Netflix Review: Hip Hop Evolution

Hip Hop Evolution is a four part documentary series on Netflix.  It was orignally made in Canada, but you dont really need to do that.  The guy who is the narrator is a Canadian rapper named Shad.  Who knew they listened to rap up there?  I thought it was all hockey and snow.  All in all, it's like a history class in hip hop.  The first two episodes explain how the whole hip hop scene started in New York City and the last two episodes explain the explosion of hip hop on both the East Coast and West Coast.

In episode one you hear a lot of names of guys you have never heard of before. Names like Kool Herc, Coke La Rock, DJ Hollywood and Mellie Mel.  The only group I heard of was Grandmaster Flash  and the Furious Five.  If you dont know that name then just listen to this song.

The song is so damn cheesy now, but back in 1982 it was bananas.  Seeing all the guys in the documentary now is also quite funny. It reminded me of the Dave Chappelle Show episode of "Player Haters Ball".  Just a bunch of old washed up rappers reminiscing about the past. Just take a look at this guy; Mellie Mel, the lead MC of the Furious Five.

 

Episode two stays on the same path describing how Hip Hop went from a local sound to actually having it's first radio hit.  The first radio hit of course was Sugarhill gang, Rappers Delight.
At this point everyone thought rap was just a dumb fad and anyone could do it. The documentary shows people mocking it on SNL and even Rodney Dangerfield mocking rap. Basically the mainstream never thought rap would be more than a one hit wonder.

Epsiode three is when the documentary, for me anyway, takes a turn from being a hip hop history class, to one of enjoying nostaglia.  This episode focuses on how Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin started Def Jam Records. LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys and Run-DMC are talked about and then it ends with talking about Public Enemy.  Just a murder's row of great hip hop groups.  The episode basically shows how popular hip hop had become.  It was no longer a fad, it was here to stay. It was so popular that Run DMC got a sneaker deal with Adidas, because the group had made their white and black stripe shoes popular.

Episde four is the concluding episode of the series and focuses on west coast rap.  Ice T and Ice Cube are in the documentary to talk about the rise of rap on the west coast and the formation of NWA. If you have already seen the "Straight outta Compton" movie, this part will be very familar, but the documentary gives a lot of good old school footage of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre before NWA was even formed. Dr. Dre used to actually wear a doctors mask when using the turntables. It's pretty funny to see that, but I really cant laugh at it now since the guy is worth a billion dollars. 



One part of this episode that brought back memories was when Tipper Gore was going in front of Congress asking for "Parental Advisory" stickers on rap albums.  Looking back I think that made the music even more popular than it would of been.  Gangsta Rap in the 90's was going to be a hit, but those Parental Advisory warning stickers gave it more publiclity and made young kids like myself back then want to listen to the music.  I basicaly thought, well if thats so bad, I got to hear what they say on it.  I mean Run DMC and Beastie Boys were hits, but Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog were superstars. They still are to this day.

If you like music this is a must watch.  A fun, entertaining documentary.

Grade: A