The Art of Rap: Something from Nothing

There's hardly from the south, Bun B; but other than that, where's the south. You can go to all the states down south, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, and you got successful artist coming from there. I don't know anyone that's said to me, "oh yea lemme put on that new Rakim track." Bur I guarantee they remember alotta tracks from the Cash Money Records days in NYC. Jay Z's 'Big Pimpin' wasn't hot cause of Jay Z; it was hot cause UGK, and more specifically Pimp C (RIP). But yea, until they start recognizing what the South has done for Hip Hop/Rap I'm not trying to hear it.

Hip-Hop heavyweight Tracy Marrow, better known as Ice-T, travels from the East to the West coast to interview dozens of rap's finest to provide a 360° perspective on the art of rap, and establish why this subversive underground movement has quickly become the most lucrative musical genre in the world.

Many can rhyme words; few can do it with panache. To prove this, we're treated to several tantalising tongue-twisters from the likes of Eminem, Kanye West, Nas and Mos Def (now known as Yasiin), although some legendary MCs let themselves down by delivering feckless freestyles.

Rappers being rappers, they all claim credit for being the first to do this or that. No one really bothers to answer the question at the heart of this documentary. I wanted the history and truth about rap. Afrika Bambaataa and KRS-One – two from the Old School – deliver knowledgeable insights (slave-era camaraderie prefigured battle rapping, the turntable was turned into an instrument), but after a while the contributions become monotonous, irrelevant, uninteresting and surprisingly, given that these are purported wordsmiths, inarticulate. Ice-T becomes more interested in kicking back with his homies while they smoke unfeasibly big joints and rap along to classic hip-hop tracks.

Ice-T promises follow-ups to his directorial debut, for which I have a piece of advice: When cats like these end their sentences with 'Nah mean', i.e. 'Do you know what I mean?', for our sake, please find out what they mean.

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I saw this at a screening with about 600 people and the crowd went mental. The crowd was really mixed which goes to show you rap is not just for black kids anymore. The fact that Ice is friends with everyone makes a big difference as you can tell that the artist are being 100% real. The overall production value is top notch and the music is mind blowing. If you have never seen free styling seeing KRS and Eminem do it will blow your mind. Another thing that was cool was Kanye's interview, I know there is a lot of negativity about him but in this movie he comes off super humble and sincere. This is a doc that is best seen in a theater as the crowd makes it really fun and seeing these guys HUGE on a screen is fantastic.

I've watched quite a few hip-hopumentaries now and each one is a little bit different. "Rhyme & Reason" came out in the late 90's featuring the best artists during the golden age of hip-hop. "Hip-Hop Evolution" is a more recent Netflix mini-series that is very educational. "Beats, Rhymes, & Life" focuses solely on A Tribe Called Quest. Ice-T's "Something from Nothing" is a bit of "The Show" and "Rhyme & Reason" with a focus on rapping. Ice-T goes from the East Coast to the West Coast with a stop in Detroit to interview some of the legends of hip-hop.

One of the many interesting things about Ice T's directorial debut, Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap, is the explanation rapper Lord Jamar offers us as to how rap music came about. He tells us that growing up in the ghetto, there were obvious budget cuts and the public schools were woefully underfunded to begin with. He tells us that since instruments such as pianos and drums were taken away, the only instruments kids found were their own mouths and a record player. I'm positive those who idolize rap are not even aware of this.

Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap explores just what its title proclaims; the art and craft of a genre so controversial and so openly slandered by critics, the media, and sometimes, its own audience. Rap is a lawless, anarchic breed of music, often objectifying women and promoting reckless behavior. Or has it let itself evolve that way? Has "swag," stupidity, and cockiness been traded for a subtle and unique panache? Nowadays, you'd be hard-pressed to find a rap song lacking the word "hoe" in any way, shape, or form. It seems the men Ice T (Tracy Marrow) interviews almost are ashamed at what the genre has become and faithfully spend their time recalling when the genre was more about being misunderstood and underestimated rather than boastfulness and amoral behavior.

The key to success in the rap world is originality, we're told by Big Daddy Kane. If there's anything these men seem to have pioneered it's a unique sound and a unique outlook on life. Interviews with Afrika Bambaataa, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Grandmaster Caz, Ice Cube, MC Lyte, and Snoop Dogg take place as they offer their views on the movement and also don't hesitate to give us highly-skilled freestyles.

Some of the interviews are informative and eye-opening - some have the unfortunate disadvantage of being concise and loose. The first hour of this documentary gives those who came for the insights exactly what they want. The second hour gives those who came for the music what they want. This is where Ice T's documentary begins to slightly fall from its throne. While there is a goal in mind, some of the interviews teeter on the edge of being rambling and rather irrelevant. There comes a point where the quality and the speed of the freestyles is favored over actual information inside the whole rap movement.

But there is a wonderful devotion to the subject matter, regardless on what is chosen to be the primary focus in different scenes. Ice T doesn't seem to many as the one you'd want to direct a documentary on hip-hop and rap, but after the film was over, I couldn't really see anyone else doing it and doing it to the extent of what he has personally accomplished. He has proved to be not only knowledgeable on the medium but completely capable to delivering all the components of a film determined to explore the broad concept of rap.

The documentary seems to run a little too long for this sort of subject matter. Perhaps if you're a die-hard fan of rap, you won't believe so. As an insightful look at the medium, it manages to wander into that sort of territory, but never does it gridlock itself to that area. It too manages to incorporate freestyles, jokes, old memories, and extensive interviews all in its runtime. On second thought, maybe it isn't too long at all.

Starring: Ice T, Afrika Bambaataa, Big Daddy Kane, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Grandmaster Caz, Ice Cube, Lord Jamar, MC Lyte, and Snoop Dogg. Directed by: Ice T and Andy Baybutt.