The Strength of Street Knowledge

The Strength of Street Knowledge was a live-action TV series airing on Netflix. The series was based around the history of N.W.A., and their respective careers and lives. Each season consisted of 10 episodes, with each episode roughly an hour each.

Starring Cast

 * Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre (Season 1-3)
 * O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Ice Cube (Season 1-2; guest star Season 3)
 * Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E (Season 1-3)
 * Aldis Hodge as MC Ren (Season 1-2; guest star Season 3)
 * Neil Brown Jr. as DJ Yella (Season 1-2; guest star Season 3)
 * Paul Giamatti as Jerry Heller (Season 1-3)
 * R. Marcos Taylor as Suge Knight (Season 3; recurring Season 2; guest star Season 1)
 * Keith Stanfield as Snoop Dogg (Season 3)

Recurring Cast

 * Marlon Yates Jr. as The D.O.C. (Season 1-3)
 * Corey Reynolds as Alonzo Williams (Season 1)
 * Azad Arnaud as Daz Dillinger (Season 3)
 * Melvin Jackson Jr. as Kurupt (Season 3)

Guest Stars

 * Brandon Lafourche as Arabian Prince (Season 1)
 * Lisa Renee Pitts as Verna Young (Season 1)
 * Keith Powers as Tyree Crayon (Season 1)
 * Rhyon Nicole Brown as Michel'le (Season 1-3)
 * Camryn Howard as DJ Speed (Season 1-2)
 * Cleavon McClendon as Sir Jinx (Season 1-2)
 * Tate Ellington as Bryan Turner (Season 2)
 * Rogelio Douglas Jr. as Chuck D (Season 2)
 * J. Kristopher as Laylaw (Season 2-3)
 * Lance Gross as Cold 187um (Season 2-3)
 * Christina Milian as Dee Barnes (Season 2)
 * John Singleton as Himself (Season 2)
 * Justin Bieber as Vanilla Ice (Season 2)
 * Alexandria Shipp as Kimberly Woodruff (Season 2)
 * Jussie Smollett as DJ Train (Season 2)
 * Sheldon A. Smith as Warren G (Season 3)
 * ShahKapp as Nate Dogg (Season 3)
 * Orlando Brown as RBX (Season 3)
 * Monique Coleman as Lady of Rage (Season 3)
 * Mario Lopez as David Kenner (Season 3)
 * Vonii Bristow as B.G. Knocc Out (Season 3)
 * Nonso Anozie as Gangsta Dresta (Season 3)
 * Curtis Hamilton as Sam Sneed (Season 3)
 * Leon Thomas III as DJ Quik (Season 3)
 * Carra Patterson as Tomica Woods-Wright (Season 3)
 * Jamal Woolard as The Notorious B.I.G. (Season 3)
 * Derek Luke as Puff Daddy (Season 3)
 * Demetrius Shipp Jr. as 2Pac (Season 3)

Season One
A group of kids from Compton, California have a dream; for their voice to be heard. After co-founding Ruthless Records with Jerry Heller, Eric "Eazy-E" Wright forms the group N.W.A. with producer Andre "Dr. Dre" Young. After recruiting rappers Ice Cube and MC Ren, and producer DJ Yella, the group got to work on making what they refer to as "reality rap", with their debut album as N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton, as well as Eazy-E's hit debut single "Boyz-n-the-Hood", and solo album Eazy-Duz-It.

Season Two
Ice Cube has left N.W.A., now in New York working on a solo album with Chuck D and the Bomb Squad. With Cube gone, the rest of N.W.A. moves on to create their next project without him, holding animosity towards their former friend. This leads to the beef between N.W.A. and Ice Cube throughout various projects during 1990 and 1991, and would eventually lead to the fall of N.W.A. - and the rise of Death Row Records.

Season Three
With Dr. Dre out of the picture and N.W.A. no more, Eazy-E moves forward by finding new talent to bring to the Ruthless Records roster. Now working alongside Suge Knight at their new record label Death Row, Dr. Dre gets to work himself, signing Snoop Dogg and various other young artists in the California area to build their new music empire. Although Dre is gone, his anger toward Eazy remains, leading to conflict between Ruthless and Death Row.

Season Four
TBA

Season One

 * 1) Boyz-n-The-Hood - After co-founding Ruthless Records with manager Jerry Heller, Eric Wright, better known as "Eazy-E", assembled the dream team that would be known as "N.W.A.". Andre Young, AKA "Dr. Dre", produces a song entitled Boyz-n-The-Hood with the help of Antoine "DJ Yella" Carraby, with lyrics written by O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson. After the song is rejected by a New York rap group, Dr. Dre convinces Eazy to rap the song instead, using the studio owned by Dre and Yella's former group-mate from the World Class Wreckin' Cru, Alonzo Williams.
 * 2) N.W.A. - After the release of the compilation album N.W.A. and the Posse, the group got to work on their second project. Following the departure of Kim "Arabian Prince" Nazel due to contract disagreements, N.W.A. (now consisting of Eazy, Dre, Cube, Yella and Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson) began the recording process for their first album; with Dre and Yella producing and Eazy, Ren and Cube rapping. Ren, Cube, and Dallas recruit Tracy "The D.O.C." Curry wrote a majority of the lyrics. The crew got to work on the tracks Straight Outta Compton, Parental Discretion Iz Advised, and Express Yourself.
 * 3) Fuck tha Police - While in the recording process for their debut album, N.W.A. were harassed by police officers for "looking like gang bangers". Furious, Cube penned the opening verse for song Fuck tha Police to show his hatred for police officers. After hearing the verse, Ren wrote a verse for himself and for Eazy, thus birthing the song Fuck tha Police. Shortly after, Cube would write a song for himself and Eazy entitled Gangsta Gangsta.
 * 4) Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A.'s first project, entitled Straight Outta Compton, would be released in August of 1988. The press dubs the album as "gangsta rap", and as a counter, the group refers to their work as "reality rap", depicting the reality of their lives in South Central Los Angeles. Following the success of their album, the crew (Eazy, Cube, Dre, Yella, Ren, The D.O.C., DJ Speed) were set to go on tour, however had a few obstacles; police refused to provide security for the group, and the album was one of the first to include the "Parental Advisory" sticker. Regardless, the group and Jerry proceeded to go on tour.
 * 5) Detroit - While on tour, the group had stopped for a performance in Detroit, Michigan. Prior to going on stage, the Detroit police department warned the group not to perform the song Fuck tha Police. While on stage, after performing songs such as Dopeman and 8 Ball, N.W.A. proceeded to ignore the Detroit law enforcement and perform Fuck tha Police. A riot ensues in the crowd, which leads to N.W.A. running off stage and being chased down by the Detroit police, before being handcuffed by police. This, as well as media coverage of the group and their album, led to Straight Outta Compton going double platinum.
 * 6) Tyree - While on their way to their next tour stop, Dre receives a call from his mother Verna Young; his brother, Tyree, was killed that night in Compton. Dre mourns the loss of his brother, but is comforted by Eazy, Cube, Ren, Yella, D.O.C., DJ Speed, and even Jerry. Dre makes it to Tyree's funeral, and the group continues their tour.
 * 7) Ruthless - After the tour ends, N.W.A. heads back to the studio; the success of both N.W.A. and J.J. Fad 's album Supersonic in 1988 helped skyrocket the success of Ruthless Records. The group got to work on Eazy's solo album Eazy-Duz-It, with D.O.C. writing Eazy's biggest hit We Want Eazy. The album would also go double platinum. The group took a bit of a break, however; Dr. Dre would go on to produce his then-girlfriend Michel'le 's self-titled debut album, as well as D.O.C.'s debut album No One Can Do It Better. Cube, Eazy, and Ren would team up with D.O.C. and Dre for the posse track The Grand Finale.
 * 8) Solo - With No One Can Do It Better going #1 on the charts, and Michel'le enjoying some album success of her own, N.W.A. began to move forward on a new project. Cube, however, had a problem. Since Cube had written a large portion of the lyrics off the album (for himself AND some of Eazy's verses), he felt he should be getting paid more. After coming to Jerry about the situation, Jerry insists that Cube sign a contract without legal representation just as the rest of the group had already done. An angry Cube leaves N.W.A. and Ruthless, going off to New York to make music with friend (and Dre's cousin) Sir Jinx, as well as production team The Bomb Squad.
 * 9) The Accident - With Cube gone, N.W.A. was more motivated than ever; they wanted to prove that they could still make a successful album without what many considered the "main rapper" from N.W.A.. Production took a brief stop when D.O.C. was involved in a car accident; after falling asleep at the wheel, D.O.C.'s car veered off the highway and D.O.C., who had not worn a seat belt, was thrown out of the car and face first into a tree. He would be in the hospital for two and a half weeks and couldn't speak for a month, and when he did, his voice was much raspier and different. It was in the hospital visiting his friend D.O.C. where Dr. Dre would have his first formal meeting with D.O.C.'s then bodyguard Suge Knight.
 * 10) The Next Chapter - With D.O.C.'s voice changed, he took a back seat, writing lyrics alongside Ren. Dre and Yella continued to produce; Ren and Eazy continued to be rappers for the group, but Dre became the group's third rapper following the departure of Cube. Both parties would be hard at work for their next projects; Cube was in New York producing his solo album, while N.W.A. remained in South Central to create their sophomore album.

Season Two

 * 1) Amerikkka's Most Wanted - Now in New York working with Sir Jinx and Chuck D and the Bomb Squad on his first album, Cube was hungry; he was hopeful to prove himself as a successful solo artist, and that he could be successful without the help of Eazy, Dre, and the rest of N.W.A. and Ruthless. Avoiding any direct mention, or any mention, of his former group, Cube put out Amerikka's Most Wanted in May 1990. The album, released on Bryan Turner's Priority Records, was a surprise critical and commercial success, proving Cube could hold his own on a record all alone.
 * 2) 100 Miles and Runnin' - N.W.A. would put out their own project, an EP entitled 100 Miles and Runnin ', to hold fans over before they released a second N.W.A. album. Jealous of Cube's new found solo success, Eazy coerced the rest of the group into throwing shots at him. The EP contained subtle jabs on the title track, but the song Real Niggaz was a full blown diss track towards Cube, with Dr. Dre referring to him as "Benedict Arnold" on the song. With Dre and Yella producing, Ren and D.O.C. writing and Dre, Ren and Eazy rapping, 100 Miles and Runnin' would prove to be a success, eventually going platinum following it's August 1990 release. It would, however, start a war of words with their former friend and group mate.
 * 3) Escalate - Ruthless would continue to enjoy their new found success; not only did N.W.A.'s EP perform up to expectations, group Above the Law 's album Livin' Like Hustlers was also out and doing numbers. Above the Law members Cold 187um would prove his loyalty to Eazy; after words went back and forth between Cube and ATL member Go Mack, Cold 187, Go Mack, Laylaw and the rest of the ATL posse would enter an altercation between Cube and his new group Da Lench Mob. Cube would also respond to N.W.A.'s 100 Miles and Runnin jabs on an EP of his own, Kill at Will, where he name-checked the group on the song Jackin' For Beats.
 * 4) Pump It Up - It wouldn't take long before N.W.A. and Ice Cube's beef caught the media's attention. On the hip hop TV show Pump it Up, host Dee Barnes interviewed Cube at the height of the beef; the interview included Cube, where he again name-checked N.W.A., stating he has "all suckas 100 Miles and Runnin", as well as mocking The D.O.C.'s new, raspy voice. The group felt that they were portrayed in a negative light, and when he saw her, Dr. Dre would assault Dee Barnes at a release party in Hollywood. Barnes would file assault charges and Dre would be fined and placed on probation, as well as being ordered to perform community service.
 * 5) Niggaz4Life - With all the media attention on them, N.W.A.'s second album Efil4zaggin (Niggaz4Life spelt backwards) would release in May of 1991. One of the biggest songs from the album, Alwayz into Somethin', would be Dr. Dre's first midtempo recording, and would be his first use of synthesizers, as well as the beginning of the "G-funk" era. More shots at Ice Cube would be fired as well: the interlude Message to B.A. echoes the beginning of the Ice Cube track Turn Off the Radio, and would again refer to him as "Benedict Arnold", as well as reference the fact that he was beaten up by Above the Law and that he was biting the New York sound. The track Real Niggaz would carry over from the 100 Miles and Runnin' EP and placed directly after the Message to B.A. interlude, confirming that it was a shot at Cube. Efil4zaggin would debut at #2 on the Billboard 200, but would make it to #1 in it's second week.
 * 6) Death Certificate - With N.W.A.'s second album out and the hype of the N.W.A./Cube still at a high, Cube would get to work on his second studio album, following the success of Amerikka's Most Wanted and the Kill at Will EP. In addition to this, Cube began his acting career by starring in the John Singleton film Boyz n the Hood. The film contained a slight N.W.A. jab - Ice Cube's character "Doughboy" and his friends are shown jumping a man with a We Want Eazy t-shirt on, which was Eazy-E's biggest song. Cube would drop Death Certificate in October 1991. Not only was Death Certificate controversial due to the racially and politically charged content, the album also included a full-blown diss track aimed at N.W.A. and Jerry Heller entitled No Vaseline, in which he sampled the Message to B.A. interlude and attacked Eazy, Dre, Ren and Yella by responding to both Real Niggaz and 100 Miles and Runnin directly as well as making fun of them all. He also refers to Jerry as a "Jew" in the song, leading to the belief that he was antisemitic. Death Certificate would be certified platinum only two months later.
 * 7) The Beginning of the End - Following Death Certificate 's release, Cube would continue to be accused of antisemitism due to the bashing of Jerry Heller's religion on No Vaseline. This would be the beginning of the accusations against him while affiliated with the Nation of Islam. Following the release of Death Certificate, N.W.A. began to crumble. Tensions began to rise within the group; tensions between Eazy and Ren, Eazy and Dre, and even between Jerry and Dre. After Jerry became the group's manager, Dre and Ren began to feel that Jerry was solely looking after Eazy, but not them or Yella. Growing suspicious of Eazy and Jerry, Dre came to Eazy and asked him to release him from his Ruthless contract, to which Eazy refused.
 * 8) Suge Knight - Following his attempted negotiation of being released from Ruthless, Dre came to D.O.C. and his bodyguard and friend, Suge Knight. Dre was the head producer at Ruthless, producing for N.W.A., Eazy, Michel'le, J.J. Fad, D.O.C., and Above the Law, yet he felt he was being underpayed, and sited Cube's reasoning for leaving N.W.A. and Ruthless as "proof". Dre, D.O.C., and Suge look into it and begin to believe Jerry was being dishonest regarding the financial situation. Suge has men threaten Jerry and he personally intimidates Eazy, going to him and threatening Eazy himself, Jerry and Eazy's family, using pipes and baseball bats to intimidate Eazy. Eazy would eventually let Dre, D.O.C., and Michel'le go from their Ruthless contracts, officially ending N.W.A..
 * 9) Money - While Eazy had let Dre, D.O.C. and Michel'le go off with Suge, he managed to retain a portion of their publishing rights. After deciding to start a record label with Dre and D.O.C., Suge went on a hunt for money; after Mario "Chocolate" Johnson claimed to produce the hit Ice Ice Baby for Vanilla Ice, Suge went to Vanilla Ice's hotel and threatened to throw him off the balcony if he didn't sign the rights to the song over to him. The money Suge gained from the encounter would help start up the label he, D.O.C., and Dre would form. Meanwhile, Ice Cube would get married to girlfriend Kimberly Woodruff.
 * 10) Back to Work - With Dre, D.O.C., and Michel'le all officially gone, Eazy would continue to find success at Ruthless. Above the Law released Vocally Pimpin in July 1991, while MC Ren would release his first solo effort, the Kizz My Black Azz EP, in 1992. Despite remaining on Ruthless Records, Ren and Eazy would continue to have internal conflict, not even on speaking terms. Ren would also turn to the Nation of Islam at this point in his life, guided by friend DJ Train', a DJ who worked with Ren and J.J. Fad. Cube would return to the studio to record his third album, while Dre started a new record label alongside Suge Knight: Death Row Records.

Season Three

 * 1) Welcome to Death Row - With the help of his attorney David Kenner, Suge arranges for Death Row to handle the soundtrack for the 1992 film Deep Cover. While at a bachelor party, Dr. Dre hears a demo tape by his younger brother Warren G and his friend Snoop Dogg. Impressed, Dre got in contact with Snoop and put together the track Deep Cover for the film. The track introduced Snoop to the world, and proved Dr. Dre as a successful solo artist. Shortly after, Dre and Suge agreed to sign Snoop to Death Row, making him the first new artist on the label.
 * 2) Nuthin' but a G Thang - After the success of Deep Cover, Dre began working on his debut solo album. Knowing he needed a huge hit to hype up the release of his album, Dre teamed up with Snoop and D.O.C. on a track that sampled Leon Haywood song I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You. D.O.C. taught Snoop how to construct write his verses, as opposed to Snoop's original approach, which was to just freestyle. With Snoop writing his verses and D.O.C. handling Dre's, the trio created one of Dr. Dre's biggest songs, Nuthin' but a G Thang.
 * 3) The Chronic - After completing Nuthin' but a G Thang, Dre continued to work on the rest of his album. At this point, Death Row had an entire roster to work on the album; Dre, Snoop, D.O.C., Daz Dillinger (Snoop's younger cousin), Warren G, RBX (Snoop's older cousin), Kurupt (a battle rapper from Philadelphia), Nate Dogg (close friend of Snoop and Warren G), and Lady of Rage (a female rapper from Virginia). With Dre taking Warren and Daz under his wing and teaching them how to produce, and D.O.C. teaching nearly everyone how to properly construct their verse, Death Row released Dr. Dre's first solo album The Chronic in December 1992.
 * 4) It's On - Despite containing hit songs such as Let Me Ride, Dre's first solo album contained the song Dre Day, which was primarily a diss aimed at Eazy - it also took shots at East Coast artist Tim Dog, member of 2 Live Crew, Luke, and even a mention towards Ice Cube. After hearing the song, Eazy responded with an entire EP, It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa; in the title, the words "Dr. Dre" are crossed out to indicate he was no longer involved. Instead, the EP was produced by Cold 187um from Above the Law and former N.W.A. member DJ Yella. While every track took shots at Dre, Snoop and Death Row, the most notorious track was Real Muthaphuckkin G's, which featured Eazy's new proteges - Gangsta Dresta and his younger brother B.G. Knocc Out. In the song, the three question both Dre and Snoop's street credibility, as well as Eazy pointing out that he makes money off Dre's record sales. The music video included pictures of Dr. Dre from his World Class Wreckin' Cru days, which has him in women's clothing and makeup.
 * 5) Ride or Die - While Eazy and Dre were the source of the beef, those close to the two chose their sides and defended either Dre or Eazy, leading to an entire beef between Death Row and Ruthless. While on Arsenio Hall, Snoop dissed Eazy during a freestyle. Daz and Kurupt would call into the Ruthless Radio Show and get into a screaming match with Eazy, which would also include Michel'le and D.O.C.. During this time Snoop's debut album Doggystyle was released, going quadruple platinum. The entire album was produced by Dre and included shots aimed at Eazy once again. Above the Law and Kokane from Ruthless called out Snoop and Tha Dogg Pound on Don't Bite the Funk from the 1994 Kokane album Funk Upon A Rhyme.
 * 6) Murder Was the Case - Shortly after Snoop and Death Row released Doggystyle, Snoop would be charged with murder; after an argument outside Snoop's apartment, his then bodyguard shot and killed Philip Woldemariam. Although he didn't kill the man, Snoop would be charged with first and second degree murder. Snoop and his bodyguard McKinley Lee posted bail for $1 million each and were both placed on house arrest for the two years prior to the beginning of the trial. A 18 minute short film entitled Murder Was the Case, named after a track from Doggystyle, was released in 1994 and starred Snoop. A soundtrack accompanied the release of the film, which consisted of various songs including; the namesake of the film Murder Was the Case, Death Row producer Sam Sneed 's hit song U Better Recognize which featured Dr. Dre, Dogg Pound track What Would U Do? that included a diss towards B.G. Knocc Out, and Dr. Dre's Natural Born Killaz. Natural Born Killaz featured Ice Cube and officially squashed Dre and Cube's beef.
 * 7) Eternal E - Despite the beef between himself and Dre, Eazy remained with his head up high. Ruthless was still thriving, making money off Eazy and Dre's beef as well as MC Ren's Shock of the Hour that would go gold. DJ Yella, Above the Law, Gangsta Dresta, Kokane and B.G. Knocc Out would also continue to help the success of Ruthless, and Eazy would strike gold with Cleveland group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and their EP Creepin on ah Come Up, which included the hit song Thuggish Ruggish Bone. However, Eazy's new found success without Dre would be crushed when he was diagnosed with AIDS on February 24th, 1995. Eazy would make amends with Dre, Snoop and Cube, and wrote a letter to his fans on March 20th. On March 25th, 1995, Eric "Eazy-E" Wright passed away at age 30 due to AIDS. His funeral was held on April 7th and was attended by many celebrities, including nearly the entire Ruthless Records roster, his wife Tomica, and Jerry Heller (despite being fired prior to Eazy's passing).
 * 8) Life Goes On - After Eazy's death, life continued on. Friday, a film written by and starring Cube, released in April of 1995. The soundtrack featured the Ice Cube song Friday, as well as the Dr. Dre track Keep Their Heads Ringin. Suge Knight began to take more control of Death Row - the label became full of his friends and gang members fresh out of jail, as well as off-duty police officers. Dre began to fade into the background, avoiding all the violence that began to embody Death Row. Because of the violence, such as the beating of Sam Sneed, D.O.C. and RBX made the decision to leave Death Row. Because of this, Suge's grip on the rest of the artists tightened. Daz and Kurupt, together as the duo Tha Dogg Pound', put out their debut album Dogg Food. Although this would become another hit under Death Row's belt, it was the first album not produced by Dre. It was instead produced by Daz, although Dre did mix the album.
 * 9) The Source - Sometime during 1995, Death Row attended the 95 Source Awards, alongside various other prominent figures in hop hop at the time. Death Row had their own set, where their many artists performed; Dre performing Keep Their Heads Ringin, Dogg Pound's What Would U Do?, Lady of Rage's Afro Puffs, Nate Dogg's hook from the Snoop Dogg track Ain't No Fun, Sam Sneed's U Better Recognize, producer DJ Quik's MC Eiht diss Dollaz + Sense, and Snoop's Murder Was the Case. The award show also included a memorial for Eazy. The 95 Source Awards was notorious for Suge Knight going on stage and throwing shots at Bad Boy Records' CEO Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs; while on stage with Death Row artist Danny Boy claiming an award won by Death Row, Suge claimed that any artist that "wanted to be an artist" and didn't want the "executive producer all in the videos, all on the record dancing" should come to Death Row. Suge was referring to Puffy dancing in Craig Mack' 's Flava In Ya Ear Remilx music video. Snoop also caused trouble at the award show, claiming that New York didn't have "any love" for himself, Dre or Death Row.
 * 10) Rethinking - After the Source Awards incident, Dre began to rethink his tenure at Death Row. Despite the fact that Eazy and he squashed their beef prior to his death, the Ruthless and Death Row tension was still simmering; Bone Thugs-n-Harmony would diss Dogg Pound on their 1995 debut album E. 1999 Eternal, plus B.G. Knocc Out and Dresta would keep their beef going with the track D.P.G. Killa as well as the brawl with Nate Dogg on a golf course. In addition to all of this, Suge's comments at the Source Awards incited a beef between not only Death Row and Bad Boy, but the East Coast and the West Coast. Unbeknownst to Dre, Suge would sign Tupac Shakur to Death Row and post his bail, as he was in jail due to a sexual abuse conviction, starting a whole new era for Death Row.

Season Four
TBA