Krush Groove: O Mundo do Rap

Russell Walker is riding the wave of the hip-hop wave, with the new single from his group Run-DMC getting lots of heat on the street; problem is he just needs a little money to get more prints made to profit on it. With nowhere else to go he turns to a local loan shark to get the money, however it coincides with tensions with his brother Run. Meanwhile, on the outside looking in, the Disco 3 look for a way to get signed.

This film was recommended to me by a fellow user and old-school fan on this site and I made an effort to seek it out despite having never heard of it. The film is essentially a way of getting hot new artists into a film and doubling benefiting by giving them exposure and also getting money from people wanting to see them in a film. It is perhaps of little surprise then that the plotting isn't quite all it could have been. Based very loosely on the early days of Def Jam, this mostly fictionalised film can't decide quite what it wants to be. On one hand we the drama with Walker, in debt, in conflict with his brother Run over matters business and personal while also up to his neck in the sort of debts that get legs broken. These sections are handled seriously and contain swearing and a tough tone. By contrast we also have sections with the Fat Boys (partially here as the Disco 3) where the tone is much, much lighter as they mug around and play up the comedic side of their personas. These two aspects sit really uneasily beside one another – alone neither is great (although neither is bad) but together they just seem a very odd contrast and give the feeling of the film really not being sure what to do in terms of tone and story. Sometimes it works but too often it is a little cheesy and uneven and it makes it hard to enjoy as a story-driven film.

On the plus side, sitting between these two aspects is the music – lots of music. Shelia E, Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, New Edition, the Fat Boys, Beastie Boys and a really impacting introduction for LL Cool J – all of them are given time to do a little bit within the context of the plot. LL makes the biggest splash with Radio, but Shelia E is great throughout and the other artists all please and satisfy. While the film may not have been very steady in terms of plot, with the music it totally knows what it wants to do. As actors I was pleasantly surprised to find that the majority of the cast were comfortable in front of the camera. The cast is led by Blair Underwood making his acting debut and he is pretty good with the more serious parts of the film. Run is also very natural and strong in the film. Shelia E is great on stage and great with the lighter stuff, but when the love interest stuff starts the material is weak and she seems stiff – in real contrast to her being on stage, making it stand out more. The Fat Boys are pretty funny throughout and really it was only Kurtis Blow that sounded like he was reading his lines off 20 foot high placards.

Overall then this is not a great film in terms of tone and plot but it does enough to avoid being a bad film in the way many similar ones have been. It seems to help that, although cashing in on the genre to a certain extent; it is being done from the inside rather than an outsider seeking to exploit others' success. The music is what it is all about though, and fans of this genre and period will get a lot of stuff to love here – ultimately this is who the film is aimed at and the target audience won't be disappointed.

I almost forgot how incredibly dope, fly, def, and funky fresh Run DMC were; especially DMC!!! DMC held it down! I remember DMC's rappin and how it had a hard edge to it, but his character had the same hard edge to him as well. Krush Groove is a magnificent tribute to rap and the pioneers of rap. Krush Groove featured maybe half of the known rappers from that era. Run DMC didn't invent rap but they sure took it to another level. Rap is nowhere today without Run DMC. They elevated it to the stratoshpere. I remember dying to have a pair of Adidas because of them.

The movie itself is more or less a 95 minute concert with some acting in it. Blair Underwood was probably the only real actor in the entire movie. Being that this was his first movie, lucky for him it didn't kill his career. As poor as the acting was, I loved this movie. I totally understand that my affinity towards this movie is directly linked to my growing up in the 80's and listening to the very artists in the film. Each artists' appearance was an instant trip down memory lane. We're talking The Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, The Beastie Boys, New Edition, Sheila E., Full Force, and even Donnie Simpson before he hosted BET.

I could go on forever about the movie and even though the movie was low budget, poorly edited, complimented with sub par acting, it is the memories that are evoked that makes me like it. Put this movie on my list of old school niche favorites with Beat Street, Breakin', and The Last Dragon.

It's great to see the early performances by some rap legends, but the movie itself is garbage. The story is trite, as predicted, and the acting is criminally bad.

Awesome performances, but fast forward through the rest.

This film isn't an award winner but it is a must see for all Hip Hop historians. Loosely based on the life of producer Russel Simmons this film takes us back to the early days of Hip-Hop when rap was just starting to break into the mainstream. Blair Underwood plays Russel and everyone else (Run DMC, Fat Boys, Sheila E, New Edition, Beastie Boys, L.L. Cool J, etc..) play themselves. I think, if anything, this film gives fans an idea of what it was like for young rappers, producers and other musicians from NYC in the early eighties. I think the film could have been better if it was a little grittier and honest, but if it was than Rap and Hip-Hop may not have blown up the way it did into mainstream culture.

Krush Groove is the most underrated rock n roll movie of the 1980s. Is it the Best music film of the 80s? No that title belongs to Purple Rain. Actually Krush Groove attempts to redo Rain's successful formula, using talented musicians generally playing themselves in a fictitious story with some realistic elements. It actually came out a year or so too early, with rap and hip hop still generally a black phenomenon despite Blondie's #1 pop `Rapture'. (Debbie Harry makes an appearance here portraying a club singer.) The one `Actor' not playing himself was Blair Underwood who played the character Russell Walker (While the REAL Russell Simmons played a stage hand named Crocket)

The story deals with a number of rap artists Run DMC, Kurtis Blow and the Fat boys in their efforts to make it big as hip hop stars. It deals with the good and bad of having a hit record on a small independent record label, competition between two brothers over the heart of a young female singer (Sheila E.), the consequences of borrowing money from a loan shark, the opportunity to sign with a major label and a talent contest looking for new hip hop talent. The contest includes an appearance from New Edition, an all too brief appearance from future superstars The Beastie Boys and an in studio audition from LL Cool J. The film was rated `R' generally for some mild violence and usage of the `F' word. (Six instances where two would automatically mean an `R' rating) It didn't do too hot at the box office. I had stated that the film came out a year or so too early. The reason I stated this was that in 1986, one year following this film's release, Run DMC's cover of Aerosmith's Walk This Way got heavy airplay on white radio, even going to number1 on album rock radio in Aerosmith's homebase of Boston MA. This success opened the door for The Beastie Boys, The Fat Boys, LL Cool J, Will Smith (known at that time as The Fresh Prince) and a large number of other hip hop and rap artists to score BIG on the Pop singles and pop album charts.