Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2013

Though it’s unlikely that I personally would ever listen to rap music, like, on purpose, I learned stuff from this intelligent and spirited documentary from rapper-turned-Law & Order-actor Ice T and co-director Andy Baybutt. In it, Ice (who better?), working roughly geographically from the Bronx to Detroit to El Lay, does more than offer a history, concentrating instead on the creative techniques utilized by a roster of top rhyme-slingers, and asks some penetrating questions. Like why has rap failed to gain the respect accorded to blues and jazz? Some impromptu performances. Illuminating.