The Art of Rap was made by a hip-hop fiend for hip-hop fiends. I fit the description, and it's difficult for me to approach the film as an outsider. But if novices can make it through the barrage of interviews with artists they don't know, they'll learn plenty about a craft still grossly misrepresented by the mass media.
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchKevin C. Johnson
St. Louis Post-DispatchKevin C. Johnson
Ice-T delivers a love letter to hip-hop with Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap.
T's formulaic interview style gives the proceedings a bit of a student-project vibe - perhaps understandable for a guy who clearly thinks artists should always be open to learning more.
60
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
The general takeaway, occasionally swaddled in pot clouds and boisterous laughter, is that verse-slinging requires serious thought and planning.
60
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
The faces and voices are endlessly compelling as they talk about what inspires them to lay down beats and recall the early days in New York. Ice-T, disentangled from acting, makes himself a fine focal point.
60
Total FilmJonathan Crocker
Total FilmJonathan Crocker
Freestyle, funny but finally just too repetitive, Ice's affectionate home-movie needed someone to structure it into a deeper documentary.