SOMETHING FROM NOTHING: THE ART OF RAP

Director: Andy Baybutt, Ice T

Institute History

  • 2012 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Hip-hop didn’t invent anything . . . hip-hop reinvented everything.—Grandmaster Caz

Visually luscious and drenched with the big beats of classic cuts and freestyle rhyming by some of the masters of the music, SOMETHING FROM NOTHING: THE ART OF RAP is a performance documentary about the runaway juggernaut that is hip-hop. At the wheel of this unstoppable beast is Ice-T. The practitioner/filmmaker, with codirector Andy Baybutt, takes us on a personal journey into the asphalt roots of the music that saved his life.

This film is not about stardom, bling, or beef; it’s about craft and skill—what goes on inside the minds and erupts from the pens of rap legends. Ice-T travels from coast to coast, engaging intimately with the likes of Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Caz, Nas, Mos Def, Eminem, Chuck D, KRS-One, Run-DMC, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg. What emerges is a mighty soul tribute to the original American art form that brought poetry to a new generation.

— Shari Frilot

Screening Details

Credits

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