
04:23young teenagers so it was a war on all
04:26of us whether you was banging or not he
04:30was swept in it caught in it steamrolled
04:33by it and it was no relief in sight
04:39before NWA if a cop testified against
04:44you everybody believed him you were
04:48straight up after NWA people started to
04:52say hmm is this true is this true then
04:56the Rodney King incident happened to let
04:58people know what we was talking about
05:00was true in that it was thousands of
05:03Rodney King's all through the community
05:06in every community then you know people
05:09start realizing oh man they are serious
05:13so you know we we really decided to use
05:17this song as a weapon as our protests
05:21against what was happening to us then
05:25now you look up and people realize that
05:28it's it is an epidemic because we have
05:32camera phones body cams dash cams all
05:37these things are letting people know the
05:40things that we've been knowing for
05:42hundreds of years in this country that
05:45you know the the law enforcement has
05:48really stacked against us and you know
05:52it's a shame when a country preys on its
05:54own citizens and that's exactly what's
05:58happening right now that's a thank you
06:05for that that's a great commentary and
06:09explanation and it's for a year when
06:12you're I hadn't thought of it in that
06:14way but you have a war it's a war on
06:17your own citizens you're going to war on
06:19your own people yes and you train people
06:21like that and that's what you get it's
06:23terrible but one of the amazing things
06:28about the movie and O'Shea junior like
06:31this your first major role who is my
06:33understanding which is shocking because
06:36he do a spooky watching you cuz I you
06:39know I watched your father when he was
06:41gonna and it was like hard to tell that
06:44you weren't him like you were that good
06:46I don't know what they give Best Actor
06:48to for but like if it's recreating Ice
06:50Cube like like completely like you
06:52should win it that was amazing thank you
06:55thank you I appreciate that
06:56how did you like how did you even go
07:00about approaching it though I mean you
07:02know because he's you're so close to him
07:04you know did you have to then go back
07:06and study him or how did you how did you
07:09get to that wrong um my preparation was
07:12the hardest part you know he brought me
07:14the idea of being in the movie before
07:17there was a script and he flat-out said
07:21you know I need you uh I need you to
07:23play me so you know you've kind of got
07:27to get this so you know we talked to
07:30Gary and Gary got me uh you know the
07:33acting coaches I needed Aaron speiser
07:34Susan Batson and Dustin Felder once I
07:37got the role and I was auditioning for
07:40two years before I got the part and
07:43that's annoying cuz you know there's the
07:48idea of you're not gonna get it you know
07:50you're not gonna get it and I that would
07:54uh that would have killed me that would
07:56have really in a way humiliated me
07:59you know it's my father this this movie
08:02is so much bigger than music is so much
08:05bigger than a group you know this is my
08:06family's legacy and it means the world
08:10to me that I have the you know the
08:12opportunity to submit him in cinema
08:14forever and that's something that I felt
08:17like I needed to do for him but could we
08:19back up just a little bit you know I
08:21wanted to dispel any rumors that or any
08:25thoughts that this guy actually was
08:26given this role he worked the hardest
08:30out of anybody in his cassock at this
08:32role it took him two years of
08:35auditioning and callbacks and chemistry
08:38tests and even what the chemistry done
08:40will have what the chemistry does okay
08:42okay okay and then we finally get to a
08:52chemistry test now I've never done a
08:54movie I don't know what that means I'm
08:55just thinking it's gonna be a cue but
08:57easier Dre we go do some scenes so I get
09:01there I walk in there I see a jheri curl
09:03now I know I'm going for cute I step up
09:07you know what's going on how you doing
09:09I'm oh sure you going for easy no I'm
09:13going for cute okay okay okay well
09:17I got some bad news for you today you
09:19know and so I had to deal with two other
09:22cubes there competition if you will but
09:28you know it was it was just things that
09:29another challenge that I had to get over
09:33me and these two guys man we click these
09:36dudes I'm you know some of my best
09:38friends at this point and you know the
09:41chemistry test was just another notch in
09:43my belt you know all the hard work
09:45everything I had to go through it was
09:47all building confidence that I needed it
09:49myself I needed to cram as much
09:51experience as I could in a short amount
09:53of time to give y'all the best project
09:56that I could because he proved it wasn't
10:05nepotism in the movie stages you know he
10:12did an amazing job in the movie but he
10:15did an amazing job really earning the
10:18part you know people don't realize that
10:21these guys went through boot camp um not
10:24only to you know just earning the part
10:27but just actually preparing for the part
10:29so imma let you do this thing but I want
10:31people to understand just one of those
10:34things it's it's it's it's I've been
10:37involved with this project for four
10:38years it took me four years to get this
10:40on up to screen I think it took cube
10:42over a decade maybe 13 years to put this
10:45on the screen so this is not something
10:47where we woke up and said you know what
10:49we want to make a movie okay NWA it's a
10:51slam dunk it's a passion project it's a
10:53labor of love and everybody who's
10:55sitting up here really really put their
10:58blood sweat and tears into making this
11:00movie what it is today and you know
11:02nepotism was not a part of this project
11:04because when it's all said and done the
11:08novelty of kube son playing cube wears
11:11off after the first five minutes if he
11:13can't carry a movie this movie doesn't
11:16work period so I really wanted to put
11:21that out there cuz these guys really
11:23worked them worked hard to do this
11:26hey yeah thank you good thank you
11:30so actually picking up my co
11:34interviewers dude there you go I can't
11:37help it Gary and I were actually talking
11:38backstage about one of the things that
11:40struck me about the the movie there
11:42isn't really a movie with characters
11:45this complex and multi-dimensional you
11:48know outside of like Shakespeare and and
11:51in particular the the character who is
11:53the most complicated one of the most
11:55complicated characters I've seen on
11:56screen in in decades was easy because
12:00he's you know he starts out you know
12:03drug dealer BAM leader the work he and
12:06the band not into music then the the
12:09tragic character and Jason just tell us
12:11about like how did you prepare for that
12:13and how did you you know how did you
12:16play such a multi-dimensional role where
12:19you were so many things throughout the
12:21movie I had a lot of Drive you know
12:24coming into the part from from the
12:25beginning and I really had the
12:29opportunity II as an opportunity to not
12:32only recreate him and you know recreate
12:34people as they know him but to really be
12:37able to pull it all my creative guns out
12:39you know and I had to make a complete
12:42transformation to do it because I had to
12:43drop the accent and learn how to talk
12:45and walk like I was from California and
12:47learn the music and learn how to rap and
12:49learn all these different things and eat
12:514,000 calories a day to get my chest big
12:54box and do all these things I'm like you
13:00know it was a heavy task it was a heavy
13:03heavy heavy task but that was before I
13:06could get to the point where I could
13:08take direction you know cuz all of these
13:11things are things I felt like I didn't
13:12want to worry about while trying to act
13:15you know because acting it has to be
13:18real so there were a lot of things that
13:22went into that but Gary Q the rest of
13:27NWA you know really really really helped
13:29me channel what I felt like was him and
13:32to give him a real opinion but Gary had
13:36this real safe zone for each of us
13:38cuz everybody had their
13:39things to do you know like he were super
13:43hard you know but he had a vision for
13:47everybody I think and it was kind of
13:48chronologically set up for for us to
13:51develop a real Brotherhood and a lot
13:53that we did that you know kind of
13:55transfers on-screen we're well but
13:56listen you you you guys have to
13:58appreciate the transformation that Jason
14:01made because is one thing if you from
14:03the streets of LA and you are from the
14:06streets but the streets in New Orleans
14:08which is completely different so he's
14:10from the south so learn the culture
14:12learn the swag learn how to perform get
14:15larger all these things you have to do
14:17in such a short amount of time the
14:18transformation was crazy and the boot
14:21camp that you had to go through in order
14:23to give such an honest performance was
14:25absolutely amazing as well and I've you
14:28know read these stories about some of my
14:30favorite films like Raging Bull where De
14:32Niro has to gain weight and lose weight
14:34and do all these things to give such a
14:36great performance or City of God where
14:38the director works with these kids for
14:41months and months and must like I think
14:43work for nine months you guys came in in
14:45eight weeks recorded the entire strand
14:49of Compton album these guys the actors
14:52recorded recorded the album gained
14:55Corey went to school to actually DJ and
14:59you know you bring up Shakespeare Corey
15:03actually was doing he was on Broadway
15:05doing Shakespeare something like that it
15:07would Julie alright come on let's talk
15:14that's a is romeo-juliet I was reading
15:18yeah yeah that's amazing so what was it
15:21like going like one from that and then
15:24to play not only to play a living legend
15:28but a living legend who my understanding
15:31was like on the set every day how did
15:38that challenge what's the difference in
15:40those challenges man I don't know I just
15:44I look at it all is it just a huge
15:46blessing you know first and foremost
15:48because as your life is an actor man you
15:53especially as a black young brother you
15:56know in this business you never know
15:58where the next paycheck is gonna come
16:00from you never know you know some of
16:02y'all here might know you know but you
16:03never know you know what the next
16:05opportunity is gonna yield so you know
16:08as we always say Jason says you know a
16:11lot it feels like we we hit the life
16:12lottery with these roles in these
16:14characters and we it wasn't lost on us
16:18the task that was was ahead because
16:21initially with Dre I you know got the
16:25call to come in for him and and I was
16:27like nah I don't think I can do that I
16:31don't think I'm the one who can you know
16:33I don't think I look like I'm sounding
16:35like a Mack like I'm none of that you
16:36know and um but it was a lot of just
16:38your actor insecurities you know I'm
16:40saying getting your own head and getting
16:42in your own way and um I remember you
16:46know just when I found out Gary was
16:48involved and how heavily cube was
16:50involved in Dre it was like okay game
16:54time now all right you know what I mean
16:56cuz I knew this story was gonna be epic
16:58but I didn't want to be to want to mess
16:59it up but you know thankfully I got the
17:02role and you know these guys though man
17:05they made it easy you know I'm saying
17:07working with Jason working with Shay out
17:10his hide you plays wind Neal Brown jr.
17:12who plays yella we became brothers doing
17:15this whole process man like we really I
17:18mean I can't even like put it in words
17:21man how how closely we had to
17:23to get NWA right before we could even
17:27step on set you know the two months of
17:30prep work and Dre was there for the
17:31whole thing man from the very beginning
17:34he was there on set every day and and
17:37anytime I needed something at four
17:39o'clock in the morning if I caught him
17:40he pick up the phone cuz he's in the
17:42studio working you know to me but it was
17:45a it was a lot man I had to learn how to
17:47DJ never did that before in my life and
17:49I had to learn how to produce I think
17:51moto respect that these guys have for
17:54what they was trying to do exactly cuz I
17:55mean they legends who sits in the
17:58presence of legends like that you know I
18:00mean to the point where they've fallen
18:01asleep like I'm still here I'm good cube
18:04shooting right along to you like well I
18:06feel like Ice Cube but somebody got the
18:09iPad like Jason you good Wow you know
18:14but to know that the same people who
18:16like put that huge insecurity or that
18:20huge fear or whatever you feel when you
18:22first meet a legend they completely
18:25swept that off the board for us I'm like
18:27man you're the man for the job
18:28you know I mean and we trust y'all to do
18:30this but we're gonna watch I think we
18:35really came out with something guys it's
18:37about capturing their humanity man
18:38because we're not playing who they are
18:41today we're playing the young men they
18:44were then and you see you know you can
18:47look at who they are today and you see
18:49where they came from and everything they
18:50overcame you know what I mean that's
18:53that's that's what we wanted to capture
18:55just who the men were and you know like
18:57you said you would talk about
18:58Shakespearean man it is Shakespearean in
19:00Romeo and Juliet there's the Montagues
19:02and the Capulets and they view them for
19:04no reason nobody knows what a feuding
19:06but you can look at the Bloods and the
19:08Crips you can see that same energy is
19:10there man like it's in the language man
19:12and hip-hop it's the same man it's like
19:14it all at all correlates man but we put
19:17on everything Gary gave us everything we
19:19needed you know to get this job done and
19:22then the big homies the big uncles you
19:24know sandy they would air every single
19:26day to make sure we did it right
19:27well you did it right and just just as a
19:31as a statement of this you know my wife
19:35and my mother-in-law are here
19:37and they you know they they started out
19:39in Compton and what watching them watch
19:42the movie it was like if you want to
19:45stand up Nana Felicia you put them in a
19:57time machine it was like they literally
19:58went back in time I mean the look on the
20:02look on their faces was unbelievable it
20:04was like they were watching their life
20:0620 years ago so he's a genius
20:11he's a real-life genius he put you in a
20:13time capsule we shoot you back thank you
20:17and so what I'd like to do now is turn
20:20it over to Gary because he is the
20:22director yeah and if anybody has any
20:25gary will direct it I want to thank the
20:31Horrocks family for bringing us all here
20:32today what an amazing opportunity so a
20:37quick question and a comment my name is
20:39Latifah Simon and I'm really excited cuz
20:41just yesterday I was elected to a new
20:43board member for the national black
20:44lives matter movement Wow graduation I
20:48saw in this moment a couple of things
20:51this movie matters and many of us were
20:54writers we want to run to our computers
20:55immediately and write a commentary about
20:57why it matters the commodification of
20:59hip-hop the forgiveness and love and in
21:02humanization of black men and all that
21:06you all did and two and a half hours I
21:09can't even begin to capture what this
21:12will do for movement in this time so my
21:16question um damn this was a damn good
21:19movie a couple of things and I'm shaking
21:26because many of us who were involved in
21:28the HIV movement 20 years ago when we
21:31were 16 and 17 and 18 and on the streets
21:33when I saw that amazing scene I want to
21:37I want to understand how you all
21:39prepared for that when we saw easiest
21:42patch years and years ago we brought the
21:44quilt to Hunter's Point and seeing
21:46mothers wheat because they had lost
21:47their babies and wasn't they've never
21:50using their babies ez gave HIV voice in
21:54our in our community and what you all
21:56have done with this picture
21:57Yury ignite it because HIV is still the
21:59leading cause of death of black young
22:01people in the Bay Area let's speak so
22:04not murder not homicide I want to know
22:08from mr. cube and also senior and also
22:15the director your hopes and dreams for
22:18this film so I'll give the microphone to
22:22mr. harless well you know more people to
22:25be inspired by our story you know our
22:30story can be any person in here you know
22:34who has a dream who won't be stopped you
22:38know we did this we creativity you know
22:41we we fought back with a pen and a piece
22:44of paper you can do the same thing with
22:46a laptop iPad whatever y'all [ __ ] way
22:48right about now yeah but it's all about
22:52creativity you know I mean it's all
22:54about you know being constructive and
22:57not destructive and you know you're
23:00gonna have powerful forces against you
23:02you know I mean what we didn't show is
23:05people that was in our neighborhood and
23:07our families told us we couldn't rap
23:11then we wanna go home beating up and
23:13then we didn't listen to nobody we just
23:17was ourselves and it was alright and you
23:21know so I want people to be inspired by
23:23the story you know it's a it's a great
23:26American story you know it's uh
23:29youngsters with courage standing up for
23:33what we want to do now everything we did
23:35wasn't positive that's not what we said
23:38but everything we did was honest and
23:42people like that people like when you
23:44honest they don't like when you full of
23:46[ __ ] and when you lying all the time and
23:49were you just trying to put on a good
23:51face or putting on the good mass and a
23:54lot of artists would do that they put on
23:56the good mass when they get on stage get
23:58off stage and be Ike Turner
24:01you know I'm saying so he's like if you
24:05wanna be Ike Turner let us know
24:08beat that [ __ ] on stage so we know who
24:11you are so you stay away so don't hide
24:14behind no mess and you know so I just
24:16want people to be inspired that's all
24:17that's all for me it's a movie of a
24:23lifetime for me it's a project of a
24:25lifetime it's very personal to me I grew
24:27up in South Central LA in the 80s and
24:30the 90s and work with Q at the beginning
24:33of my career gave me my break I did
24:34Friday the 1st that's my first movie and
24:38thank you and so when you talk about LA
24:45South Central LA that era hip hop movies
24:51and all of the points that we kind of
24:54know topics that we touched on in this
24:57movie is all these things don't normally
25:00intersect you know you bring up HIV and
25:03AIDS and you know police brutality and
25:08you know if you're going to be
25:10politically correct or not in served
25:12polite society and however it works out
25:14it's a project of a lifetime for me
25:16because it's not only personal it's
25:18relevant in so many ways and it'll be a
25:20rittle be relevant for a very long time
25:24and when people say what was going on in
25:27America a hundred years from now
25:29hopefully this is the film that they
25:30reference and I just wanted to be as
25:34honest about the depiction as possible
25:38and you know fact is sometimes faint
25:42stranger than fiction you know all these
25:44things where guy starts off DJ in the
25:47garage and becomes a billionaire and
25:48another guy starts off riding in a bus
25:51at school and becomes a Hollywood mogul
25:53you can't write that it's the one sent
25:56me that skirt browser like that's
25:59and so to touch on these topics honestly
26:03I don't know if any of these things will
26:05ever intersect for me as a filmmaker
26:07ever again and so it was really
26:10important for me to make to make it as
26:12honestly as possible
26:14I'm glad that it's relevant but at the
26:17same time I'm a little sad that it's
26:19relevant you know I wish I could say
26:22remember back in the day when the music
26:24was great remember back in the day when
26:25the police used to overstep their
26:27boundaries and abuse their power that
26:29was then you know we're all kind of
26:31doing our thing now as Americans but
26:33it's sadly not the case but I will say
26:35that I'm cautiously optimistic that all
26:38of the pressure from the headlines and
26:40women like you that are stepping up and
26:44actually doing something about it it's
26:47gonna force change and it's gonna put
26:49pressure on our leaders in law
26:50enforcement is gonna push pressure on
26:52our leaders in Washington and for those
26:54law enforcement officers that are out
26:56there that have the tendency or
27:00propensity to actually do things like
27:01that maybe they'll watch this movie and
27:03think twice so thank you for that we
27:05really appreciate with you two as well
27:16good luck to the second question I just
27:23have a question about you know it was a
27:24struggle obviously from from intercity
27:26and from getting out but it was also a
27:28struggle for the art form to gain
27:30respect and you know I wonder now you
27:33look at hip-hop and it's a global
27:34phenomenon and it's changed so you know
27:38for cube and for Garry how much you know
27:40could could end up you a come out now do
27:42you think yeah definitely you know now
27:46is probably more easier for NWA to come
27:49out then back then you know hip hop was
27:52you know it was the underground enemy of
27:57music back back then you know you hear a
28:00lot of people in the movie saying you
28:02know rap is not an art nobody want to
28:05hear that crap reality [ __ ] you know
28:08they saying all that to us you know the
28:13soul music R&B music singers hated us
28:17though he was discouraged at Earth you
28:20know and so you know we wore that as a
28:24badge to be ourselves even more you know
28:28the more that the industry hated what we
28:30were doing the more that we wanted to do
28:33it and be ourselves and we didn't care
28:37about what they were saying about us and
28:39what they was thinking about the music
28:40we knew that you know this music was
28:43powerful and it finally gave the youth a
28:47voice you know the youth is voiceless on
28:51the right listens to the youth and uh
28:52with rap music you got to listen so it
28:56was just a powerful time against
29:00powerful opposition but you know that's
29:02why this is movie worthy because it's so
29:06many obstacles that were in our way that
29:10tried to take us down a few of them
29:12worked but most of them didn't and
29:15that's what it's all about
29:16I look at it a little differently I
29:19can't I kind of feel like they'll never
29:21be another group like NWA because they
29:25had to do it without any reference
29:30you know there was no real examples of
29:33guys stepping up and doing it the way
29:37facing the opposition of the FBI and law
29:39enforcement having to build a company
29:42without any real reference so you look
29:44at Cash Money Records you look at death
29:45row you look at Bad Boy Records and
29:48things like that they all had ruthless
29:50records as a reference you know and
29:54unless you look back at like maybe
29:55Motown or something like that which was
29:57you know not even the generation that
29:59they could really kind of connect to and
30:00that way business-wise it was a bunch of
30:03young guys just finding their way and we
30:07watch them grow up on wax so I'm not
30:09really sure if you'll ever really see
30:11another NWA and while I appreciate there
30:14are a few guys out there they're really
30:15doing it Jay Cole was doing it kendrick
30:18lamar's doing it but there's no Kendrick
30:21Lamar without NWA so I personally feel
30:26like you know I hope it inspires artists
30:29to actually get out there but again
30:30they'll still be inspired by groups like
30:33NWA man I just q I just say what's up
30:40and how you doing man
30:43South Central's in the house we brought
30:47up four or five kids key gets casted up
30:50five kids we draw from South Side show
30:52just come see this today that's right oh
30:54yes let me tell you why though let me
30:58tell you why so I grew up I grew up in
30:59watts I grew up in watts it's such a
31:02great pleasure to be here today with you
31:03guys because this morning I was in was
31:06talking about the today's the
31:07anniversary of the Watts Riots back in
31:10the 60s so now I'm here watching this
31:12and I'm like blown away and the reason
31:15why because the NWA has been inspiring
31:16me ever since 97 since the 80s when I
31:19was growing up in South Central and
31:20Watts and ever since then I thought man
31:23we gotta keep doing something different
31:25do something new and get the youth to be
31:27inspired and you used to be speak out so
31:29you guys had NWA we have txt which means
31:33T's exploring technology and this is the
31:35future technology young entrepreneurs in
31:38south central San Chile's doing things
31:41during hackathons yeah and we just had
31:46so look we just had the biggest
31:47hackathon in watts right now we had
31:49about 200 people about 100 kids in the
31:52Knicks so if you know the Knicks
31:54Nickerson gardens on wireless we had 70
31:58kids 80 kids down there and we are faces
32:01the same thing that you guys face with
32:03music about now wrapped up being artists
32:05so wrapping up being a music not weird
32:07face is the same thing because people in
32:09watts or leaders or police officials are
32:12telling us hackathons are bad thing so
32:15that's what they're telling us like
32:16hackathons teaching kids how to code
32:18it's a bad think it's gonna hack into a
32:20computer they're gonna do something
32:22illegal and we sure to be doing it but
32:23we brought it to the mix we had a
32:25hackathon my question to you is this
32:28there's kids down there doing this and
32:30they're they're hacking away learning
32:32how to code and building their own tech
32:33companies not having a lot of knowledge
32:36how the tech world starts and how the
32:38tech world get going I'm asking you
32:41today you didn't have any knowledge of
32:43the rap and the music industry what
32:45advice would you have for kids now to
32:47say hey keep going I metal share the USC
32:51we qt3 in and I remember him telling me
32:54that you said to him hey I want you to
32:56get your degree first before you come
32:58and work with me and he got his degree
33:00at USC I remember him talking to me of
33:02that back there but I'm asking you today
33:04it's what advice would you have in order
33:07to inspire kids and say even if you
33:09don't have everything all the tools
33:11necessary to keep going and I'll achieve
33:13their dream state you know you gotta
33:17believe in yourself you know it's all
33:19about you know having that self
33:22determination you know you know what
33:24you're doing is right it feels right
33:27don't worry about what people say you
33:29know don't what don't let people
33:31discourage you and to not doing what you
33:34know you want to doing what you feeling
33:36even family members friends you know
33:41close people will try to discourage you
33:43in and get you off your path it's just
33:46natural especially when they don't see
33:48the light at the end of the tunnel but
33:50you just got to work and be determined
33:52and not care what people say
33:54and study you know everything you want
33:57to learn is in a book somewhere and so
34:00that's what it's all about it's all
34:02about getting you know determination up
34:04and getting your passion up and trying
34:09to be great at what you do and to me
34:11that's all the ammunition you need to
34:15get out there and do anything you you
34:18have your heart set on and you know so
34:22like it's not cool to be to be what they
34:26call a nerd now or it's not cool to be
34:29smart or which is the dumbest [ __ ] in
34:32the world but I don't know when they
34:34have it cuz it was cool to be smart and
34:36my neighborhood is cool to be smart
34:39because everybody knows that you know
34:43all the cool people you ain't gonna be
34:46doing number working front what you call
34:48the geeks anyway when you get out of
34:49high school anyway so you need to uh
34:53Connolly get your [ __ ] together and you
34:57might need to become a nerd and a geek
34:58too you know I'm saying nothing wrong
35:00with that nothing wrong with that you
35:02know they give they give it these names
35:04but that just mean you smart you focus
35:07and you know what you want to do and
35:08know what you want to be and nothing
35:10wrong with that man don't let nobody
35:11make you feel ashamed of that you know
35:14that's cool to me you know I'm saying
35:17it's cool to have things and to be smart
35:20you know so that's what it's all about
35:25okay we're gonna take two more two more
35:29hey BJ a couple of questions you know
35:33for the actors what are you going to
35:35take out from the movie going forward
35:37there must have been scenes that brought
35:39you back to you know what you went
35:41through at that point in time well the
35:44one thing that we'll the things I'm
35:47gonna take from this film that I hope
35:49everybody takes from this film is the
35:52confidence that NWA had and you know the
35:56their courageousness you know that
35:58they're willing to to be the straw that
36:01stirs the drink you know and anybody
36:03else who follows in their foot
36:05are just caught in the current and
36:08everyone should take the kind of
36:10confidence and integrity that the
36:13characters show and apply it to anything
36:15that you do from the custodian to the to
36:19the president you know everybody should
36:21take the same kind of characteristics
36:24you know that the things that speak to
36:26the human character and his film are
36:28things and I feel like we as society
36:30need to be refreshed on constantly so I
36:34just want everyone to take that from the
36:36film and to apply it to your everyday
36:38life no matter what it is that you do
36:42that's super important cuz I mean if you
36:46take my situation for instance I only
36:48been acting for five years like I've
36:50never thought this could happen you know
36:52if I wrote my own story it wouldn't be
36:53this good you know so I think you know
36:57like watching the NWA you can see that
36:59they were just five guys of a like mind
37:02and they changed the world you know I
37:04mean what if it was ten guys you know
37:07and we got to start thinking on that
37:08level we got to start thinking like I
37:11mean we could do anything like for real
37:15for real for real you know and for me
37:18what I took from this movie really is
37:21that these guys never changed you know I
37:23mean like I'm gonna dump somebody like
37:24from the street and I always thought
37:26that I would have to articulate so much
37:29better and you know do these things and
37:31wear these kind of pants and have this
37:33kind of job you know and none of that is
37:36true you know you just got to be you and
37:38if you continue to be you it'll it'll
37:40it'll bring you exactly where you need
37:41to be you know so be happy with that
37:48yeah yeah yeah that's real talk
37:54be you and be be the best youdo you know
37:56I'm saying be the best you be to be to
37:59positively you you know and I from from
38:03this film I I take away you know going
38:06the path left chosen you know I'm saying
38:10and being strong enough to make that
38:12decision because for me I grew up in DC
38:16you know my mother is a police officer
38:19my dad you know dealing with drugs and
38:24you know I'm saying this it's a whole
38:25nother lifestyle and for me I grew up
38:29seeing both you know I'm saying I grew
38:31up grew up sort of on both side of the
38:33tracks you know and I grew up watching a
38:36lot of my friends go that way and I had
38:39to make a choice you know what I'm
38:41everybody else is doing that that must
38:43be cool what's the choice that's gonna
38:46leave me to go this way you know I mean
38:48the same way the NWA had to make a
38:51choice when the FBI came down on these
38:54teenagers for speaking reality they made
38:58a choice to put their foot on the gas
38:59and keep going you know and that's the
39:01thing that I take away from it is that
39:03it doesn't matter where you from what
39:05your situation is whether you're white
39:07black Asian latina whatever your race
39:09whatever your socio-political economic
39:12whatever you can be the best you and in
39:15this film shows that because you see
39:17where they came from and you see who
39:19they are today and you see the choices
39:21that they made to get there this is no
39:24fairy tale this isn't non this isn't
39:26fiction this is real life and like gary
39:28said it's like you can't write this [ __ ]
39:30like you really can't you know if you
39:32think about no this is a great movie not
39:34no this is this is reality it was funny
39:37cuz we would be on set man and and dr.
39:39Dre was like Manish this could be a
39:41movie man cuz this this right here this
39:43this part was and we were shooting it
39:45like you know so it's just it's just be
39:49to be you you know I'm saying have have
39:52have that confidence and go get it you
40:01some of my favorite parts of the movie
40:03is like that I remember real vividly
40:06like happening like on the bus that day
40:08when dude got on the bus you know
40:11tripped out gave the [ __ ]
40:14motivational speech and burnt out
40:19you know performing that doodles you
40:24know I remember that night vividly you
40:26know my favorite part though is going
40:28and Bryan Turner's office with the bat
40:32yeah you know that brings back memories
40:36right there yeah I was on one I was on
40:40one well but we cool now we cool now you
40:46know you paid me my money too okay I
40:56just want to know what made you guys
40:58want to become actors in the first place
41:00and why did you guys choose to audition
41:02for this film I just needed new friends
41:08I don't really like what y'all into
41:11maybe I was gonna do this you know and
41:13it was something like I never really
41:15thought was gonna turn out like that
41:17like they just had this lady who just
41:19had this acting workshop and I was like
41:22they might got some nice-looking females
41:24in there you know so I'm like I let me
41:26go do this and maybe like three weeks
41:29into it I was like I really really
41:31really like this like this is something
41:35that it just was expressive you know I
41:36mean I can go there and just do
41:38something different for four three hours
41:40out of my day and be like I you know
41:42that's what's up and maybe like five
41:46weeks into it they just had a agent
41:49coming in and check me out and she she
41:52looked at the whole class it was like
41:54everybody needs to take this serious you
41:56will know how serious it is I'm about to
41:58sign him like what you know I mean and
42:01yeah a large and it took me maybe like
42:05about five or six months to book but
42:07after I seen one of them checks I'm like
42:10you know in after that it was all about
42:14trying to push and get to the next level
42:17because you're really nothing without a
42:18resume acting you know I mean everybody
42:20got started somewhere but you have to
42:22humble yourself and say I I can't take
42:26that Nero you know I mean because you
42:27think you know how to act and say you
42:28get there and have 80 different setups
42:31that you gotta do and you got to do this
42:32and you got to do that you know I wait
42:34you know cuz they'll have time to teach
42:36you when they spending millions and
42:37millions of dollars so um yeah it just
42:40it was one thing that kind of you know
42:42was going to the next in the next but I
42:45was always so happy to work that people
42:48were like it's just a good do it to work
42:49around so there's like man maybe we
42:51should try to breed them for a lead give
42:54Murder She Wrote person for me I am I
43:02don't know I just like telling stories
43:04you know I like like the whole tradition
43:07of the grills you know I'm saying
43:09sitting around a cap growing up here and
43:10grandma telling story I just I don't
43:12know I just love love being able to
43:14translate real life to scream or to the
43:19stage you know because we get to do this
43:21for a living this is flying man this is
43:23it's a blessing you know what I mean to
43:25be able to wake up every day and do this
43:27and be able to be here with you guys and
43:29and but but the truth is like I I'm more
43:33of a you know reserved kind of guy like
43:35I'm not very you know but when I get to
43:37get on stage or get on film I can let go
43:40and just let loose you know that's
43:43that's it's sort of an outlet for me
43:45whereas it could have been something
43:47you know so I just encourage people who
43:51are interested I mean I don't know if
43:53you are but like yeah you know go for it
43:56do it because you can be here you know
43:59you will be here I was really into
44:04screenwriting you know I'm definitely
44:06into into writing the script so I've
44:08always liked telling stories and things
44:10like that and he's really the reason why
44:15I got into it you know I I saw that he
44:18needed me he told me in the beginning
44:22says that you know it's a lot of people
44:25that don't want you to get this you know
44:29cousin nepotism and things like that but
44:32you know knowing that oughtn't people
44:35don't want me to do it but he want me to
44:38do it and that's really all that I
44:41needed and like I you know I'd never act
44:43before I got the a EE and drama in high
44:46school that's really it but I had fun
44:53you know I had the top of my life I'm
44:55not gonna act like this movie then drive
44:57me crazy but it's all because of the
44:59pressure I put on myself and while I was
45:01filming I was thinking about my
45:02screenwriting friends like you know they
45:04go chew my ass out oh you actor now this
45:06would you do you know so it was it was
45:08all the collective things I feel like I
45:11know what goes into a good movie and
45:13I've had way too much fun on this
45:15project these guys you know great morale
45:19makes great movies you know and I pray
45:23that I get another set like this because
45:25I didn't put all this hard work you know
45:27if just for one I'm trying to be here
45:29for a while yeah all right thanks all
45:45I'm not but I'm a stand-up with you
45:47thank you thank you thank you we just
45:51want to thank you all so much for making
45:54this movie and for sharing it with us
45:56and coming and talking about it's been a
45:59great honor and privilege and I think I
46:01speak for everyone in Silicon Valley
46:03when I say damn that [ __ ] was dope yeah
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