Surviving Compton seeks to set the record straight.
It also failed to portray NWA producer Dr Dre’s repeated violence against women – violence that Michel’le, Dre’s former long-term girlfriend and mother of his son Marcel, alleges as well. But Straight Outta Compton didn’t show how Michel’le’s radio-friendly ballads and uptempo dance tracks helped pave the way for Ruthless’ mainstream credibility. It covers much of the same ground as the NWA film – the volatile late 80s and 90s, when NWA’s hardcore hip-hop swept the nation. The late 80s R&B star is the subject of a new biopic, Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Me, which debuted over the weekend on Lifetime. But the film almost entirely neglected a lynchpin member of the crew: Michel’le. Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le was nominated for Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Long Form – Original at the 69th Writers Guild of America Awards in 2016.Last year’s blockbuster biopic Straight Outta Compton chronicled the rise of gangsta rap pioneers NWA and their label, Ruthless records.
A Ruthless rapper named Tairrie B also maintains that Dre beat her.) Awards and nominations (Dre pled no contest to beating Barnes, and received probation, while Johnson was granted a restraining order against him. The film largely echoes Michel'le’s accounts to me, though she never went to police with her allegations – unlike other women including television host Dee Barnes and Lisa Johnson, the mother of three of Dre's children who alleged he beat her many times, including while she was pregnant. I extensively interviewed Michel’le and other survivors of Dre’s alleged abuse for my new book Original Gangstas: the Untold Story of Dr Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap, and investigated their claims. The question many viewers will have after their viewing: is the film accurate? I would say, for the most part, yes. Reviewing the film, Ben Westhoff at The Guardian wrote: Dre ultimately did not take any legal actions for his depiction. However, the film portrays Dre physically abusing Michel'le, even shooting at her in one scene.
Prior to the release of the film, Dr Dre's lawyers threatened legal action against the filmmakers if the movie contained scenes of him assaulting her, which he denied. She was determined to find her voice again. With children from both men and a career to protect, Michel’le's voice became silenced by Compton’s biggest power players. Friendship would turn into a courtly romance, but the union Michel'le thought they had did not end happily-ever-after. Dre (Hamilton) pushed her into a life tarnished by alcohol, drugs and violence until her savior came in the unlikely form of Suge Knight (Taylor), co-founder of Death Row Records and Dre's business partner. A nearly decade-long abusive relationship with the infamous Dr.
Surrounded by industry visionaries from Eazy-E to Tupac Shakur, Michel’le quickly climbed the charts but, her musical successes were soon overshadowed by betrayal and corruption. ĭiscovered at a young age, the shy, squeaky-voiced Michel'le ( Brown) was plucked straight from South Central, Los Angeles and catapulted into the spotlight while riding N.W.A.’s rocket ride of early success. The film premiered on Lifetime on October 15, 2016. The omission of Michel'le's involvement in the lives of Dre in N.W.A.'s 2015 biopic, Straight Outta Compton gave her an opportunity to tell her story as a former artist on Eazy-E's Ruthless Records.
The film is based on the true story of R&B singer, Michel'le. Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le is a 2016 American biographical television drama film directed by Jackie Cooke, starring Rhyon Nicole Brown as Michel'le, Curtis Hamilton as Dre, and Jamie Kennedy as N.W.A.'s manager Jerry Heller.