Picture 17-year old O’Shea Jackson, the boy who would become notorious rapper Ice Cube, and the image is one of a young man seething with rage, tired of the daily injustices of life in inner city LA and hungry for change; ready to show the world something they’ve never seen before, whether they like it or not.
It’s a picture that nearly 30 years down the track has been recreated with uncanny accuracy on screen by his son, O’Shea Jackson Jr. It’s also not the picture conjured up when Jackson answers the phone – his voice is smooth, confident and carefree.
After the gruelling process of creating the N.W.A. biopic 'Straight Outta Compton', it sounds like he’s managed to release the anger and get some much-needed downtime. “I love Australia, we’re always down there,” he says.
“We’ve been Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, Darwin’s hot ass, Sydney – Australia’s kind of our second home. I was out there a couple years ago… doing Supafest with my father – jussayin’, had a couple thousands there rockin’ out with me, so you know, that was really my comfort zone, being on the stage. All the acting, that’s what took a lot out of me.”
That’s not hard to believe, considering the weight that the N.W.A. legacy carries, and the transformation that Jackson (as a self-professed “rookie actor”) had to undergo to play his teenaged father. “I went through a little bit over two years with three different acting coaches, going to acting classes and getting ready for the role,” he explains, “and then I had to do crossfit training to lose some weight cos, y’know, I gotta look 17-years old.
“After that we had about two months or so of pre-production, making sure we got our mechanics on stage right, getting our scenes down pat, changing scripts – we had about four or five different scripts… It was close to almost a thousand days of hard work to get this role, to get everything right, and I’d do it all again if I had to.”
It was precisely this work ethic, along with Jackson’s striking resemblance to his father, that saw him cast in the pivotal role, alongside the other actors that would make up the gang called Niggaz wit’ Attitude – Dr Dre (portrayed by Corey Hawkins), Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr.) and MC Ren (Aldis Hodge). “My guys, my brothers,” he says, and I can practically hear him grinning – there’s a whole lotta love there.
“We’re a very tight-knit group, and that’s all because of [F.] Gary Gray [the film’s director]… We re-recorded the entire album together, trying to make sure that when you’re doing things like that, making sure that each other’s voices sound right on the track or things like that, you really start to build a bond with each other.
“[Gray] would have us prepare for a rehearsal to perform in front of him, and then wouldn’t show up for two hours. At the time you don’t know it, but during those two hours you are bonding, laughing together, building that brotherhood that has to translate on screen like you are lifelong friends, and that all attests to Gary’s techniques as a director – that guy knows what he’s doing.”
The long and intimate process would certainly have formed some powerful friendships; add to that, the chance to work with an industry veteran like Paul Giamatti, and it all sounds like a dream. “The best thing about Paul Giamatti is that he doesn’t know that he’s Paul Giamatti,” laughs Jackson.
“He’s so down to earth… he would do things to build confidence in me – his father’s a famous baseball player and he used to tell me how he couldn’t imagine the pressure of playing your father in a movie.”
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Jackson has carried that pressure admirably, especially considering that the ‘crazy motherfucker called Ice Cube’ was right behind on set as one of the film’s producers. It was a rare opportunity for him to get a deeper insight into his dad. “I would say this whole experience has given me a further understanding of my father’s realm of thinking,” he says.
“He had a lot to do at a young age – y’know, being the youngest in the group and yet being the more responsible one, that speaks a lot to your character.”
His time on set gave Jackson a greater appreciation of his own circumstances – working on the film made clear the vast disparity between Cube’s upbringing on the streets of Compton, among gang violence and extreme police prejudice, and Jackson’s own life as the son of a prosperous musician, actor and producer. “I’m blessed with a father whose work ethic is legendary,” says Jackson.
“He had a fire burning in him; that want, that need to get out, to better his surroundings, and through all his hard work I was able to grow up in a neighbourhood that was by far, less dangerous than Compton. But at the same time, because of my father, because of my upbringing – y’know, it’s all about how you’re raised, that home, how you’re taught – and he had me well aware of the harsh realities of the world. And those who choose to ignore them are foolish.
“Those who believe that racism or harassment by law enforcement or things of that nature only subside in inner cities – that’s another foolish statement right there. It’s all about knowing reality, knowing the rules of the game, because if you don’t, you’ll lose.”
O'Shea Jackson Jr.That reality, says Jackson, seems to have remained unchanged since the emergence of the album in 1986 – galvanised by footage of police brutality broadcast over the internet, as well as the Charleston shootings and Ferguson protests, the world is finally getting a glimpse into what set the N.W.A. off.
At first, Jackson would rather leave the question of the film’s intentions to director Gray, but his passion gets the best of him. “We want 'Straight Outta Compton' the film to affect people the way 'Straight Outta Compton' the album did – we wanna inspire people,” he says proudly.
“We want people to be aware of the situation that they may unknowingly have turned a blind eye to… N.W.A. was the social media back then, they were the ones letting others know what’s going down in Compton.
“Every continent has people in power abusing their power, and that is something the entire world can relate to – being oppressed, being backed up against a wall, having others make you feel like there is no hope, and you taking that energy, that anger, that sadness that you feel… and using it in a creative way to express yourself and you could possibly change the world.”
As for Compton itself, which Jackson calls “the jungles”, it’s as much a character in the film as he is, and its community carries the same resilient spirit to this day. “We had people on rooftops with their families watching us, families coming out of houses bringing us food; it was just a surrounding of nothing but love from the city.” he says, that pride peeking through again.
It’s clear that, whatever your thoughts on the gangsta rap movement that N.W.A. spawned, the music has had a profound impact on both its point of origin and the world. “N.W.A. was non-violent protest,” says Jackson. “If my father was here he’d tell you that they were constructive and not destructive, and that’s the same message we wanna… embed into people’s minds.
“As long as you are teaching others how to better themselves or you’re speaking to inspire the people, I feel that you are walking in the footsteps of N.W.A.”
'Straight Outta Compton' is released nationally 3 September.
