Here we get a commentary from a very young John Singleton, who expounds on how he crafted the script, as well as what it was like to grow up in the hood. He has seen all of these characters, and tried not to force any stereotypes. Listeners will learn about the schooling he received at USC, as well as how he met Ice Cube before he was Ice Cube. It will be interesting to hear how different his commentary is for the SE DVD.

An excellent, candid commentary. I was surprised at how much of the film was based on Singleton's actual upbringing. He also talks about his influences and the difficulties of working with budget and time constrains. There is some fascinating information here for aspiring film makers.
Highly recommended.

If you like commentary tracks that feel like a film education course, then you will love all of this. But even though he is educational, there are many moments where he talks about the real life experiences that inhabit the film, most of them fascinating.

Two I remember are describing the cops pulling them over scene, where he just says every black kid he knows has experienced this. And the shots fired in the air at the outdoor party, and how he says all across America, somewhere this exact same thing happens every weekend, where someone says something stupid (probably about a girl), and it escalates until someone fires their gun.

There are also some interesting moments where he talks about how he asked his USC film professors for advice regularly, and what they gave him. Most of the time he listened, and he explains what the script was, and what he changed to make it into the film it became.

I have no real life reference point to relate to, but I saw the film in the theaters when it came out, and only heard the commentary track last year, and it did not feel dated at all.