kind of a surprise

Rating: Null/10 (15 August 2009)

As a person who listens to all kinds of music I was interested in this film. I was surprised by it. Perhaps I shouldn't have expected it to be anything special. Rap lines like 'it's hard out here for a pimp' don't quality as anything in my book. To me that sounds the same as 'it's hard to be stupid.' I like Run DMC and a few others, who I feel have some artistic credibility, but I think this movie does significant damage to the idea of rap as notable street poetry. I feel this film makes rapers look like they all have their heads on backwards, which I think is not always the case. Coming nowhere near the stinging social commentary of an Ice-T, this film is sly reductionism rather than entertainment or enlightenment. In a world that turns out hundreds of films a year it really should not surprise me that something like this came along. Given enough time just about every point of view gets represented,unfortunately.