"Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le"

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"Surviving Compton" Cast

As a cast member of the reality series 'R&B Divas' singer Michel'le spoke about her past relationships with her ex and children's fathers' Dr. Dre and Suge Knight. The little information that she revealed left viewers wanting to know more. What really happened to Michel'le?

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Singer Michel'le

On Saturday, October 15, Lifetime television network presented the docufilm "Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le" featuring the songstress herself. Playing Michel'le was Rhyon Nicole Brown who also starred in the family drama series "Lincoln Heights". Music producer Dr. Dre was played by Curtis Hamilton from the television series "Castle" and Suge Knight was played by R. Marcos Taylor who also played Suge Knight in the biopic "Straight Outta Compton".

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Rhyon Nicole Brown

Rhyon Nicole Brown went from playing the baby sister in "Lincoln Heights" to playing a female legend in the hip hop game. She did a great job playing the role of Michel'le almost as good as Angela Basset did in the biopic film "What's Love Got To Do With It" the story about Ike and Tina Turner. 

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Curtis Hamilton

Curtis Hamilton also did a good job acting as Michel'le's ex Dr. Dre. His portrayal of Dr. Dre was better than Corey Hawkins who played Dr. Dre in "Straight Outta Compton". Hamilton's look and attitude was similar to the real Dr. Dre R. Marcos Taylor who played Suge Knight for the second time around wasn't the best impression but it doesn't take much to play a bodyguard!

Like most biopics "Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le" focuses on how Michel'le made her debut into the music industry. She went from being featured on World Class Wreckin Cru's track "Turn Off The Lights" to making tracks of her own. Michel'le's first break out single was titled "No More Lies" followed by "Nicety" and the popular hit "Something In My Heart".

While Michel'le was pursuing her music career she and Dr. Dre became close ans started seeing each other. Michel'le knew she wasn't the only woman in Dre's life but she believed she was the main woman. As toxic as Dre's and Michel'le's relationship was she stayed hoping he would get better, but he only got worse as he continued to be physically abusive towards her. Noone ever stepped in to help Michel'le not even their manager Jerry.

After Michel'le had her first baby boy with Dre he left her stranded at home alone, with no food and no lights. Michel'le called Suge who came to her rescue and put her in rehab. When Michel'le returned home she was in a better place and she didn't go back to Dre. Instead she started dating Suge Knight. The singer described Knight as being gentle and kind. He made her feel loved in a way Dre never did. 

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R. Marcos Taylor as Suge Knight

Sooner or later Michel'le saw a different side of Knight when she asked him about releasing her second album. Knight hit Michel'le but according to the movie, it only happened once. When Suge took over Death Row Records things started to look suspicious to Michel'le but she was in the dark as to what was really going on. By then she had two children, a son with Dr. Dre and a daughter with Suge. While Suge was locked up, his attorney persuaded Michel'le into signing documents that earned her $30,000 a month. She later found out Suge was involved in some illegal shady business with the company and used her to do it. She also found out he was still married which meant she was not legally married to Suge.

Towards the end, Michel'le courageously confronted Suge and let him know that she knew everything.  She then left Suge where he was standing, took her two children and moved back home with her grandmother. 

"Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le" didn't have a five star cast or a five star performance, but compared to the Aaliyah biopic it was well worth watching. Every documentary tells a person's story but not every documentary is going to be satisfactory to it's viewers. 

Tamara M. Anderson
@mstekeyla
@mahoganymagazin