Why any “Back to the Future” remake must include “Straight Outta Compton”
From hard rock to hardcore rap in 30 years
As you’ve no doubt heard, we reached the year that Marty McFly & friends travel ahead to in 1989's Back to the Future Part II. The hype will likely become insufferable leading up to his actual travel date in October 2015, but don’t forget its real significance for many of us growing up in the ‘80s. Too young for 1984 or 2001 to mean anything, 2015 was the year that best represented the “future” for my generation. I remember watching BTTF2 as a grade schooler and straining to imagine what 2015 would really be like. I calculated that I’d be in my mid-thirties and wondered how many children I’d have, how big my house would be, and if I’d be wearing two ties to work.
It’s a wonder that Back to the Future is one of few ‘80s franchises that hasn’t been remade, given the renewed interest it was sure to generate this year. I recently watched the first BTTF again with this in mind, and while Marty was kicking over amps during his “Johnny B. Goode” performance at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, a question came to me. If Hollywood were to remake BTTF now, featuring a present-day Marty character who travels back thirty years, what song should he perform that the students of Hill Valley High School weren’t ready to handle in 1985?
The answer seemed pretty clear: he would grab the mic and launch into “Straight Outta Compton.” Ice Cube’s opening verses, at least. Then we’d see a shot of Dr. Dre’s cousin going backstage, calling him on a five-lb. cellular phone and thrusting it towards the stage. “…well, listen to this!”
Popular music was at the outset of a sea change both 30 and 60 years ago. The rap and rock genres were on the cusp of unleashing the most daring artists and songs that captivated teens, baffled parents and created a blueprint for the next generation’s worth of anti-establishment music.
Rock & Roll graduated from a curiosity to a cultural force in 1955; “Rock around the Clock” became the first-ever rock #1 single and “an anthem for rebellious Fifties youth.”
Rap was growing fast but still just outside the mainstream in 1985. The Beastie Boys’ controversial Licensed to Ill became the first rap album to top the Billboard chart one year later, albeit driven by the popularity of a rock song. It took four more years for a rap single to hit #1. Guess who?
Influential rap artists were not yet raising hell in 1985, instead coloring inside the lines of rock and R&B conventions and adhering to PG-13 behavior. Watch Krush Groove to remind yourself of this. Or, if you’re short on time, check out two scenes: Run-DMC emphatically introducing Sheila E’s glittery performance of “Holly Rock” and the Fat Boys’ gluttonous ode to an Sbarro. Rap was an eccentricity.
Over the next few years rappers began pushing at the boundaries — sometimes profane and sometimes political, but never dangerous. Then, in 1988, NWA changed the game with “Straight Outta Compton.”
The group only made one studio album before Ice Cube went solo, but their style and attitude laid the cultural foundation for rap music over the next thirty years. Again: rap music has now been popular for THIRTY YEARS.
Each member of NWA deserves credit, and their accomplishment is deserving of a biopic. Dr. Dre has done the most to shepherd rap’s progression over the decades. He introduced us to Snoop, Eminem and 50 Cent. He is on track to becoming a billionaire and works for the world’s most valuable public company because his name is now synonymous with quality sound.
It’s hard to imagine a child in grade school listening to “Straight Outta Compton” now and dismissing it as out-of-touch and antiquated, like I did with “Johnny B. Goode” in the ‘80s. Which makes it unsettling to know that a new style of music will appear soon that’s capable of horrifying parents who grew up listening to The Chronic.
But the cycle will continue. Figurative Marty McFlys appear every few decades to open a new wormhole in music, forcing old people to cover their ears and inspiring young people to rage against the conventional.
I‘ll be keeping my ears open.
