Straight Outta Compton Page #16

C76 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - MOMENTS LATER C76

Dre stands at the bottom edge of the bed, looking down at

D.O.C, unconscious, head bandaged, tubes in his face. SUGE

stands a few steps away, looking somber, but still filling

the room with his bulk.

SUGE:

Doc shouldn’t even be alive. He got

thrown from the car-- hit a tree.

DRE:

Goddamn. Is he paralyzed?

SUGE:

Nah. His throat got crushed. Doctor

said he’ll never talk right again.

DRE:

Vocal chords?

SUGE:

All f***ed up. Career could be in

jeopardy (beat). Where’s Eazy and

Jerry?

Dre takes the moment in. He’s honest about it.

82.

DRE:

I don’t know.

SUGE:

Them niggas ain't loyal. Taking

they're f***in' time to come see

the man. That’s why I got my people

looking into his contracts at

Ruthless. Gotta protect what he got

left.

Suge looks at Dre, clocking his expression.

SUGE (CONT’D)

What do you think about Jerry?

DRE:

He aiight. I guess.

Suge nods. Contemplative.

SUGE:

What about your paperwork? Is it

cool?

DRE:

I dunno. I just focus on the music.

(beat). Maybe your people could

look into my sh*t too?

SUGE:

Most definitely. I can arrange

that.

D.O.C. groans and turns in his sleep. Both of his friends

look down at him, quietly watching with concern.

76 INT. PRIORITY RECORDS - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY 76

CUBE sits at the head of a long conference table beside Kim.

He looks DIFFERENT now -- shaved head, no more Jheri curls.

Bryan Turner emerges from outside the office, CD in hand.

He's trying to keep the mood upbeat, though clearly the power

dynamic between them has shifted toward Cube’s advantage.

BRYAN TURNER:

Cube, Kim -- Great to see you guys.

How’s that new house treating you?

KIM:

The new house is great. Thanks for

asking. How's the new office?

83.

BRYAN TURNER:

(making light of it)

Great. I never did like the design

of the old one anyway.

Bryan chuckles and looks over at Cube-- who doesn't seem in

the mood for small talk. Cube notices the CD in Bryan's hand.

CUBE:

What you got, Bryan? I know you

called me up here for somethin’.

BRYAN TURNER:

It’s the new NWA record. I wanted

to play it for you first, before

you heard it anywhere else --

Cube looks at Bryan, confused: Snatches the CD and he's at

the CD player before Bryan can blink.

BRYAN TURNER (CONT’D)

About one minute in --

Cube hits PLAY -- Tracks forward. Then he, Kim and Bryan

listen to REAL NIGGAZ on the conference room’s stereo system.

DRE (ON TRACK)

... We started out with too much

cargo. So I’m glad we got rid of

Benedict Arnold.

Cube doesn’t say anything, but his face shows his anger.

CUBE:

Benedict Arnold.

KIM:

They're trying to call you some

kind of a traitor.

CUBE:

I’m a traitor!? I didn’t say sh*t

about NWA on Amerikkka's Most

Wanted! But now they're trying to

diss. Okay.

CLOSE ON Cube’s eyes, full of fire -- Kim notices Cube

building tension. She gently rubs his arm and leans in close

to whispers-

KIM:

Baby, tell me what you're thinking.

84.

CUBE:

I can't wait to get to the

mothafuckin' studio!

77 INT. RECORDING STUDIO - LOS ANGELES - DAY 77

CUBE at the mic, spitting with the most audacious fury we’ve

ever seen on the most brutal diss track ever: NO VASELINE.

CUBE:

God DAMN I’m glad y’all set it off.

Used to be hard, now you’re just

wet and soft. First you was down

with the AK. And now I see you on a

video with Michel’le. Lookin’ like

straight Bozos. I saw it comin’,

that’s why I went solo.

At the BOARD, JINX looks to THE LENCH MOB in the room -- Oh,

sh*t, this is getting real --

A78 INT OR EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE CITY - DAY A78

Dre and D.O.C. sit and listen to NO VASELINE-- with every

line D.O.C. makes a different "dunk face" indicating how

embarrassed he is for his homie Dre.

CUBE (ON TRACK)

Yella Boy’s on your team so you’re

LOSIN’! And yo, Dre? Stick to

producin’. Callin’ me Arnold, but

you Been-A-Dick. Eazy saw your ass,

and went in it QUICK.

As we pan over to Dre, we can see that he kind of digs the

creativity and lyrics. He confirms it with a slight smirk and

chuckle. Clearly blowing the song off.

78 INT. JERRY’S LIVING ROOM - DAY 78

NO VASELINE CONTINUES over -

Jerry and N.W.A., minus Dre and D.O.C., listen to the track,

faces grimaced:

CUBE (ON TRACK)

Y’all disgrace the C-P-T. ‘Cause

you gettin’ f***ed out your green

by a white boy, with No Vaseline.

Ren and Yella slouch in the corner, looking very unhappy.

85.

CUBE (ON TRACK) (CONT’D)

... So don’t believe what Ren say,

cause he goin out like Kunta Kinte.

But I got a whip for ya, Toby; used

to be my homie, now you act like

you don’t know me --

But Cube has saved the best for last. He unleashes upon EAZY

and JERRY, who LISTEN intently, jaws dropped.

CUBE (ON TRACK) (CONT’D)

You little maggot, Eazy E turned

f*ggot. With your manager, fella,

f***in’ MC Ren, Dr. Dre, and Yella.

But if they were smart as me, Eazy

E would be hangin’ from a tree.

With no vaseline, just a match and

a little bit of gasoline. Light 'em

up, burn 'em up, flame on. Til that

Jheri curl is gone. On a permanent

vacation, off the Massa plantation.

Heard you both got the same bank

account -- Dumb nigga, what you

thinkin’ about? Get rid of that

Devil real simple: put a bullet in

his temple. Cuz you can't be the

Nigga 4 Life crew with a white Jew

tellin’ you what to do -

Jerry looks absolutely livid, while Eazy just looks caught

off guard. Jerry gets up and TURNS OFF the music -

YELLA:

That sh*t’s kinda funny.

Everybody gives YELLA the look.

REN:

Mothafucka got us! What we gonna

do? I got my pen ready to serve

that fool. Just say the word.

Eazy is still trying to digest the track.

JERRY:

We’ll sue that worthless f***.

Defamation, libel... That anti-

Semitic piece of sh*t, I’m gonna

call up my friends at the J.D.L.

and we’ll see how he likes that,

little bastard.

(off Eazy’s despondent look)

Eric, come on, we gotta get

organized here, we gotta fight --

86.

EAZY:

Stop it, Jerry. Relax man. Niggas

don't know what anti-Semitic means

-It's just a battle rap.

JERRY:

(still hopping mad)

I always knew Cube was a rotten

human being. And people are gonna

know the facts. I’ll make sure of

it. I can’t believe you’re not as

angry as I am, what’s wrong with

you? Didn’t you hear what he said?

EAZY:

I heard it, Jerry. You deal with it

your way, I’ll deal with it mine.

All we got to do is hit the studio

and end this boy career.

YELLA:

I don't know about all that.

JERRY:

Well call Dre and you guys go do it!

And Jerry storms out, leaving the crew behind --

REN:

Damn, E. Who work for who?

EAZY:

Who you see sitting in the big

chair mothafucka?!

Eazy re-establishes that he's the top dog at Ruthless.

79 OMITTED 79

80 OMITTED 80

81 EXT. JERRY’S HOUSE - FRONT - NIGHT 81

Jerry pulls into his driveway, gets out of the car, carrying

a bag of groceries, starts walking toward the door. He hears

a CAR DOOR SLAM, and he TURNS, sees a gleaming-new EL CAMINO

parked across the street. A very large BLACK MAN we haven’t

seen before has emerged, and is walking toward him.

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