In just over thirty years Hip Hop has established global influence. Creativity and passion for hip hop comes out though a rich variety of means of expression. This makes capturing it on film all the more difficult. Here is a selection of the best hip hop films, in no particular order.

Style Wars

Director: Tony Silver
Released: 1983
The most essential of the early hip-hop documentaries, up there with Wildstyle, it exposes the weird and wonderful world of graffiti, a culture burgeoning in New York with fresh art and an underground dialogue centred on notions of originality versus biting. The fascination here comes from the colourful characters such as Cap, who defies the etiquette destroying the “burners” of his rivals by “going over”. An iconic slice of budget b-boy cinema.
Watch it Now

Best This – a Hip-Hop history

Director: Dick Fontaine
Released: 1984
Causing thousands of kids to body pop in the playground an inspiring a whole generation of artists and producers, this was primetime TV at its best. Gary Byrd’s commentary is inoffensive, Bam’s primitive sci-fi vision still engages but it’s the endearing image of Kool DJ herc driving around the Bronx complete with towering soundsystem speakers that lingers. And yes Malcolm McClaren is very annoying.
Watch it Now

Biggie and Tupac

Director: Nick Broomfield
Released: 2002
Beef has long been a staple of the hip-hop diet, but no rap rivalry has got so dark and surrounded by conspiracy theory as that of Tupac and Biggie. nick Broomfield goes straight to the heart of the matter: visiting LA’s roughest hoods, interviewing Biggie’s mum, and even tracking down the infamous Suge Knight in prison.
Watch it Now

Fade To Black

Director: Patrick Paulson & Michael John Warren
Released: 2004
A master at the game on the top of his game. From incredible studio scenes shopping for beats at hip-hops top table with Kanye, Pharrell and Timerberland to running the stage of a capacity Madison Square Garden with The Roots, Mary J, Ghostface & Foxy, Jay-Z is flawless and always the brightest star on screen.
Watch the Trailer

New York 77 – the coolest year in hell

Director:
Released: 2004
The year was 1977. New York City had fallen into decay and chaos. Yet from the chaos sprang one of the most creative times any city ever encountered. Hip-hop was emerging from the South Bronx, punk music was emerging from the Lower East Side, and disco was emerging from Queens and midtown Manhattan.
Watch Now (USA only)
Watch an Excerpt

80 Blocks from Tiffanys

Director: Gary Weiss
Released: 1979
A solid documentary covering some of the most notorious street gangs in the South Bronx before they faded away and Hip Hop took over. After peering into this looking glass you will be glad that Hip Hop is here to stay.
Watch it Now

Wild Style

Director: Charlie Ahearn
Released: 1983
Legendary New York graffiti artist Lee Quinones plays the part of Zoro, the city’s hottest and most elusive graffiti writer. The actual story of the movie concerns the tension between Zoro’s passion for his art and his personal life, particularly his strained relationship with fellow artist Rose. But this isn’t why one watches Wild Style – this movie is *the* classic hip-hop flick, with a massive cult following and a 25th anniversary reissue to boot.
Official Site

Scratch

Director: Doug Pray
Released: 2002
A lesson in hip-hop history, Scratch is an astonishing view at the ever evolving form of turntable manipulation. Interviews with Africa Bambaataa and Kool DJ Herc explain the fundamental role of the DJ while turntablists such as Qbert and Mix Master Mike show off their tricks. Educational and entertaining for the heads but not overly nerdy.
Watch it Now

Keepintime

Director: B+
Released: 2004
What happens when you put a bunch of classic funk drummers and super skilled break juggling DJs in the same room? B+’s film shows us that music is a universal language and that ultimately the generation gap closes quickly when funky jam session is on the go. A must for the footage of Axelrod’s drum beater Earl Palmer, who has since passed away.
Watch the Trailer

The Freshest Kids – The history of the B-Boy

Director: Israel
Released: 2002
This lively documentary isn’t about hip-hop or hip-hop culture as much as about an integral part of that culture. The narrative traces their evolution from the South Bronx 1970s to media-crazed 1980s to today, as the phenomenon has returned to the underground while remaining as popular as ever (as exemplified by footage from Germany, Japan, etc.). The old and new school are on hand to explain and to praise the b-boy; everyone from rappers like KRS-One and Mos Def to breakers like Crazy Legs and Ken Swift.
Watch it Now

Freestyle – The Art of Rhyme

Director: Kevin Fitzgerald
Released: 2005
This captures the electrifying energy of improvisational hip-hop, the rarely recorded art form of rhyming spontaneously. Like preachers and jazz solos, freestyles exist only in the moment, a modern-day incarnation of the African-American storytelling tradition. Shot over a period of more than seven years, the film systematically debunks the false image put out by record companies that hip-hop culture is violent or money-obsessed. Instead, it lets real hip-hop artists, known and unknown, weave their own story.
Watch it Now

Rhyme & Reason

Director: Peter Spirer
Released: 1997
Suggested By: Jay Ru
This documentary explores the history of hip hop culture, how rap evolved to become a major cultural voice (and a multi-billion dollar industry), and what the artists have to say about the music’s often controversial images and reputation. Interview subjects range from veteran old-school rappers, such as Kurtis Blow, KRS-One and Chuck D, to gangsta rap icons Ice-T, Dr. Dre, and MC Eiht, to several current rap hitmakers, including Wu-Tang Clan, The Fugees, and Sean “Puffy” Combs.
Watch it Now

Note
Props due to Shook Magazine for some extracts featured above.

Definitely an artist to keep an eye out for in these troubled hip hop days and one who may give us the boost we all need to rejuvenate our love for the genre. Ghostpoet has those bona fide skills yall….

More information is available from Ghostpoet’s Myspace.
www.myspace.com/ghostpoet

Download :: Ghostpoet - The sound of strangers EP

As promised here’s the second and final installment of RZA’s latest art project entitled the W.A.I.L project…Each of the 3 pieces are limited to 360 copies worldwide and are available to buy from Sway and King Tech’s website.

Some have referred to Rza these days as ‘the hip hop hippie’ but love him or hate him, the man is a legend and these prints are an emblem to mark his 20 year dedication and lifetime in the field of Hip Hop

Stay tuned for Q-Berts prints which should be coming soon via the same team at W.A.I.L…….

Did you hear about this? The RZA’s latest project? Victory Vs Death?…..

Well Sway and Tech from the World famous Wake up Show have created this project entitled When Art Imitates Life to highlight some of the major players in the game who have served their time (10 years or more) via limited canvas paintings. The RZA’s print for example will be kept to a minimum of 360 (300 40” x 30” & 60 80” x 60”) with others like Q-Bert and Shavu from System of a Down to follow.

Get a feel for the project…

Click here to view the embedded video.

RZA’s may look familiar as it has been based on the George Washingtons classic ‘Crossing the Potomac’ painting from 1851. Weird ay? well find out more from the man himself on they why’s, how’s and who’s here.

There may be some prints still available from the website which you can find here. There not so cheap however but there are at least 5 different payment schemes available to help you out if one were so inclined. So if you fancy covering up that empty wall in your house with some fly ‘art imitates life’ kind of vibe please get involved!

Click here to view the embedded video.

After too many years without a strong album or the distraction of other ventures, Mos Def released his fourth The Ecstatic earlier this month. The rhymes are tight and the response has been generally strong. It is fair to say that we are all happy with one of the greats being back and in good voice.

Never being afraid to try different things though he is now at it again. His album is also being released via a new concept in fashion/music promotion, the Music Tee. The format is the product of a collaboration between Invisible DJ and LnA. The Music Tee has the album cover on the front of the T-shirt, the track list on the back and a URL & download code on an attached tag to get a copy of the album.

What format and quality the download is provided in hasn’t been made general knowledge. That said it is a great concept, giving real fans a way to tune in and represent.

The Mos Def Music Tee is available from July 7th.

With obvious talent to burn, this time lapse video captures the artists as they create a constantly mutating graffiti piece. Fresh soundtrack too. If you like this kinda stuff you may want to check out the Rackgaki Collection that the above image is taken from.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a great site. Run by volunteers, Ubu is a repository of art, articles, animation, film, podcasts and the impressive 365 project – a compendium of audio artifacts that ranges from the weird to the wonderful. Clear a couple of hours and dive in, the depth of the content is huge, from Steve Reich to Sun Ra, Lou Reed to Jacques Derrida. http://www.ubuweb.com/

Clear a couple of hours and dive in, the depth of the content is huge, from Steve Reich to Sun Ra, Lou Reed to Jacques Derrida. http://www.ubuweb.com/