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PBS doc looks at masculinity in hip-hop
By Jim Welte - MP3.com
February 15, 2007 at 12:58:00 PM | more stories by this author

Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes explores issues of sexism, violence, and homophobia in the rap game; airs February 20.

Suge Knight once said that hip-hop is a man's game, and Byron Hurt made a film to dig deeper into that subject and related issues, such as masculinity, homophobia, and sexism in the rap game.

Filmmaker Byron Hurt Filmmaker Byron Hurt

Hurt's documentary, dubbed Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, features interviews with a hip-hop who's who, including 50 Cent, Chuck D, Mos Def, Russell Simmons, KRS-One, Busta Rhymes, Talib Kweli, Dead Prez's M-1, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Doug E. Fresh, and the Clipse, as well as community leaders and academic types.

The film explores issues of gender in hip-hop, using music videos laden with booty and dollar bills as a starting point. On the PBS Web site, Hurt gives an idea of the kinds of questions he asked: "What do today's rap lyrics tell us about the collective consciousness of black men and women from the hip-hop generation? How do black men feel about the representations of manhood in hip-hop? What does homoeroticism in hip-hop media look like?"

"Through rap music, there is an identification with some of the most stereotypical masculine standards," Dead Prez rapper M-1 says in the film.

Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and is set to air on PBS stations throughout the US starting February 20 as part of the Independent Lens series, hosted by actor Terrence Howard.

Check your local listings here.

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8 Comments

Oldest First | Newest First
albertaashner
been looking for this stuff long time
Posted 11/07/2009 9:23pm
tynishasadik
great info on this site
Posted 05/30/2009 8:35am
estefanayarmits
Registro de Refresque.
Posted 05/22/2009 5:09pm
nydiaviars
T'es drole.
Posted 05/22/2009 9:34am
PapaTazzz
Sounds very interesting.
Posted 02/28/2007 3:13pm
Fingerella69er
sounds coolarooni but rap needs all this or else most of the time its boring such as all these consience rappers **** boring a$$ motherfuk3r$
Posted 02/20/2007 3:58pm
HighPowered94
I'm definitely looking forward to watching this.
Posted 02/16/2007 11:38am
Donkeljohn
Sounds interesting. I may have to look this up on their website.
Posted 02/15/2007 4:53pm
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