Straight from Tribeca: ‘Straight Outta L.A.’ Review

It’s hard to believe now, but there was once a time in the ’80s when the then-Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League were so equally successful and cool that even the pioneers of the gangster rap scene, some cool cats indeed, idolized them.

What soon followed was a shared ideology between these two camps. When on the field, the Raiders, powered by Jim Plunkett, Howie Long, Marcus Allen and Todd Christensen were the biggest, baddest and roughest team in the league and when on a microphone, rappers the likes of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre told the world how it was and pulled no punches.

Compelled enough to tell this story through a documentary, Cube not only sheds light on his entry into the music scene in “Straight Outta L.A.,” but also on the reasons why he and his boys always rocked Raiders gear back then, providing a fun documentary that is only hindered by its lack of depth into both areas.

Simply put, both of these topics could have easily had their own respective documentaries and giving both of them their due simultaneously is no easy task. Luckily, with solid interviews from both sides, Cube is able to weave an intriguing and intelligent story that makes sense and in its own way and is inspiring throughout.

Nevertheless, hardcore football fans may want to hear less about Cube’s escapades and more about the Raiders. The same thing goes for rap fans who could care less about a team in the current predicament the Raiders are in.

Making the process of getting agitated at either side of this work is an easy task, due to the fact that Cube’s telling of his own story and the interview with Al Davis are a bit more uneven than they should be. It’s hard to take someone seriously when they call themselves a visionary or a maverick and even though Cube and Davis are indeed both, the documentary itself could have benefited more from someone else hailing both of their greatness than they themselves.

However, if you find yourself at a crossroads and can appreciate both the team and the music, you’ll have ultimately found a documentary that is completely different from everything else out there right now.

Proof of this is the scene where Cube and Snoop Dogg are at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum throwing the football around and talking about how the Raiders were this source of positive energy in times of unrest and turmoil. It’s also unusually uplifting hearing Dogg talk about how Cube inspired him to get into the rap game- the kind of stuff you wouldn’t expect to hear from a cat as cool as him.

Moments like this prove that the Raiders, were indeed more than a football team and gangster rap more than urban poetry accompanied by sweet and silky beats.

Because of that, “Straight Outta L.A.” manages to be a documentary that can have its cake, eat it too, then rap about it and play a game of football afterward.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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