Rating:
  Review Date: June 20, 2007
  Website: Documentary Website
  Producer: Pressure Point Films

“The Hip Hop Project” Movie Review
When it comes to talking about hip-hop, people always seem to ask me the same question: “What’s the difference between rap and hip-hop?” Now the funny thing about that question is that it’s almost impossible to answer. If you live hip-hop, then you just know the difference. But attempting to explain the difference to someone who has to ask that question is very difficult. (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: May 6, 2007
  Website: Documentary Website
  Director: Michael Wanguhu

“Hip-Hop Colony” Movie Review
Early in this documentary, there was an interview that jumped out at me. The interview was with Kenyan hip-hop star Kama, member of Nairobi’s Mau Mau Camp Records and the world-renowned group Kalamashaka, a group that is said to have helped paved the way for the Kenyan mainstream’s recognition of Swahili hip-hop. (more…)

  Rating:
  Broadcast Date: February 22, 2007
  Website: Documentary Website
  TV Station: VH-1
  Donate: Bambai Bling Foundation

“Bling’d: Blood, Diamonds, and Hip-Hop” Movie Review
I am heated as a motherfucker man. Back in December, Russell Simmons returned from his “fact-finding mission” to Africa and reported that everything with the diamond industry was up to par … that there were no more blood diamonds. He said that no abuses were taking place, that some 80 percent of profits were going back to Africans, and that the diamond trade was actually helping to empower and enrich the people. (more…)

  Rating:
  Broadcast Date: February 20, 2007
  Website: Documentary Website
  TV Station: PBS

“Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes” Movie Review
When I was a kid, I was a big fan of the Rambo movies. I remember thinking Rambo was so cool, as he would parachute into a jungle with only his big ass knife, sneak his way into an enemy camp, free the prisoners of war and kill everybody else. He was an American hero. (more…)

Who Killed the Electric Car? is the second environmentally-conscious documentary I’ve seen in the past couple weeks, along with Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.

Electric Car is a film that investigates the birth and death of General Motors’ EV1 electric car while examining the roles of auto manufacturers, the oil industry, government and consumers for the limitation and lack of response to the electric battery technology. (more…)

I’ve been trying to support my local independent movie theater, the Mayan, lately. Independent film is pretty similar to independent hip-hop in that neither is controlled by sponsors or corporate influence, and both therefore tend to represent unique and often revolutionary topics, techniques and points of view.

In addition, both independent film and independent hip-hop are not big money businesses and need our support. So I try to peep a movie every couple of weeks. (more…)

This morning, I found an interesting internet article entitled “Top 10 Hip Hop Films.” Although I am a fan of every movie on this list, I feel that many hip-hop films of major importance were left out.

Therefore, I would like to add another 10 to let you in on some spectacular hip-hop films not mentioned that deserve recognition nonetheless. I highly recommend checking all of them out … (more…)