Straight Outta Compton features actors, not rappers, playing the parts of the N.W.A. members.
It's hard to be entirely certain, but the joint appears to be the length of an iPhone. We're on our way to a preview screening of Straight Outta Compton and the members of the hip-hop group Naturally Born Strangers are talking despairingly about rap films.
It's a continuation of a conversation that begins at a bar in Toronto's Little Portugal.
"I basically gave up after Notorious," says Adam Bomb, who adds that he walked out of the 2009 Biggie Smalls biopic. Straight Outta Compton, though, "could set the precedent for the next set of rap movies, or it could kill the whole genre off for good."
N.W.A., the music pioneers featured in the new film, are a strong influence on Toronto's Naturally Born Strangers, whose members won the 2015 Juno Award for best rap group. Adam Bomb, Tona and Rich Kidd, an in-demand producer who often works with Drake, are drinking beers on the bar's patio, and the excitement is high.
"I know for a fact that it's as raw and uncut as the story can possibly be told – period," Tona says. "Ice Cube said that if they tried to Disney-fy any part of the story that he'd walk away."
"This from the same guy who gave us Are We There Yet?" Rich Kidd asks.
"I've been let down to the point where I almost think they shouldn't do rap-related movies, but this time I feel like they got it right," Adam Bomb says. "I could be wrong, though. I've been proven wrong before."
In the pantheon of movies about rap stars, it's regarded around the table that 8 Mile is better than Get Rich or Die Tryin', even though the Toronto-shot 50 Cent biopic features a turn from Rich Kidd's cousin.
"He plays 50 Cent's homeboy when they're kids. The scene where he's looking out the window and says, 'Don't worry about it, Marcus. You'll get those shoes one day,' that's my little cousin," Rich Kidd says. "My ex-manager's in there, too – he's one of the goons."
Straight Outta Compton features actors, not rappers, playing the parts of the N.W.A. members, which the group thinks is a good idea.
"In Belly I can see that the acting is horrible, but back then I was just geeked to see Nas and DMX on the big screen," Rich Kidd says of the 1998 Hype Williams-directed film.
"Who's the best actor-rapper of all time?" Tona asks.
"Will Smith, if you want to count it," Adam Bomb replies. "Tell me you didn't have tears in your eyes in The Pursuit of Happyness, when he was in the bathroom with his son."
"'Pac I'd put up there," Rich Kidd says, referring to Tupac Shakur. "Juice. Above the Rim. Gridlock'd was trash to me, but 'Pac did this thing."
"Compared to Will Smith's catalogue? Come on," Adam Bomb says.
"Mos Def. Even though Be Kind Rewind gets the thumbs down and he pissed me off in 16 Blocks, he's dope," Tona says. "Better than Common, who never gets to say anything in his films. He gets his dialogue sent to him in a text."
In the SUV on our way to the theatre, we listen to Drake diss Meek Mill on Back to Back as we pass moviegoers on Yonge Street. After a quick stop at the concession stand, Naturally Born Strangers settle in to absorb the film.
First, the songs Boyz-N-The-Hood and We Want Eazy generate head nods, then the song Dopeman prompts Tona to rap along.
The film runs through its paces and we meet Suge Knight, Shakur and Snoop Dogg, and watch the members of N.W.A. respond to their first listening of Cube's N.W.A. takedown, No Vaseline.
The centrepiece of the film and its political message is Fuck tha Police, and the Rodney King verdict articulates N.W.A.'s political cause. It's a moment that still resonates in Toronto's hip-hop community, especially with two murders occurring in the area of the Muzik nightclub at the after-party for Drake's OVO Fest a few weeks ago. Drake hasn't commented, despite a CrimeStoppers appeal, and the murders remain unsolved. I ask the group about Drake's non-response.
"No tellin'," Rich Kidd raps, echoing the chorus of one of Drake's songs. "He doesn't know anything and honestly that's as far as that goes."
The film concludes on a triumphant note, with a phalanx of rappers saying appreciative things about N.W.A. The credits roll and we hop in the car as a new joint is passed, and listen to songs by Redway, a rapper whose vigil in Mississauga we're about to attend.
The Source magazine famously rated rap albums on a scale of one to five microphones, so I ask the members of Naturally Born Strangers to give us their own N.W.A.-influenced rating of the film.
"I give it three and a half 40 ounces," Tona says.
"I give it four AKs," Adam Bomb says.
"I give it four out of five Raiders hats," Rich Kidd says. "There's better biopics out there – Ray was amazing and I loved Malcolm X – but as far as a movie that's hip-hop oriented, I think this is the best of its kind."