Ice-T Hosts The Premiere For His Directorial Debut Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap And We Were There
Bennett Raglin/WireImage
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Tuesday night marked a milestone for the hip-hop community when Ice-T hosted the premiere of his new documentary Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap at New York City’s Alice Tully Hall Star Theater at Lincoln Center and Myspace was lucky enough to be up-front-and center for the star-studded event. .
There is something pretty surreal about hearing Ice-T’s instantly recognizable voice tell the crowd – which included Busta Rhymes, Ne-Yo, Treach, Chuck D and Lauryn Hill – to “stop talking to girls and get in your seat,” and the Original Gangsta himself introduced the film by explain that the purpose of The Art Of Rap was to focus on the craft of hip-hop as opposed to its materialistic trappings.
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“I know I’m talking a lot but this is like the most exciting night of my life,” the actor/rapper explained after a lengthy description about how this project was a labor of love. “After tonight you’ll hopefully hold rap in a higher regard,” he added to culminate the intro — and after watching the film it’s clear that he achieved that goal.
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The film, which marked the directorial debut of Ice-T, saw him personally interviewing countless hip-hop legends such as Dr. Dre, Eminem, Big Daddy Kane, Grandmaster Caz, Ice Cube, Kanye West, Raekwon, Snoop Dogg and many other hip-hop icons to dig into their own respective creative processes and also learn about the roots of the genre from the people who pioneered it.
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While Ice-T was conscious that the documentary not focus on himself, he did give a welcome glimpse into his own evolution, explaining that he first heard hip-hop when he was in the army and originally wanted to be a DJ until he saw that rappers seemed to achieve more fame and notoriety
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The film focused on genre’s roots and wasn’t a critique of current culture but at one point Treach from Naughty By Nature commented that “A lot of MCs say they don’t write their own rhymes now and it sounds like it,” and the crowd of hip-hop tastemakers clapped in agreement.
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From Grandmaster Caz explaining how the genre was influenced by Isaac Hayes and Sly & The Family Plan to Afrika Bambaataa talking about the Black Spades and clearing up miscommunications about hip-hop, the film showed how sacred rappers hold the genre and how powerful of a tool it can be if used in the right way.
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In between all of this knowledge, every subject in the film would a cappella rhyme their favorite songs or their own raps or freestyles, and even if you’re not a fan of hip-hop it’s difficult not to appreciate the brilliance of people like KRS-One and Q-Tip as their carefully thought out words flowed off their tongues with unbelievable precision.
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During the introduction Ice-T explained that they did so many interviews for The Art Of Rap that the original edit of the film was six hours long and he added that plenty of the additional footage would be included in the DVD release. “Documentaries don’t get theatrical releases, this is a movie,” Ice-T said at one point.
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In fact this is more than a movie, it’s a document of a cultural movement that has changed American — and world culture — in previously unimaginable ways and will undoubtedly be looked back on as the definitive document of hip-hop’s rich history.
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Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap will be released nationwide on June 15th. For more information visit the film’s official site. ...
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