Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes is a 2006

2006 in film

- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...

 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 written, produced, and directed by Byron Hurt

Byron Hurt

Byron Patrick Hurt is an American activist and documentary filmmaker.-Biography:Byron Hurt attended Northeastern University, where he played football as a quarterback, and founded God Bless the Child Productions before graduating with a degree in Journalism in 1993...

. The documentary explores the issues of masculinity

Masculinity

Masculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine...

, violence

Violence

Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...

, homophobia

Homophobia

Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...

 and sexism

Sexism

Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...

 in hip hop music

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 and culture, through interviews with artists, academics and fans. Hurt's activism in gender issues and his love of hip-hop caused him to feel what he described as a sense of hypocrisy, and began working on the film. The premiere of the film took place at the Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

, being welcomed by a standing ovation. It has also won Best Documentary at the San Francisco Black Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Roxbury Film Festival

Roxbury Film Festival

The Roxbury Film Festival is an annual event held in the historic Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. RFF is co-produced by the non-profits ACT Roxbury and The Color of Film Collaborative...

. On February 20, 2007 the film aired on the PBS

Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 Emmy-winning documentary series, Independent Lens

Independent Lens

Airing weekly on PBS through ITVS, the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens introduces new drama and documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of Independent Lens have been presented by hosts Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Howard, Maggie...

.

Interviews

The film features interviews with many hip-hop artists including Busta Rhymes

Busta Rhymes

Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...

, Chuck D

Chuck D

Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...

, Clipse

Clipse

Clipse is a Virginia Beach, Virginia-based hip hop duo. Formed in 1992 by brothers Malice and Pusha T , the group is heavily affiliated with production team The Neptunes and signed to Star Trak Entertainment.- Exclusive Audio Footage :The Thornton brothers were born in The Bronx, New...

, Doug E. Fresh

Doug E. Fresh

Douglas E. Davis , better known by the stage name Doug E. Fresh, is an American rapper, record producer, and beat boxer, also known as the Human Beat Box...

, Fat Joe

Fat Joe

Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....

, Jadakiss

Jadakiss

Jason Phillips , better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block. In early 2007, Jadakiss signed to Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam Records.-Early life:By the age of 16, Jadakiss was a freestyle...

, M-1

Dead Prez

Dead Prez stylized as dead prez is a hip hop duo from the United States, composed of stic.man and M-1, formed in 1996 in New York City, New York. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with socialist lyrics focused on both militant social justice and Pan-Africanism...

, Mos Def

Mos Def

Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...

, and Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...

. Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes also features academics such as Dr. James Peterson of Pennsylvania State University

Pennsylvania State University

The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...

, Professor William Jelani Cobb of Spelman College

Spelman College

Spelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...

 and Michael Eric Dyson of the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

. Activists, journalists and poets such as Kevin Powell

Kevin Powell

Kevin Powell is an American political activist, poet, writer, and entrepreneur. Powell is also a nationally recognized activist who speaks against violence against girls and women, appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show in March 2009...

 and Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones is a Tony- and Obie Award-winning American playwright, actress, and poet.Called "a master of the genre" by The New York Times, Jones has written and performed four multi-character solo shows, including Bridge & Tunnel, which was produced Off-Broadway in 2004 by Oscar-winner Meryl...

 are also interviewed.

Noted Moments

Of the one hour documentary, media outlets largely focused on three specific interviews:

Interviews with students of Spelman College

Spelman College

Spelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...

 regarding a protest against the appearance of rapper Nelly, who originally contacted the school to have a bone marrow

Bone marrow

Bone marrow is the flexible tissue found in the interior of bones. In humans, bone marrow in large bones produces new blood cells. On average, bone marrow constitutes 4% of the total body mass of humans; in adults weighing 65 kg , bone marrow accounts for approximately 2.6 kg...

 drive take place on campus. The student body asked the rapper to hold a forum to discuss his video Tip Drill

Tip Drill (song)

"Tip Drill" is the name of a 2003 song by Nelly. It was used as a remix of the song "E.I." featuring the St. Lunatics and produced by David Banner. The music video became controversial for its overt depiction of women as sexual objects...

, in which he is seen sliding a credit card down the back side of a woman. In response, the rapper canceled plans to hold the bone marrow drive at the school.

An interview with rapper Busta Rhymes

Busta Rhymes

Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...

 in which the rapper walked out when confronted with question involving homophobia in the rap community. Rhymes is quoted as saying; "I can't partake in that conversation," followed by, "With all due respect, I ain't trying to offend nobody. ... What I represent culturally doesn't condone [homosexuality] whatsoever." When asked if the hip-hop culture would ever accept a homosexual rapper, Busta Rhymes exited the interview.

Many media outlets focused on the interview with activist and rapper, Chuck D

Chuck D

Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...

 of rap group Public Enemy. The rapper was quoted as stating: "BET

Black Entertainment Television

Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...

 is the cancer of black manhood in the world, because they have one-dimensionalized and commodified us into being a one-trick image. We're [shown] throwing money at the camera and flashing jewelry at the camera that could give a town in Africa water for a year." The rapper also stated a link existed between the sales of hip-hop music to young white Americans, and the amount of pressure on black artists to create more of that content: sex and violence.

External links

• Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes site for Independent Lens
  Independent Lens
  Airing weekly on PBS through ITVS, the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens introduces new drama and documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of Independent Lens have been presented by hosts Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Howard, Maggie...
  
  on PBS
  Public Broadcasting Service
  The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....