In an impoverished, oppressed Compton, California during 1986, Eazy-E is a drug dealer, Dr. Dre is an aspiring disc jockey, and Ice Cube is a young rapper. Intrigued by Ice Cube’s “reality raps” reflecting on the crime, gang violence, and police harassment, and frequent systemic oppression that they and other African Americans encounter daily, Dr. Dre convinces Eazy-E to fund a startup record label, Ruthless Records, with Dr. Dre as record producer.