In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking us back to where it all began, Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of how these cultural rebels—armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent—stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world’s most dangerous group, N.W.A. And as they spoke the truth that no one had before and exposed life in the hood, their voice ignited a social revolution that is still reverberating today.

A slice of life film set in the Bronx, New York—In Sudden Darkness follows the life of the Moores, a working-class family trying to stay afloat in the midst of a city-wide blackout.

Three friends united by their love of hip-hop work to make their big mark in the music industry. Beginning in the summer of 1990 NYC, Nikki a brilliant recent grad abandons a law school scholarship to pursue her dream of becoming a record exec along with the son of a legendary music producer boyfriend David who’s struggling at the city’s top R&B station. Dee Vee is an aspiring producer on the hunt to find the next big rapper on the come-up.

Multiple lives intersect in the aftermath of the violent mugging of a Columbia University philosophy professor.