In 1986,
Eric "Eazy-E" Wright enters a crack-house to buy drugs, but, it is soon raided by the police, who gain entry into the house via a battering ram. Eric escapes through the house's rear window. The film then cuts to
Andre "Dr. Dre" Young listening to records in his room when his mother interrupts, confronting him for missing a job interview. This causes friction between the two and Dre eventually moves out. Meanwhile,
O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson is riding the bus home from school and witnesses other teens on the bus throwing gang signs to people in another car. The car's driver cuts off the bus and pulls a gun out on the students, warning them to stay focused on the school books or else. Cube later goes to visit Dre at his aunt's house and when he leaves, he is stopped and harassed by the cops (in front of his parents). The next day, Eric and
Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson go to the club "Doo-Tos" where Dr. Dre and
Antoine "DJ Yella" Carraby work as DJs, their boss, Alonzo Williams, tells them that not to play any of that "rap shit." But as soon as he steps out, Dr. Dre brings Ice Cube to the stage and he performs the song "
Gangsta Gangsta," while Eric and Lorenzo stand in the audience. After Dre leaves the club, he is arrested after breaking up a fight involving his brother, Tyree. Eric bails him out the next day. The next morning, Dre talks to Eric about investing money into a start-up
record label, in order to record a track that Ice Cube has written. Dre wants rappers H.B.O. (Homeboys Only) to record the track. Eric agrees to fund the project. After a conflict arises during the recording session, H.B.O. leaves and Dre suggests Eric to perform the track, but he refuses and suggests that Cube do it, but O'Shea cannot, because he is already in a
group, Dre and Cube eventually convince Eric to do the track. They record and release "
Boyz-n-the-Hood," which becomes a smash hit. Music manager,
Jerry Heller, approaches Eazy-E and asks if he can be their manager. He accepts Heller's offer. In 1988 at the club "Skateland,"
N.W.A. perform "
Dopeman" and, with the help of Heller, they garner the attention of Bryan Turner, a producer at
Priority Records, with which they sign. Afterwards, Dre, Cube, Eazy, MC Ren, DJ Yella,
Arabian Prince, and the
D.O.C. commence writing lyrics and recording songs for the album,
Straight Outta Compton, with Heller. Eazy's contract with Priority Records has been finalized and Cube asks Heller for theirs and says that the lawyers are writing them up. During one of the recording sessions, the group are harassed by some police officers. Frustrated by the situation, Cube writes "
Fuck tha Police."
In 1989 after
Straight Outta Compton is released and becomes a smash hit, N.W.A goes on a national tour performing songs from the album and from Eazy-E's
solo album. Dr. Dre promises Tyree that he will bring him along on tour with him someday. Afterwards, they receive a letter from the
FBI, declaring that their music encourages violence against law enforcement and asks them to stop. Heller advises that they should obey, but, everyone ignores him. Soon afterwards, the group encounters many protests directed against them. Still without a contract, Ice Cube confronts Eazy-E and Heller about it and says that the lawyers are finishing up the contracts. Afterwards, Cube becomes suspicious of Heller and his relationship with Eazy. During the tour, Dr. Dre gets a call from his mom and she tells him Tyree has died, following a fight and Dre blames himself for his death by not taking Tyree on tour with him like he always promised. At one show in
Detroit, the police warn them not to perform the song,
Fuck tha Police, but they do anyways. A violent riot escalates and the group is arrested. The next day at a press conference, they are questioned about the riot and their music content, saying they did not start the riot and that their music is a reflection of their reality and that the
first amendment allows them to say what they want. On the night before the group returns home from their tour, Cube meets with Heller to sign his contract papers. He decides not to sign when he discovers that all the other group members would earn less money than Eazy, despite the fact that each one, as a collective, performed the same amount of work to make the group successful. In addition, Cube learns that he was the last member to sign off on the contract. Angered by these discoveries, Cube leaves the group after the tour and pursues a solo career.
In 1990, after leaving N.W.A, Ice Cube and his girlfriend Kimberly talk to Turner and are told that there is not a lot of money if Cube decides to go solo, and that he will not be paid for his first
solo album. But if successful, he will receive an advance for his
second album. After "Amerikkka's Most Wanted" becomes a smash hit, Cube becomes furious that he will not receive his money like Turner promised and says he needs his money since he has just bought a house and has a
baby on their way. Turner says it is complicated, but he will not be able to pay him. Cube then leaves, but soon returns with bodyguards and a baseball bat and destroys Turner's office. When "Amerikkka's Most Wanted
garners more popularity than "Straight Outta Compton, Eazy-E becomes envious of Cube's success, and releases the
EP "
100 Miles and Runnin'," where they diss Cube on the track "Real Niggaz" and call him "
Benedict Arnold" (a traitor). Angered, Cube makes a
diss track attacking N.W.A. and Heller, which frustrates Heller more than anybody for being mocked as a
Jew. At a New Music Seminar, artists from Ruthless Records get into a huge brawl with Cube and his
crew. Following the production of N.W.A's second album,
Niggaz4Life, and the D.O.C.'s near fatal car accident, Dr. Dre becomes associated with
Suge Knight, who tries to convince him to leave N.W.A to start his own company with him. Realizing that Heller is taking advantage of him, Dre meets with Eazy to try and work out the contract. When this fails, Dre leaves the group and forms
Death Row Records with Knight. The Death Row executive meets with Eazy and tells him to sign Dre off from his contract with Ruthless. When Eazy refuses, Knight and his crew physically assault him. Afterwards, Eazy tells Heller that he wants to kill Knight, but the manager soon discourages the attempt and decides to take legal action. Afterwards, Dre and Knight meet with
Jimmy Iovine, a producer at
Interscope Records with which they sign with and he says that he can help them with their legal trouble with Ruthless. In the midst of professional chaos, Dre enjoys his new found freedom, and releases "
The Chronic" and begins producing tracks for other rappers, including
Snoop Doggy Dogg and
Tupac Shakur. When he observes Knight's violent behaviour and lifestyle, Dre questions himself if he had made the right choice. Meanwhile, on April 29, 1992 in
Los Angeles, a
riotescalates due to the
Rodney King trial.
In 1993, now that Dr. Dre and Ice Cube have left the group, N.W.A. has officially broken up. However, MC Ren and DJ Yella are still on the label. Eazy-E begins to suspect that Heller is being less than forthright in his business practices, as money begins to disappear from their label. He asks his girlfriend Tomica to look into it, which she agrees. He also becomes ill, but continues to ignore suggestions by others to see a physician. Meanwhile, Cube begins working on a
movie. At a club in
New York City in December 1994, Eazy and Cube cross paths and rekindle their friendship, with Cube saying that without Heller, he is ready to re-form N.W.A. After returning home, Tomica informs Eazy that Heller had indeed embezzled money from the group. Eazy then confronts his longtime manager and
fires him. He later calls Dre to advise him of his dismissal of Heller and of his desire to revive N.W.A., and Dre agrees. In February 1995, Eazy, Ren, and Yella begin working on new material. But during the session, Eazy collapses and is taken to the hospital where he is diagnosed with
HIV/AIDS. During his treatment, each member of the group have emotional visits with Eazy before his death from the infection on March 26, 1995. In 1996, Dre meets with Knight and tells him that he is leaving Death Row to start his own
label.
During the credits, it is shown that Ice Cube still records music and has become a successful actor with films such as
Boyz n the Hood, Friday, XXX: State of the Union, and
Ride Along. Dr. Dre is responsible for the success of other rappers like Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg, after having formed Aftermath Entertainment, where he signed Detroit rapper
Eminem and
Queens rapper
50 Cent. Both credit him for their success. Dre also started
Beats Electronics which was purchased by
Apple Inc. for $3 billion. The film then reads, "In loving memory of Eric 'Eazy-E' Wright" which it (the film) is in his honor.
