And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip Hop
Producer
/ Director |
 photo: Afrika Bambaataa |
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| Back in the Day Chronicles hip hop's birth in an impoverished and neglected section of the Bronx and the establishment of the four elements of hip hop culture: rapping, deejaying, break-dancing and graffiti. By the end of the hour, hip hop is no longer confined to the ghetto. It has inspired a generation of downtown rockers, begun to make inroads into the record business, ignited feuds between some of its earliest stars and, back in the ghetto, at least temporarily defused gang warfare. |  photo: Kool Herc / mobile sound system |
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 photo: Dj & b-boy |
Bring the Noise Details the evolution of rap into a national record business phenomenon. Focuses on the rise of the decade's premier record label - Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin's Def Jam - and of such seminal artists as Run-DMC, LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys, Will Smith and Public Enemy. | |||
| Gangsta Gangsta Chronicles the rise of "gangster rap" in LA and the simultaneous eclipse of "conscious rap" in New York - both of which styles were inspired by the uncompromising black pride of Public Enemy. Describes how NWA emerged from Compton at a moment when crack cocaine and street gangs were at its devastating height. The show goes on to appreciate the drawl and good humor of Snoop Dog, whose cars-and-girls oriented videos recalled the glory days of the Beach Boys - and to wonder at Tupac Shakur's ability to embody the thug, the revolutionary, the preacher, and the handsome leading man in perplexing succession. It also tells the story of the origins of Dr. Dre, the most influential record producer in hip hop. |  photo: Ice-T |
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 photo: Tupac |
Life After Death Some five years after the emergence of NWA, the East Coast finally begins to develop its own gangsta rappers, including Nas and the Wu-Tang Clan in addition to Biggie Smalls. It details the infamous "east coast / west coast" rivalry between Suge Knight's Death Row Records (Snoop, Tupac, Dre) and Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records (Biggie), and how artists on both sides attempted to ease tensions even as Tupac and Biggie were murdered. The episode concludes with the aftermath of the murders, the rise of P. Diddy, Nas, and Jay-Z. | |||
| Hip Hop America Celbrates the explosion during the Nineties of hip hop talent from cities other than New York and L.A., including Atlanta's OutKast, Eminem, Kid Rock, Too Short, and Geto Boys. The hour also deals with the struggle of female performers in hip hop - including Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim, Missy Elliot, and Eve - and concludes by noting the contemporary influence of hip hop in high fashion, advertising, professional sports, and politics. | ||||
 photo: Eminem |
 photo: Nas |
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| AWARDS:
CINE Golden Eagle (Back in the Day) Screenings - Full Frame Film Festival |
"VH1
does for Rap what PBS did for the Civil War"
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