Krush Groove

This is a movie about the struggles of early rap groups trying to make it big in the 80's when rap was not a popular music genre. This is not the most dramatic of movies by any stretch of the imagination, but if you like old school rap acts like RUN-DMC, The Beastie Boys, The Fat Boys, and LL Cool J you will find this movie entertaining. However if you are not familiar with the 80's rap scene you may not be very impressed with this movie. I though it would be a really stupid movie at first, but once I watched it I was impressed.

A lot of good review comments, so I'll just add. This movie could well be classed a historical in some respects, and is actually shown in some colleges as part of curriculum. It is based on the true and personal story of Run DMC, The Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, Sheila E, and others breaking out rap music for the first time to the mainstream audiences against convention and against those who would view rap as non-music and a fad. It showcases the music as a true underground phenomena; fun, creative, positive, and energetic; embraced by urban youth eager to rebel. Poor, fat, whatever, just being yourself for a change was enough for you to make a go of it and be successful. There are 12 musical productions in the film and some showstopper performances by Sheila E (coached by Prince for this film) especially. This movie was based on real events and the roles played by the people themselves who lived them. In that sense it may not have a Hollywood calibre cast and complicated plot, but that wasn't the point of this film. This film was meant to showcase the struggles of a music, the struggles of artists in an emerging genre, and show people where it was at in 1985. It did just that, capturing the heart and soul of hip-hop, where it all is rooted, free from excessive profanity, free from guns and gangsterism; just go out and have fun, stand tall, express yourself, forget the nay-sayers, and throw down the creativity. And the rest is history.

Russell Walker (Blair Underwood) runs Krush Groove Records with acts like Run-D.M.C. led by his brother, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, and Kurtis Blow. He runs into money trouble when his small label cannot cope and the acts run off to join rival Galaxy Records. Russell pursues Sheila E. romantically. The nominal leads for the movie are The Fat Boys. It also features Beastie Boys, New Edition, and a young LL Cool J.

This is suppose to be the story about the founding of Def Jam Recordings and Russell Simmons. The plot is a bit messy. It also relies on these real rap acts doing the acting. That part is a mixed bag. The Fat Boys are pretty charismatic as their fun selves. This is not really compelling as a story but great for its nostalgia factor.

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.

The storyline is a familiar about trying to make it big and how sometimes that means selling your soul to the devil but find redemption in the end etc. The difference here is many of rap music's early stars take a turn at acting. They do all right. I think that Blair Underwood inspired them to do a decent turn.

The main attraction now is the nostalgia of seeing Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, The Fat Boys and New Edition perform. Also there are cameos from the young Beastie Boys and a skinny LL Cool J.