Those Hiphop movies teach us things
1. "Lost in Tokyo"
Text | Sweet MC Sweet
The film I chose is not a Hiphop-themed film. I haven't used much since I graduated from college, and I hope that the reader will forgive me. I, another way to interpret this movie, let me be silent in my own world for a while.
The film shouldn't have to be introduced too much, that year's Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The young Scarlett really attracted me, who was still in college, and hormones rushed to my brain. In particular, the opening shot made several stunned young men in the college dormitory stare intently. When the plot keeps moving forward and the midlife crisis of the movie star Bob Harris is anxious, I thought it was a story of a romantic encounter with a confidant from another country, a modern extramarital love. But as their escape plan progresses to where the story should have culminated, Scarlett leans on Bob's shoulder. It made everything in my head vulgar. This ambiguous relationship of saying that like is better than liking, saying love and not loving, instantly makes me feel bored to the extreme, and I also forget it hastily after reading it.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, I graduated from college, and then experienced job hopping and salary increases. The beard gradually grew faster, met more friends, and also came into contact with and met all kinds of people, things, and things. On a trip a few days ago, I inadvertently flipped through the film again and felt like I understood a little bit.
Yes, this movie is about loneliness and helplessness, but you can't change anything, you still have to go back to your role and play this game of life.
Another identity outside of my job was as a rapper, who had loved Hiphop music since I was in my 10s and have been experimenting with making ever since. I wouldn't make any money until more people knew about this culture. I want to play with "her" every day, do some accompaniment, write some lyrics, record my own music. But after the sun shone into reality, after we were hungry, and after we compromised, when I walked into the elevator of the office building with my computer backpack, I felt the same way bob met the group of dedicated Japanese in the elevator. When the boss asks you to work overtime again, it feels hopeless like Bob holding a Sundry whiskey and listening to the director's jerky English director? When your parents urge you to get married again, why isn't your heart as bored as bob when he gets a call from his wife introducing boring carpet styles? And Hiphop is my Scarlett. But just as Bob and Scarlett only got along for a few short days, I could only be in contact with "her" for a short time, enjoy and have fun with "her".
Comom wrote a song, "I Used to Love H.E.R.", and yes I loved her too! Like many people with dreams, I love their dreams. Bboy loves his hip-hop, graffiti loves his spray paint, and DJ loves his turntable. Some people are lucky enough to be with "her" (Scarlett), but I believe most people can only desperately want to go back to the night they met her, in that elevator, in that bar. But I had to leave the next day, probably hugging "her", and I felt that there was nothing to be sorry about. Just like the escape plan wouldn't have worked out.
This trip, this dream-seeking trip, whether successful or not, is like the last lyric: "Just like honey." ”
Easter Egg: At 39:15 of the film, Scarlett doesn't like Hiphop music.
2. "Rushing Out of Complton"
Text | Liu Yue Spam
I believe that if you like the legendary band N.W.A, you must have heard "Straight Outta Compton", an album that sold 100 million yuan a year. That's right, I started paying attention to them through the song "Fuck tha Police" from this album. I was in a period of rebellion at the age of 17, and when I heard the song, it was as if everything was stuck in that autumn. I often talked to my playmates about Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren and DJ Yella, and I have to say that at that time I liked Ice and Eazy-E the most, and Dre was the album that officially touched me in 2001. Initially, I personally and my team at the time were also influenced by N.W.A., whether it was gestures or clothing, the theme of the song or the rap style of the time, I wanted to bring all the rebellion and helplessness to the music of that time. At that time, I used to set myself up as a Gangsta, wearing fat attire, khaki, plaid shirt, cashew flower scarf, fist stabbing, etc. ... These were all necessary items at that time, and people had to recognize me at a glance on the street. At that time, I especially enjoyed the feeling of thinking that I stood out from the crowd, and now when I look at the pictures at that time, I feel a little silly, but the ignorant experience of youth I think is priceless.
It wasn't until early 2015 that I learned on Weibo that "Straight Outta Compton" was going to be made into a biographical film, and I was thrilled for an afternoon. The film was released in the United States in August of that year, and it was almost impossible to see it in the domestic cinema, and it could only be downloaded as soon as there were resources available on the Internet. I watched this film three times, Twice by myself, and once at my buddy Bean's house with three or four friends. The whole film tells the dream of these young people with rap, starting from Compton, until embarking on a concert of 10,000 people, and then to the disintegration of real problems, this series of wonderful stories of ups and downs. The film's depiction of human nature is very touching to me. I remember watching it at the time and wondering how I could find actors like that, especially Ice actors. Later, I learned that it was Ice's son, Oshera Jackson Jr.
The film is a good interpretation of the details of this legendary band from its founding in 1986 to its dissolution in 1991, and let me see the cohesion of the "team", like an invisible force, driving you to continue to move towards your dreams and give you motivation. At the same time, it also made me realize the negative energy brought by factors such as "people" and "class" and the obstacles and bottlenecks caused by the progress.
3. "The Thief's Lair"
Text | Liang Weijia
The Thief's Lair is a cop film directed by Christian Gudegast (Christian Gudegast). Gudegast) directed and released in the United States in 2018. A team of battle-hardened and fierce veterans prepares to rob a never-before-robbed bank in Los Angeles, while detective Detective Nick leads his squad to confront it. The seemingly clichéd story is actually a mystery. The film's narrative is smooth and the plot is compact, and although the plot is not to the point of being amazing compared to other films of the same type, the plot of several peaks and loops really makes me addicted. The most brilliant thing is the gunfight at the end, which is simple and brutal and realistic. Two tough guys on the road shoot each other, although it is a gunfight, there is still a sense of fist to flesh, which is a superb masterpiece that cannot be missed in police films in recent years.
If you are a person who loves Hiphop culture, you should not miss this movie. In the robber team, the second-in-command Levi is played by the famous 50 CENT (50 cents). I remember the first rap music I listened to was the 50 CENT classic "Candy Shop." Since the first two albums, 50 CENT Music has been doing better than a year, but his acting skills have never disappointed. From "Ask for Money and Don't Die" to "Iron Fist" to "Thief's Nest", they all offer wonderful performances like icing on the cake. Another big name, playing driver Downey, is O'Shea Jackson Jr. (O'Shea Jackson Jr.). He played his father, Ice Cube, in Rush out of Compton, who is also a rap musician. The protagonist, Detective Nick, is played by King Gerard Butler of Sparta. Butler), who equally brilliantly crafted a classic bad cap image.
In this film, Nick, as a positive character, advocates violence, is irresponsible, and his family life is chaotic and on the verge of being broken. The villain team is full of humanity, and the boss Merriman, although fierce but principled, would rather expose his identity than kill innocent civilians. Levy loved his wife and daughter very much and still missed his family at the last moment. The final finale was also an unexpected reversal. There are two sides to everything, angels and demons coexist in everyone, seeking essence through the surface, which is what Hiphop teaches us, isn't it?
4. Sonata
Statement | Mitsui
If I compare Hiphop to a specific person, the name Takeshi Kitano always comes to my mind. This old guy who is over seventy years old, the words pure love and bastard are always with him, whether in his works, or in the process of his growth and aging, you can always find the temperament that belongs only to Kitano. And this temperament is completely in line with the Hiphop in my heart. We roar with all our might against this unfair world, and we are also protecting our own world with the purest love. Such a gentle bastard, and such a bastard gentleness. I think this is Takeshi Kitano, this is Hiphop.
The Sonata I recommend is Takeshi Kitano's 1993 work, and throughout his entire film history, if you compare Hanabi to a cold father and Kikujiro's Summer to an innocent mother, then Sonata must be the hopeful child they bred but struggling with disappointment. The film tells the story of Takeshi Kitano's Murakawa who takes his brothers to Okinawa to fight other gangs, but in the middle of the way, they accidentally recover their long-lost innocence on the beach in Okinawa.
This is a very Kitano Takeshi movie, and you can see all of Kitano Takeshi's interpretations of the aesthetics of violence. The gangs standing upright were fighting, and in the darkness only the machine gun fire of the fire could be seen. The gangster genre is Takeshi Kitano's favorite, and he uses gangsters to shape his character. But the gangsters aside, this movie is actually the story of a group of friends who put aside their shackles and pursue freedom. And I think freedom is at the heart of What Hiphop conveys. In the movie, Takeshi Kitano and Jin Terajima and Ryo Ryo Ōtoshi started their favorite childhood games. They abandon the suits of gangster work and return to innocence again. I think the same is true for the hiphop market now, it's becoming more and more commercial, and before you know it, one day, it's already our job. Hopefully, one day, we can return Hiphop to its former happiness.
Back in the movie, "Kitano Takeran" is always sad, life is so realistic, Murakawa watched his brothers fall one by one, he picked up the gun again, blood splashed. I have avenged you, but it is not as miserable as your beach, and perhaps the last freedom is for me to put the gun against my head, although my woman is waiting for me in front, but this bullet I still choose to give to myself, and the last gunshot is the last note of this sonata.
5. "Angry Youth"
Text | Liu Rui
Also known as La Haine, Hate, it's a twenty-four-hour angry live-action movie. The film depicts the story of three unemployed parisian youths and policemen, one of whom is beaten by the police and holds a grudge. Another party blindly hit and accidentally got a pistol, so, also in color...
It's not a HipHop movie, but it presents enough HipHop.
The film begins in the background of "May Storm" in Paris, with a documentary riot side paired with Bob Marley's Burnin' And Lootin': "All I need is respect for my personality, and I have to wait until I meet someone who achieves it." If I don't get respect, I'll burn and loot tonight..."
The entire film is filled with anger, misunderstanding, and class contradictions.
The world is adult, the right to speak is for adults, the rules of the game are set by adults, and even young people themselves belong to adults. When confronted with the world, young people are virtually nothing and have nothing to rely on.
In the film, Saïd picks up the spray paint and changes "the world belongs to you" to "the world belongs to us". To him, the incident was nothing more than a very ordinary one of his rebellious actions, a phrase that was very ordinary in his arrogant words, but inadvertently stated that the truth "the world belongs to you" was declared to young people in the tone of an adult.
Ever heard of the man who fell off a skyscraper? Whenever he fell over a floor, he kept reassuring himself: "So far, it's not bad... So far, not bad... So far, not bad..." It doesn't matter how you fall, the key is how you land!
Youth has incomparable anger, incomparable explosive power, and death is only the inevitable process of youth taking a step forward.
6、《Something from Nothing The Art of Rap》-2012
Text | Zhang Qian C. Jam
As a rapper, I introduce you to a hiphop documentary with a threshold, "Something from Nothing The Art of Rap". The reason why this film has a threshold is because if you want to watch this film, you really need to love Hiphop culture. If you really love a culture, you must know the history of this culture.
In the 1970s, DJ Kool Herc used jazz, Funk, Soul and other musical forms to create the prototype of Hiphop, which led to Break Dance. On November 12, 1973, zulu Nation, a hip-hop group founded by a gang, coined the term Hiphop. At the same time, graffiti (graffiti) is also forming a cultural trend in New York. At the end of the 1970s, the form of Rap was born and gradually developed into the most important cultural export port of Hiphop culture. So Hiphop is made up of four elements: DJ (Disc Jockey), Break Dance, Graffiti, and MC (Master of Ceremonies), and as culture takes shape, hiphop's fifth element is knowledge. Today, Rap music and Hiphop culture have become the most popular and mainstream music forms and art cultures in the United States and even the world. Still, in China, Hiphop really entered the public eye in 2017. Then there was a blowout of fermentation, and hiphop music was playing in the streets.
In a lot of Rap music, what people often hear and discuss is Real & Fake. What is True Hiphop? What is fake Hiphop? Let me tell you a little bit about personal opinions.
Before this culture became mainstream, popular culture, did you love her, support her, and give her your time and energy? When this culture is replaced by a new trend, when Rap music is no longer popular, do you still love her as much as you would, be willing to give her time and energy, and regard her as a dream or hobby? If yes, then congratulations, you're in The Real queue. If you just think she's trendy because she's been hot lately, then sorry, all you like is pop music and pop culture. Then I don't recommend you watch this film, you will find it very boring.
Before I get into the movie, I want to thank the great volunteer translators: ourden subtitle group and Eminem Chinese.com! Let's talk about this very meaningful Hiphop documentary "Rap Art from Scratch".
The film was directed by the famous American gangster rapper, O.G., the first batch of Gangsta Rap, the legendary Ice T. The black screen subtitles at the beginning of the film, with the sound effects of the police helicopter, the sense of substitution is very strong. Immediately after the aerial footage, Ice T entered the painting, and the background music sounded David McCallum's song "The Edge", although the title is unfamiliar, you will definitely feel very familiar when you hear it. As the atmospheric opening music ended, Ice T told everyone in a monologue why he made the film, "Hiphop saved my life", and set the tone for the whole film, "This film does not have money, famous cars, jewelry and beautiful women, which are stereotypes of Rap music." Instead, there are real rap techniques, creative conditions, and the motivations and ideas of all the rap masters, telling you how powerful rap really is and how rap music is changing the world. It's not a game, it's real rap art. ”
The film's first interviewee is Lord Jamar. It's very interesting that he started rapping because he heard Kurtis Blow's record, which contained his famous song "The Breaks.". The B side of the record has the accompaniment of the song, but the name is not "Instrumental", but "Do It Yourself Version". This seems to be the way most rappers start experimenting with rap. I was also impressed by a quote from Grandmaster Caz that followed: "Hiphop didn't pioneer anything, but Hiphop redefined everything". He also said that the most important first lesson for a rapper is originality. If you just follow the trend, the trend will become obsolete; if your song is attached to the catchy accompaniment and chorus... You're just making your producers famous, not yourself!
In the second chapter, Ice T raises the question that Hiphop music is not as respected as other genres of music. Marley Marl, Nas, dj premier each have their own opinions. Dj Premier's words, I personally think are very important. Hiphop, he says, is like a language that you have to listen to and understand in the right way. If you don't understand the culture, you'll only hear noise. Ice T then spoke to Raekon from Wu Tang Clan. Rappers often say that other peers are "lacking." Raekon said that you have to let people hear the dignity behind the rhyme, if you can't say what impresses us, you can't reach the rap level in our hearts and run out to cheat money... That must be too lacking. I think the theme of this chapter is the word we often mention: Respect!
The third chapter proposes that a rapper is judged on the basis of his or her talent for knowledge, style, style, artistic expression, and wordplay. Ice T discussed with the rap artists the motivations and processes. They said that the family does not like to listen to the lyrics of the song, which is very annoying, after all, the rapper is the person who writes the lyrics. I've also heard ideas like "the lyrics don't matter," but I personally listen to songs that are more focused on the lyrics.
The fourth chapter deals with the creative theme of rap. A screenshot from the film went viral in underground rap circles — Mos Def quoted Q-Tip as saying, "Rap is not pop, if you call it that, then stop." Immediately after the style of painting, the rhythm of the classic "Lose yourself" sounded, the Detroit aerial footage, the 8 mile rd road sign, everyone knew who should appear - Eminem! A smooth and dynamic Acappella. Em also mentioned what Ice T said at the beginning, Rap made me save me. Royce Da 59, who appeared later, said that he was a person who devoted himself to rapping, did not waste time on bubble girls, but mixed with his porcelain rap every day. At the end of this little chapter, Ice T exclaims for everyone: Who would have thought that one of the greatest rappers in rap history would be a white kid?!
In the film, Common talks about a point that I very much agree with: the happiest thing about being a rapper is to be free to be yourself and express yourself! KRS One recounts mc Battle's idea from ZULU Nation: "Our approach to resolving conflicts and disputes can not rely on violence, but in the form of rap and hip-hop to compete and win respect. "Do you still think Battle is negative and vulgar now?" Dr. Dre mentioned that you should do Hiphop with your purest love, so that the money will naturally go to you. Ice Cube's label for its music is not Gangsta, but Street Knowledge, which is enough to prove that Gangsta Rap is not just as simple as it seems.
At the end of the film, the music returns to the familiar music at the beginning, but this is not "The Edge", but a famous Hiphop song, Snoop Dogg's "The Next Episode" with Dr. Dre , "The Edge" is the original sample of "The Next Episode". The film ends in this way, reinforcing the words of Grandmaster Caz at the beginning of the film: "Hiphop didn't create anything, but HIPOP redefined everything." The epilogue of Snoop Dogg Dog and Ice T is arguably the finishing touch to the film. I will not disclose it here, let's watch it for ourselves.
Finally, I want to tell all the people who are in the Hiphop industry and love Hiphop music that you need to listen to every artist who appears in this film and the people they mention. If you're too lazy to take notes one by one, I'll help you sort it out. May you all swim in the world of Hiphop!
List of Hiphop artists:
Ice T
Lord Jamar
Kurtis Blow
Grandmaster Case
Africa Bambaataa(ZULU Nation)
Grandmaster Flash
Grandmaster Melle Mel(the Furious Five)
Kidd Creole(the Furious Five)
Cowboy(the Furious Five)
Mr.Ness/Scorpio(the Furious Five)
Rahiem(the Furious Five)
Busy Bee
Big Daddy Kane
Doug E Fresh
Eric B & Rakim
Slick Rick
Immortal Technique
Salt N Pepa
Cabbage Moe Dee
Marley Marl
DJ Kool Herc
Nasty Nas
Gang Starr
Big L
DJ Premier
Lord Finesse
Dana Dane
Raekwon（Wu Tang Clan）
Kool Keith（Ultramagnetic MC’s）
LL Cool J
Sugarhill Gang
Q-Tip（A Tribe Called Quest）
Public Enemy
Good B
Joe Budden
Redman
Eminem
D12
Mos Def
From Soul
The Jungle Brother
The EFX
KRS One
Naughty By Nature
Royce Da 5'9"
Ras Kass
Xzibit
B Real（Cypress Hill）
Beastie Boys
MC Lyte
Common
Chino XL
Kanye West
RUN DMC
EPMD
TOILET
Dr.Dre(N.W.A)
Snoop Dogg Dog
2Pac
Biggie
N.W.A
Ice Cube(N.W.A)
and all the late artists who appear in the end credits
—— End ——
The caption is of the independent Hiphop music label "Danzhen Beijing", courtesy of the author.