politic1983 'I'm like the kill the police rapper Ice-T' - Richard HerringAh, rap music; ignorant, ignorant rap music. How I love ye. If only someone could make a documentary about it. Well, someone has: the kill the police rapper Ice-T in fact. Of course, many documentaries have been made about hip hop, largely focusing on more commercial names, many telling a similar dull story and aren't particularly that well made.So, what does director Ice-T have for us? Well, 'The Art of Rap' is less a documentary and more a collection of interviews with some of the more famous and influential names to bless the mic, as well as all proving their place in the film by showing their skills minus any beats.Ice-T's interviewing is essentially to ask three questions: why doesn't hip hop get the same respect as jazz and rhythm n blues?; what is your contribution to hip hop?; and what advice would you give to any new rappers? This essentially comes back with the answers: hip hop has a lot more attitude; and hip hop is something different to everybody – things pretty much anyone could have told you.But this isn't a documentary designed to tell a story or come up with any great answers; it's a showcase for the purists of some of the best emcees busting rhymes. Unlike 'Scratch' which tells a story of the origins of DJing, little is mentioned about the development of rapping beyond the chronological order in which emcees are introduced, starting in the various boroughs of New York before moving across to LA. More focus is rightly given to East Coast emcees, particularly the likes of Grandmaster Caz getting as much screen time as bigger names such as Eminem and Kanye 'why am I here, really?' West.'The Art of Rap' is not designed to educate, simply entertain and show some top-notch freestyling while sat in a cinema, which is a good thing. Ice-T is the best person to act as host for all this, having the charisma of a Hollywood star with the added bonus of being the O.G. rapper. It's interesting to hear the individual motivations, though there is little to really shatter the Earth beyond the closing thoughtful message from Snoop 'always be Doggy to me' Dogg, of all people.

psobizzy This movie was great! I love how Ice T showed love for all rappers. Every body was real in the own element. I can say it was one of the best movies of 2012. This is one I would go see again with someone that has not seen the movie. I would buy the DVD to keep for my kids,kids. This shows that rap is not always about money and cars. It used to mean something, used to tell a story and used to have feeling behind it. The big highlight showed that rappers are intelligent, articulate people. They are not just Thugs rapping about nothing. It takes true talent to rap off the top of your head and very few rapper can do that. Great Job Ice T

clarence-jones07 It's funny, when I saw this, I too immediately thought, "hey, that's like that How To Rap book!" so it's nice to see another reviewer thought the same thing as me.I agree with that reviewer that the book is more thorough and complete when looking at the craft, so that remains the go-to resource, but this movie is great for other things.The verses that the rappers recite are mostly great (though I prefer when rappers do freestyles over beats, not a big fan of the "here's... my... really... slow... acapella... rap... so you... can hear... all the... words"), and it's cool seeing Ice-T just have relaxed conversations with rappers he knows.It's actually best when it veers away from the craft and just goes into funny stories and interactions between Ice-T and the person he's talking to.If you're a rap fan, definitely go look this movie up, you'll find something to like in it!

Emma Dinkins The Art of Rap is a documentary of the evolution of Hip Hop and the artists who were instrumental in creating an urban musical revolution. This film did exactly what a documentary should do, it provided a record of the pioneers of this art form through an up close and what felt like a personal conversation with these artists. Ice-T traverses the Big Apple as he talks candidly with East Coast artists like Rakim, Chuck D, Q-Tip and my personal favorite Doug E Fresh, who by the way is still phenomenal with the art form of Beat Box. Yes, I heard it here from the man himself that he is the originator of Beat Box, which he defines as an accompaniment to the Master of Ceremony. This film was educational in that I learned if you are not an MC you are just a rapper. Rappers come and go, MCs endure because they are lyricists. Apparently, Mos Def is no longer Mos Def, which sounds so much cooler than Yasiin. When Xzibit was being interviewed I had to recover my thoughts of him being an MC, I couldn't shake Pimp My Ride, but that just made me think of how far he and others like Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Ice T have come in the entertainment industry. I found it to be profound when Ice T spoke to Eminem after Red Man had given him his props to say that one of the greatest of all times is a white cat. It is true Eminem is one of the best. I was a bit disappointed in the fact that only one female MC was featured in the East, Salt and only one in the West, MC Lyte. I thought that Eve could have been counted, but maybe she's considered part of the new school. Salt and MC Lyte were both poised and articulate, did a bit of a freestyle as did the Guys but did not delve into the standard language of the Hip Hop culture that being the colloquialisms and the profanity. The film is not yet rated, but every conversation included: fork, beach, sheet, 4Q and knicker (figure it out). When it does get a rating it will be at minimum an 'R', just for the language alone. This film is not for the prudish or young children, but anyone who grew up listening to these artists will love the on screen journey. It's not for everybody but I liked it and am giving it a green light.