The Art of Rap [HD]

Great documentary
This is one of the best hip-hop documentaries I've seen, both in the range of artists it interviews and the information it gives to you.

It's kind of like a companion to the book which came out a few years ago, where they got hold of around 100 MCs (many of the same people in this documentary + more), this is the one I mean -
How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC

...so this documentary is like additional knowledge to go along with that book, and obviously you get to see some nice freestyles and everything on the screen with this.

It's great that people are finally documenting the actual CRAFT of MCing, rather than either trying to attack it in some way without knowing anything about it, or just talking "around" the art form, by focusing on stuff like the socio-political background... that stuff is important, but not at the expense of a thorough discussion and...

Art of Rap Review
Was one of those early rap listeners who thought it would just be a fad and not ever catch on...early rap artists were more about catchy rhyming and not about any substance...until The Message hit the airwaves and now it became a social highway for other artists to talk about what was happening in the core of the city. It is easily understood why rap has maintained the longevity that it has; I suspect that rap will continue to be at the center of all music that is artfully important. The message can be so powerful and positive, I would love to see our talented musicians (rappers) come together and send out lyrics of growth and positive harmonization. Uplift our youth and create a true pathway for empowerment. Music can and does a lot to answer real questions and guide folks in the right direction....
As a 55 year old advid listener of many types of music...everything from Old School Funk, Neo-Soul, BTO, Chicago, Miles and Coltrane, I am easily drawn to Rap-if the message is...

This is what I grew up on, I had to see it...
I'm a white dude from the 'burbs, few of my peers listened to it, but I love it. This is my high school years' anthem.

I enjoyed it. The cinematography was excellent, the long list of rap stars was impressive, and the fact that they did this are all huge pluses.

However, Ice-T was not the right guy for the job, he's just not much of an interviewer, I wish Fab 5 Freddy was still alive he would have made this a 10/10. It also seems like he just can't remember much of anything from which ever rapper he was interviewing. He honestly at times of the movie seems like a casual fan, which of course he's not, he's made, and had some great hits, but damn' he barely named any of the rappers he was interviweings hits, he'd say remember the one beat da da da, yea yea, I'm like really ? I guess he just forgot, he's pretty far removed.

Doug E Fresh looks exactly the same, and beat boxing like he's still in his prime, and 'Ye killed his spot, caught fire, that...

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