True Hip Hop

First of all let me say that I am so proud of myself for staying true to my word. I said last month that I would see Beats Rhymes and Life, which I did, and that I would also visit the Mike Schreiber "True Hip Hop" photography exhibit, which as of yesterday I also did. Big hand clap and pat on the back to me for keeping my commitment. Having stated that I would do it on this platform is what made me keep my word, because Lord knows it was looking sketchy for a while. With that said I am so glad that I made it. I don't like to make generalizations, but I think it's safe to say that there aren't many people that don't like to take a look a photos. We can all admit that when we visit someones dwelling for the first time if they have pictures up we have to take a look, even when we don't know the subjects we're still intrigued. Family portraits, baby pictures, candids taken at a gathering, self portraits in the car via camera phone, people like to capture moments. Now imagine the images in black and white. The starkness of the contrast with gorgeous shades of gray can make any image look classic. Then incorporate various hip hop artists in their element with the camera capturing their honesty, vulnerabilities, and bravado ( i refuse to say swag). If you can visualize that then you can imagine what I saw yesterday. It was like walking through someone's home seeing all the photos they had gathered over the years, but instead of the subjects being strangers they were people I had seen before. Even though I don't know them personally, I felt like I did. These subjects had shared moments with me through music. MIA (which seemed to be one of his favorite subjects to shoot and from the images I could easily see why), C-Murder, Mos Def (by far my favorite image), Erykah Badu, Method Man, ODB, Jeezy, and many others have all been with me at some point in my life. Seeing them was more like a reunion than anything else. My only complaint was that I wish there had been more. My eyes inhaled the images but never quite got full. I was so caught up in what I was seeing that I tried to captured every detail of the photos from C-Murder's "Bossalinie" tattoo to the photo that Voletta Wallace held of a young smiling Biggie. I was always one to shy away from having my picture taken, but someone wise once told me that the pictures aren't just for me but for my unborn to see what once was before they existed. That thought has always stayed with me. Thank heavens for the wise (3!) and for the photographer.

Beats Rhymes & Life

The beginning started with a question,

"Is this the last time?"

"What the other guys say?"

"They said yeah."

"Then, it's the last time"

And in the infamous words of Roger Murtaugh from Lethal Weapon Q-Tip utters, "I'm too old for this sh*t" and exits the room. Then we begin from the beginning, but this time we get a proper introduction. As an audience we are introduced to the members of A Tribe Called Quest. Phife Dawg, DJ/Producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Jarobi, and Q-Tip. The director, Michael Rapaport, allows the members to explain how they met. It's almost a classic tale. Childhood friends that meet and discover hip hop when the scene is blossoming into something bigger than anyone could ever imagine. The film captures how the group was influenced and how they became the influencers.

I was going to give a detailed review of the movie recapping every scene, but I decided not to. Here's why, they film is so f*cking good that it would be an injustice. The collective head nods and lyric recital in the crowd proves my point. It's not good because Rapaport used fancy camera tricks because the reality is at times it looks like he's using a regular hand held camcorder. It's good because it's a true documentary. You get to see artists like Pete Rock, Common, Black Thought, The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, the Beastie Boys, and so many more explain what ATCQ means to them and how they were influenced by the group. It's about more than just music, but about relationships, friendship, creativity, individuality, and dynamics. It's gotta mean something when Busta Rhymes says on camera that a recent listen to "Lyrics To Go" brought tears to his eyes.

Wanna know where Q-Tip got the sample from Can I Kick It, it's in the film. Wanna know why they had such a long hiatus, it's in the film. Wanna know how they got the name ATCQ, it's in the film. Wanna know about Seaman's Furniture, IT'S IN THE FILM!! Best of all it all comes directly from the horses mouths. I recommend any TRUE hip hop fan to find out where this documentary is playing in a city near you and go see it with the quickness. Support these kinds of films! I won't say anymore than that, sorry.