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Hip-Hop in Film


In the early 1990s, popular culture witnessed the burgeoning hip-hop film genre, aptly called "new jack cinema." Often didactic in scope, these films present grim realities of ghetto street life and young Black people's tough choices. Producers cast rap artists to play serious character roles alongside renowned actors to create a sense of realism. Such films include:

  • Juice (1991) with Tupac Shakur
  • New Jack City (1991) with Ice-T
  • Boyz 'N the Hood (1991) with Ice Cube
  • Menace II Society (1993) with MC Eiht
  • Above the Rim (1994) with Tupac Shakur
  • Set It Off (1996) with Queen Latifah
Eminem

Eminem

Not all films with hip-hop sensibilities were dark in scope, however. Examples of satirical or comic movies include

  • House Party (1990) featuring the rap music duo, Kid'N'Play
  • Men in Black with Will Smith
  • Living Out Loud featuring Queen Latifah (1998)
  • I Got the Hook Up (1998) featuring Master P
  • 8 Mile (2002), a semi-autobiographical movie featuring Eminem

One of Eminem's songs from the film's soundtrack, " Lose Yourself ," received an Academy Award for Best Song in a movie, the first time a rap artist won that distinction. Queen Latifah and Will Smith received Oscar nominations for their roles in Chicago (2002) and Ali (2001), respectively.

Russell Simmons

The thing about hip-hop is that it's from the underground, ideas from the underbelly, from people who have mostly been locked out, who have not been recognized.

Rakim

The golden age was when people were starting to understand what hip-hop was and how to use it. I was lucky to come up then. Everybody wanted to be original and have substance; it was somewhat conscious...There was an integrity that people respected.