Straight Outta Compton - The Making Of Boyz N The Hood
It's all about gang-banging and gangsta rap. Oh, but it's also about good parenting and great barbecue, too!
A version of this piece appeared in Hotdog magazine.
John Singleton (writer/director): The title was inspired by a song by Ice Cube.
Ice Cube (actor, Doughboy): I wrote ‘Boyz N The Hood’ in 1986 when I was 16.
Whitman Mayo (actor, The Old Man): John Singleton isn’t a filmmaker in the tradition of Fred Williamson or Melvin Van Peebles. He’s a filmmaker in the tradition of Charles Burnett. His films aren’t about guns, drugs and black people killing each other. They’re about black people in their ordinary lives. That those lives happen to feature guns, drugs and killing is the tragedy of the America we now live in.
John Singleton: The reason I got the deal was on the power of my screenplay. I didn’t write some stupid, New Jack-shitty, Blaxploitation film. I wrote a film about people from my neighbourhood who are strong and gritty.
Morris Chestnut (actor, Ricky Baker): John was 21 when he took his first crack at writing Boyz. A lot of 21-year-olds struggle to write essays but here was this kid writing a feature-length screenplay that was beautiful and profound.
John Singleton: The bottom line was that Columbia wanted a really good film. This was a chance to say something and make some money, and that’s rarely done.
Whitman Mayo: Everyone in Hollywood talks about the benefit of a good script being its ability to raise money. But what a good script really does is attract good actors. Actors spend so much time talking rubbish in adverts and soaps and they long to read lines that are powerful and true.
Cuba Gooding Jnr (actor, Tre Styles): There’ve been a lot of black parts but, you know, the brother’s got to be in prison to overcome racism or running from the law or beaten down like Rodney King.
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