I remember when I watched this one for the first time. Same author crafted "Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel".
This is a bit dark but descent documentary for real Hip-Hop fans only. Great soundtrack and some great interviews. Basically most of today's veterans are present in this movie. You get to see Wu-tang, KRS, Redman, Eric Sermon, Cypress Hill, some old school heads. Just take a look at the credited cast.
This movie took me back in the days when we did some of the things mentioned. We lived most of the time on the streets, meeting all type of people...all of them. And we did listen to Hip-Hop music all of the time. Its interesting because sometimes peoples would say that this music is pushing people to do bad things. That's true for some, but in our case we were doing bad things or dealing with bad people anyway so it was our way of life and listening to this music was just a way of search for common souls dealing with the same problems.
Its funny for me when I hear lines likes "We live in the projects..." This is too funny for me because these people rapping haven't been to South-Eastern Europe countries like (Bulgaria, Serbia, Monte-Negro, Romania etc). When they say "The Projects..." we refer to government project buildings. In my city there aren't many super-cool houses there are only government project buildings. So think of a 1 million city filled with "Projects". Think of whole country filled with "Projects". So there are some people which really know the meaning of "Projects".
KRS says in the movie that Hip-Hop had many beginnings and that's true. If it hasn't been born in the US it could be born elsewhere for sure. Its a movement and a culture. I can't think of any music genre that is telling such stories. In the beginning Hip-Hop music was meant to put people together but there was also people which lived in a struggle and they crafted RAP (Ice-T explains). Basically you won't see any artist in this movie telling how much cars and houses they own...Artist will explain how they life changed for good after becoming famous.
I think that Hip-Hop is definitely not dead at this point (10 years after this movie) but its changed into something commercial. I also think that the dark days of struggle are gone and there is nothing to RAP about :) Things people rap about nowadays are some funny stories, fake crimes or just for the fame. Hip-Hop is still a great way of expressing yourself.
Must see film for all those who were there long time ago or for those who are moving with the culture now.
Peace One love
7/10 *******
