The Art of Rap: Something from Nothing

This was a pretty good documentary, lots of nice insights and interviews...

I checked it out because I have that book which is similar, "How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC" which came out a few years ago and they interviewed many of the same rappers for that. In my opinion, that book goes into a lot more detail than this documentary, because it's wall-to-wall quotes and a lot more subjects are covered, but it was cool seeing a documentary that touched on some of the same topics.

Where it lacks actual extended discussion on writing rhymes, this doc makes up for it with quite a few interesting moments on screen -- most of the rappers kick a verse or two and they often go on tangents and happen upon some interesting topics even if they aren't really about the "craft" of rap, as the title suggests.

Well worth watching if you're a hip-hop fan, and a nice companion to the "How To Rap" book.

It's funny, when I saw this, I too immediately thought, "hey, that's like that How To Rap book!" so it's nice to see another reviewer thought the same thing as me.

I agree with that reviewer that the book is more thorough and complete when looking at the craft, so that remains the go-to resource, but this movie is great for other things.

The verses that the rappers recite are mostly great (though I prefer when rappers do freestyles over beats, not a big fan of the "here's... my... really... slow... acapella... rap... so you... can hear... all the... words"), and it's cool seeing Ice-T just have relaxed conversations with rappers he knows.

It's actually best when it veers away from the craft and just goes into funny stories and interactions between Ice-T and the person he's talking to.

If you're a rap fan, definitely go look this movie up, you'll find something to like in 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.

www.moseleyb13.com

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.

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.