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Heller is effusive when asked about J.J. Fad and label mate Michel’le. He remains on good terms with J.J. Fad’s members and was also disappointed by their exclusion from the film.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Heller, however, didn’t have much to offer when asked about his reaction to “Straight Outta Compton,” other than a post-screening update on an earlier statement.<\/p>\n
“Well, my only comment so far is that I think it’s inappropriate for me to comment on a movie that I haven’t seen,” he said. “I did see it on Saturday, and I’m still not willing to comment right now on that movie because I think sooner or later it may be part of an ongoing litigation.”<\/p>\n
J.J. Fad’s co-founders have had decades to process those formative experiences and long ago moved on. The group put out a follow-up to the “Supersonic” album called “Not Just a Fad,” but with Dr. Dre rising \u2014 as an artist, in-demand producer working with Snoop Dogg and budding empire builder \u2014 production for J.J. Fad’s tracks fell to DJ Yella. None charted.<\/p>\n
Recalled Birks of their interactions with Eazy-E and Dr. Dre near the end of J.J. Fad’s first run: “I’m not gonna say they forgot about us, but they kind of put us on the back burner. They started working on more artists and pushed us over to the side.”<\/p>\n
The women watched from the sidelines while raising families as Dr. Dre hit with “The Chronic.” Since 2009, the group has toured with Arabian Prince and third member Sassy C as part of throwback tours, most recently as part of the Freestyle Explosion Tour, with acts including Taylor Dayne, Debbie Deb and Lisa Lisa.<\/p>\n
As evidenced by the exclusion, members of N.W.A seem less interested in J.J. Fad’s past. Sperling is circumspect about the film’s omissions.<\/p>\n
“I think there was a certain image that they wanted to put out there, and I don’t think they wanted us to soften that,” she said. “That’s just my perception, and I don’t know if it’s true or not. The way the story was told was very hard-core, so I’m thinking, there were a couple soft sides, but our presence in it might have been a little too soft.”<\/p>\n
Still, an invitation to the premiere might have been nice.<\/p>\n