Source: Mike Pont / Getty
The NWA biopic hits theaters this Friday and the group who come Straight Outta Compton have been making their rounds at various press outlets. They have covered several music magazines over the last few weeks including Billboard and Rolling Stone. Billboard took things a few steps further by letting Kendrick Lamar interview the members of N.W.A.
What was the hardest part when you were young and first coming to grips with the game?
DJ Yella: Publishing! We didn’t know anything about publishing. The first go-around we didn’t make a nickel.
Dr. Dre: We were just a bunch of creative guys who got together and did something amazing but were clueless about business.
Ice Cube: Business is the most f—ed-up part. It’s always awkward. It’s fun to make records, fun to be in the studio with your homies, fun to get up onstage. But the business part sucks. It’s always some shit you ready to get rid of so you can go back to being creative.
Dr. Dre: It’s all about getting back in that studio. The studio is like a drug. It’s hard for some people around me to understand that the music is all I think about. It’s like I’m possessed.
Dr. Dre: You can’t explain that feeling. It’s an obsession. But it’s what makes you real.
Dr. Dre’s ‘Compton: A Soundtrack’ Lives Up to Its Cinematic Aspirations: Album Review
As one of your offspring, anything I do comes from what y’all have done before me. I’m curious to know how you feel about my generation of artists.
MC Ren: I like a few. I like you.
Dr. Dre: You’re No. 1 on my list because of the care and attention you bring to your tracks and the precision you bring to your sound. There are a few people out there I listen to and respect.
MC Ren: Pusha T.
Dr. Dre: Definitely Pusha T.
MC Ren: I’m not saying this because you’re here, Kendrick, but I like your song “Cut You Off.” I’ve been listening to you for a minute.
Check out the interview below.
