Film Analysis: Straight Outta Plantation

As time passes, things are bound to change, yet one thing that doesn’t seem to change is the constant discrimination against minorities. When comparing modern society to the movie Straight Outta Compton, which takes place in the 1980’s, it is evident that racism is present in both worlds. An essential element that is portrayed in both publications, is that minorities are continuously being targeted by authorities, such as the law enforcement. Additionally, by comparing the genre of rap back then and rap nowadays, we can see that racism is still a topic that exists in this form of music. The last issue that is brought up is that minorities are still not being called “artists” even though they create the same music as other artists of a different
By comparing hip hop music from back then to now, we can see the topics are still very similar, such as their life struggles, drugs, and racial stereotyping. Therefore, we can still see the struggles of the past portrayed in the movie Straight Outta Compton is still relevant in the struggles of today’s minorities. In the song Neighbours by J. Cole, he tells a story of having his house raided because his neighbours were suspicious that it was a “trap house” (drug house), and there was nothing found. In the music video, you can see the cops are leaving empty handed after raiding the house proving that he was falsely accused (Cole). If J.Cole had not of been a part of the black community, his neighbour may have not reported him to the police for false accusations. The song Fuck Tha Police by N.W.A tells the story of how they think it is wrong that minorities are constantly being targeted due to their race (Wright). The song Alright by Kendrick Lamar has lyrics within the chorus of “We gun’ be alright” (Lamar) which was chanted by Black Lives Matter activists. We can compare Alright to Fuck Tha Police where both songs vocalize the discrimination and hardships taking place. One song talks about minorities being targeted and the other talks about how it’ll eventually get better. Therefore, the same struggles taking place in the movie are still taking place today and it can be seen by the Black Lives Matter activists. Finally, the song Boyz N the Hood by Easy-E (Wright), talks about the life of a connected crack dealer and the brutal honesty about it. Nevertheless, Eazy-E is a minority and the struggles he goes through in his day to day life are vocalized through his lyrics. Songs today are still being sung about the same topic, proving the relevance and importance of the messages depicted within the lyrics. For example, the song