DMX's Belly & 9 Other Underrated Hip-Hop Themed Films
Hip-Hop fans who love rap and hip hop movies need to add these underrated gems to their to-watch list.
From 8 Mile to Straight Outta Compton, hip-hop music and culture have been used as a major cinematic trope in recent times. However, there also lay some underrated games beyond such quintessential hip-hop classics.
For instance, Hype Williams' sole directorial venture, Belly, is regarded as a cult classic today but initially faced the brunt of negative reviews. While rappers like Tupac, and Notorious B.I.G inspired several films, hip-hop biopics like Roxanne, Roxanne flew largely under the radar. Similarly, the YouTube original Bodied lay underground due to its limited distribution, despite its accurate depiction of the American battle rap scene.
10 Belly (1998)
While Belly's premise mostly falls under the genre of crime drama, its iconic cast and director are icons of '90s-era hip-hop. The late DMX and Nas star as partners in crime who helm a vast drug empire. But as time progresses, one of them shifts towards religion to find a new purpose in life while the other strikes an unexpected deal with the police.
Belly might not be a perfect film in terms of its storytelling but debutant Hype Williams' visual style is all the more iconic, especially in its opening robbery sequence. Williams, of course, went on to direct numerous hip-hop videos in the future. Recently, interest in the film has generated again with many regarding Belly to be a cult classic. The 18-track soundtrack by Def Jam is another aspect that has aged well.
9 Patti Cake$ (2017)
Originally released at Sundance, Patti Cake$ serves as an attempt at understanding the struggles to create a career out of rapping. Patricia Dombrowski takes up the alias of Killa P and then Patti Cake$ in an attempt to build something out of her life in her otherwise sleepy New Jersey town. Thrown in the mix are her own personal fears as she gets closer to her dreams.
Like many other rapper-centric films, this musical drama is also an underdog story. But the cliches work about just fine as Danielle MacDonald steals the spotlight playing the titular lead.
8 Beat Street (1984)
In the Bronx, a young man (Guy Davis), and his brother (Robert Taylor) harbor dreams to earn a living as a DJ and a break-dancer respectively. Bearing inspirations from the documentary Style Wars, Beat Street presented a fresh and authentic look into the growing New York hip-hop culture with a wide range of musical performances.
These musical guests include the synth-pop duo The Systems, hip-hop vocalist Wanda Dee, Jamaican DJ Clive 'Kool Herc' Campbell, and many more. Along with 1982's Wild Style, this classic ended up spreading the lore of hip-hop to wider audiences.
7 Get Duked (2020)
Get Duked is a psychedelic adventure-comedy revolving around four boys who are lost in the Scottish Highlands, only to be pursued by homicidal hunters. Lacking survival skills and common sense, the dim-witted protagonists engage in a journey of destruction and anarchy. The hip-hop-heavy soundtrack featuring work by Run The Jewels and Vince Staples contributes further to the adrenaline-heavy tones.
Viraj Juneja stands out as the aspiring rapper DJ Beatroot. His character is mostly treated as a parody of new-age rappers but he also gets a major moment to shine while performing the extremely catchy titular track.
6 Roxanne, Roxanne
Roxanne Shante is notable in the New York hip-hop scene for her history of battle-rapping and her song Roxanne's Revenge which became a huge hit when she was just 14. Roxanne Roxanne deals with these early years of her life as she deals with a struggling family and an abusive partner while pursuing her musical interests.
Chanté Adams delivers a terrific performance in the lead role with the right amount of confidence and charisma. The film was screened in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival while Adams earned herself a Special Jury Prize for her breakthrough performance. The biopic was then distributed by Netflix soon after.
5 DOPE
Released with the promo line 'It's hard out here for a geek', Dope is a coming-of-age comedy that boasts of an impressive cast. While young stars Shameik Moore, Kiersey Clemons, and Tony Revolori feature as the leads, other hip-hop figures like A$AP Rocky, Vince Staples, and Tyga also share screentime.
Moore plays Malcolm, a self-professed 'geek' who is an ardent follower of '90s hip-hop. When a bag of drugs accidentally falls in his possession, Malcolm and his friends get involved with one misadventure after the other. The performances aside, it's writer/director Rick Famuyiwa's command over situational humor and fast dialogue that make Dope an entertaining watch.
4 Juice (1992)
Apart from cementing his place in hip-hop history, Tupac Shakur also proved his dramatic prowess with leading roles in several 90s films. His acting debut Juice is a fine example in this regard.
Juice is set around a group of four Harlem teenagers drawn towards a life of crime. However, one of the crew members Q (Omar Epps) grows dissatisfied with his peer's activities and wishes to seek a career in DJing instead. This conflict between picking his career and his unruly friends is what forms the chief narrative of Juice.
3 Wild Style (1982)
Widely regarded as 'the first hip-hop' film, Wild Style is a love letter to the earliest years of the culture. The loosely scripted story focuses on the trials and tribulations of a graffiti artist. However, Wild Style benefits greatly from its documentary-like focus on the day-to-day activities of hip-hop artists, ranging from recording music to dancing to graffiti. It also features veterans like Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy, and The Cold Crush Brothers in major roles.
The legacy of the film is such that its dialogues and music have been sampled by rappers over the years, including the likes of MF Doom, Nas, and A Tribe Called Quest.
2 Mogul Mowgli (2020)
Rapper/actor Riz Ahmed plays a fictionalized version of himself in the 2020's British drama Mogul Mowgli. Even though the central story is fabricated, most of Riz's actual discography is used throughout the film. He stars as a rapper who is compelled to skip a global tour deal after being diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder.
Originally distraught about his situation, he ends up exploring a new side to life as his diagnosis reconnects him with his family. In a series of hallucinatory montages, the film allows the rapper to imagine the immigrant experiences of his Pakistani-origin parents. With a thought-provoking soundtrack and masterful editing, the film earned rave reviews but was probably overshadowed by Sound of Metal, another Riz Ahmed-starrer with similar themes.
1 Bodied (2017)
Despite being directed by Joseph Kahn and produced by Eminem, Bodied still remains to be an underrated classic. Calum Worthy makes for an unlikely hero who attempts to make his name heard in the merciless underground battle rap scene of his city. As the underdog journey is explored, the film also functions as a satire on the socio-political elements of hip-hop.
Aficionados of battle rap would be more than delighted to find legends like Dumbfoundead, Dizaster, and Hollow da Don as Bodied attempts to showcase their skills in an authentic manner.