Gritty origins saga of gangsta rap

GANGSTA rap, the no-apologies sub-genre of hip-hop music that defined LA street gangs, defied authority and spawned a sub-culture adopted by disenfranchised inner-city youths in the late-1980s, goes legit and gets the Hollywood treatment in Straight Outta Compton, an origins tale about rap group N W A (Niggaz With Attitudes)

Giving the finger - by way of explicit, in-your-face, incendiary lyrics - to society in general and the police in particular was the way these home boys rose to prominence, "bustin' some rhymes" about the black experience as they lived it.

They grew up poor and disadvantaged in Compton, California, constantly harassed by police and with few (legal) opportunities to break the cycle. Then these street thugs had the audacity to turn into hip hop stars, peddling "reality rap" rather than drugs.