The Art of Rap: Something from Nothing

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!

Ice-T does a documentary about rap. I wouldn't say that it's particularly focus. Mostly it's Ice-T chatting up other rappers about old times. It's not as enlightening as much as fascinating. There's some great stories. There's also some boring parts. If he could try to frame this as rap history, he could give this better structure. Although it does feel more free flowing like the rappers giving their own raps to this film. This is really just Ice-T traveling around, sitting and chatting with other rappers. Many people does a rap. They're not framing this as a definitive history of rap. Just people telling old stories.

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.

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.

The Art of Rap is a documentary of the evolution of Hip Hop and the artists who were instrumental in creating an urban musical revolution. This film did exactly what a documentary should do, it provided a record of the pioneers of this art form through an up close and what felt like a personal conversation with these artists. Ice-T traverses the Big Apple as he talks candidly with East Coast artists like Rakim, Chuck D, Q-Tip and my personal favorite Doug E Fresh, who by the way is still phenomenal with the art form of Beat Box. Yes, I heard it here from the man himself that he is the originator of Beat Box, which he defines as an accompaniment to the Master of Ceremony. This film was educational in that I learned if you are not an MC you are just a rapper. Rappers come and go, MCs endure because they are lyricists. Apparently, Mos Def is no longer Mos Def, which sounds so much cooler than Yasiin. When Xzibit was being interviewed I had to recover my thoughts of him being an MC, I couldn't shake Pimp My Ride, but that just made me think of how far he and others like Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Ice T have come in the entertainment industry. I found it to be profound when Ice T spoke to Eminem after Red Man had given him his props to say that one of the greatest of all times is a white cat. It is true Eminem is one of the best. I was a bit disappointed in the fact that only one female MC was featured in the East, Salt and only one in the West, MC Lyte. I thought that Eve could have been counted, but maybe she's considered part of the new school. Salt and MC Lyte were both poised and articulate, did a bit of a freestyle as did the Guys but did not delve into the standard language of the Hip Hop culture that being the colloquialisms and the profanity. The film is not yet rated, but every conversation included: fork, beach, sheet, 4Q and knicker (figure it out). When it does get a rating it will be at minimum an 'R', just for the language alone. This film is not for the prudish or young children, but anyone who grew up listening to these artists will love the on screen journey. It's not for everybody but I liked it and am giving it a green light.