''Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le'' is a 2016 American biographical television drama film directed by Jackie Cooke, starring

Rhyon Nicole Brown Rhyon Nicole Brown (; born October 6, 1992) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Career She made her film debut in ''Santa & Pete'' (1999) And has since appeared in various television shows. Brown has had recurring roles on shows such as ...

Michel'le Michel'le Denise Toussant (born December 5, 1970), also spelled Toussaint, is an American R&B singer known for her songs from 1989 to the early 1990s. Her highest charting song is the top ten US Hot 100 hit "No More Lies". Between 2013 and 201 ...

, Curtis Hamilton as

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

and

Jamie Kennedy James Harvey Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He has played Randy Meeks in the '' Scream'' franchise (1996–2000) and a multitude of characters in '' The Jamie Kennedy Experiment'' (2002–2004) on The WB. His ot ...

N.W.A N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is wide ...

's manager

Jerry Heller Gerald Elliot Heller (October 6, 1940 – September 2, 2016) was an American music manager and businessman. He was best known for his management of West Coast rap and gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A and Eazy-E. He rose to prominence in the 19 ...

. The film is based on the true story of R&B singer Michel'le. 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 Ruthless Records was an American record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California in 1986, where all of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1997. Several artists on the ...

. The film premiered on Lifetime on October 15, 2016.

Plot

Discovered at a young age, the shy, squeaky-voiced

(

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model use ...

) was plucked straight from

South Central, Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...

and catapulted into the spotlight while riding

’s rocket ride of early success. Surrounded by industry visionaries from Eazy-E to

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

, Michel’le quickly climbed the charts; but, her musical successes were soon overshadowed by betrayal and corruption. A nearly decade-long

abusive Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

relationship with the infamous

(Hamilton) pushed her into a life tarnished by alcohol, drugs and violence until her savior came in the unlikely form of

Suge Knight Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. (; born April 19, 1965) is a American former music executive, convicted felon, and the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight is considered a central figure in gangsta rap's commercial success i ...

(Taylor), co-founder of

Death Row Records Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre ...

and Dre's business partner. Friendship would turn into a courtly romance, but the union Michel'le thought they had did not end happily-ever-after. With children from both men and a career to protect, Michel’le's voice became silenced by Compton’s biggest power players. Until now. She was determined to find her voice again.

Cast

* Curtis Hamilton as

* Vonii Bristow as

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be p ...

* Omari Wallace as Eazy-E * Daniel DeBoe as

M.C. Ren Lorenzo Jerald Patterson (born June 16, 1969), better known by his stage name MC Ren, is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer from Compton, California. He is the founder and owner of the record label Villain Entertainment. MC Re ...

* Deric Augustine as

DJ Yella Antoine Carraby (born December 11, 1961), better known by his stage name DJ Yella, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer and film director from Los Angeles, California. DJ Yella began his career as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru ...

Kedrick Brown Albert Kedrick Brown (born March 18, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Born and raised in Zachary, Louisiana, Brown played college basketball at Okaloosa-Walton Community College (now Northwest Florida State Co ...

Alonzo Williams Alonzo Williams is a former member and promoter of the World Class Wreckin' Cru. He is credited for playing a major role in the development of West Coast Hip Hop, tracing back to the late 1970s. He is also the former owner of Kru-Cut Records. ...

* R. Marcos Taylor as

* Adrian Arthur as

as herself / The Narrator

Reception

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. However, the film portrays Dre physically abusing Michel'le, even shooting at her in one scene. Dre ultimately did not take any legal actions for his depiction.

Reviews

Reviewing the film, Ben Westhoff at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' wrote:

The question many viewers will have after their viewing: is the film accurate? I would say, for the most part, yes. 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 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 Denise "Dee" Barnes (stage name Sista D) is an American rapper and former Fox television personality who performed in the West Coast hip hop female duo Body & Soul and hosted a radio show on KDAY, prior to gaining wider fame as the host of Fox' ...
and Lisa Johnson, the mother of three of Dre's children who alleged he beat her many times, including while she was pregnant. (Dre pled no contest to beating Barnes, and received probation, while Johnson was granted a restraining order against him. A Ruthless rapper named
Tairrie B Theresa Beth (born January 18, 1965), known professionally as Tairrie B, is an American singer and rapper. Career She started her music career as part of the female dance group Bardeux. After the release of their debut single, "Three-Time Lov ...
also maintains that Dre beat her.)

Awards and nominations

''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 Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

s in 2016.

References

External links

Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le
on Lifetime * {{DEFAULTSORT:Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge and Michel'le 2016 television films 2016 films 2016 biographical drama films Hood films Lifetime (TV network) films African-American films African-American biographical dramas Biographical films about singers 2010s American films