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5 more Hip-Hop flicks · by Sach O
You probably can’t cop these from a bootlegger though.
Peace to Billy Sunday. Rafi’s partner in crime in Internet Celebrities has been holding it down at XXL in recent weeks and his post on the top 25 Hip Hop flicks was no exception. Coming through with everything from Empire to City of God, the list was a fine primer on movies both hood and less-hood that fully rep this Hip Hop shit. But y’all know me, I’m one of those film-nerdy types who’ll spend an hour trying to convince you why such-n-such was bullshit and why you should rent some obscure Japanese movie from 1963. So obviously when I was reading Dallas’ list a few lesser known contenders came to mind. I could have just listed it in the talkback, but let’s be real…Ohword’s gotta step its posting game up.
La Haine
Gimme the plot baby pops: A typical day in the life of three Parisian ghetto youths (Jewish, Muslim and African). Activities include police brutality, dope beats, hood food, illict weaponry and arguing with mom dukes.
Why’s it Hip Hop? Read the plot homie…plus an incredible DJ Routine cutting up “Sound of da Police”.
Watch out for: The cool Black and White photography.
Breaking News
Gimme the plot baby pops: All out war breaks out between a gang of bank robbers and the police in downtown Hong Kong. The media are on hand for full coverage of the bloody events.
Why’s it Hip Hop? Hmm…news media sensationalizing pointless killings…what does that have to do with rap? Oh and there’s some pretty awesome action scenes too.
Watch out for: The opening sequence. Damn that must have been hard to shoot.
Tsotsi
Gimme the plot baby pops: The head of a small time gang tries to rob a benz but gets stuck with a baby. Slowly he finds out there’s more to life than rocking bootleg State Property gear.
Why’s it Hip Hop? The title means “thug” in an African dialect. The director is a white guy named (no joke) “Gavin Hood”. Dope African Hip Hop on the score too. Plus no one will argue that Soweto ain’t hood.
Watch out for: The bigtime crime boss played by African Rapper Zola. Proof that the awkward rapper-actor phenomenon is truly international.
A Bullet for the General
Gimme the plot baby pops: A gang of Mexican Outlaws attack trains headed up and down the California coast to steal guns. One day, they get stuck with a slightly effeminate gringo (ayo!) who’s an ace marksman but who eventually kills off their revolutionary leader for mad cash.
Why’s it Hip Hop? Vatos are STILL running guns and slickly dressed white business men will still double cross you and leave you for dead in 07.
Watch out for: the twist ending.
Cocaine Cowboys
Gimme the plot Baby pops: A documentary about the biggest coke runners of the 80’s and all the cats they body.
Why’s it Hip Hop? Murder…check. Materialism…check. Drug use…check. But the kicker is that you get to see how everybody benefited from Coke in the 80’s except Black people. Ain’t that a bitch?
Watch for: The soundtrack. Someone’s gonna sample that shit for a Rick Ross beat one of these days.
Comments for "5 more Hip-Hop flicks"
Nice drop. The only one I haven’t seen yet is “A Bullet For The General”. I cover joint like this all the time in the Dartflix drop on my blog Poisonous Paragraphs. That scene from “Breaking News” and the other one from “Time & Tide” looked like they REALLY destroyed some shit. That scene must’ve taken forever to shoot. One.
— Dart Adams Jun 13, 04:02 PM
oh word should have a movie review section
— DEFRAMON Jun 13, 06:29 PM
good post… def wanna check out the first and second ones, only one ive seen is cocaine cowboys, speakin of japanese flicks from the 60s/70s, IFC had a bunch on this wkend as a sorta buildup to Kill Bill 1 & 2. i love old japanese cinema.
— thatwhitedude Jun 13, 06:45 PM
What, no “Breakin’”?
This list is bullshit.
Nah, I’m only joking.
But let me add a great movie. I don’t categorize this movie as a “hip-hop movie” but I think it fits your list perfectly.
Brother — starring Takeshi Kitano and Omar Epps
http://shop.mtv.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=1712899
Check out the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_7W0chc92Y&mode=related&search=
and this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi5aMWIXmds
— Trent Jun 13, 07:26 PM
Was that Dallas’ list or Billy Sunday’s list?
This is why Batman would kill a motherfucker before he’d give away his i.d. because somebody with diarrhea of the mouth would fuck that shit up.
You definetly ain’t lying about ‘Tsotsi’. That shit is offical hardbody. Put ‘Favela Rising’ in your DVD. Not now… right now.
You still owe Dallas a drop on the ‘Shout’ rap trend that Naughty by Nature, ONYX, Das Efx, L.O.N.S. and others had perfected. Don’t think that we forgot bitch.
— Billy Sunday Jun 14, 12:58 AM
This shit always bothered me. How do they do that one shot in La Haine where the camera is pulling back but the background is somehow zoomed in on simultaneously? Is it a moving platform, a blue screen or some type of camera trick?
— Abe Beame Jun 14, 05:16 AM
Is that the same thing as the Raimi Rush?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_and_Ethan_Coen#The_.22Raimi_cam.22_rush_or_speed-ramp
La Haine is a great film.
— dnA Jun 14, 04:38 PM
That’s actually a hitchcock zoom and different from a Raimi rush.
It’s a simple camera trick where you rack focus while dollying in on your subject.
Spielberg does it famously in Jaws.
— Dan Jul 2, 09:22 PM