Rhyme & Reason

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Rhyme & Reason
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Rhyme & Reason is a 1997 documentary on hip-hop music, its artists, and its culture. Expect a lot of profanity, including "f--k," "motherf--ker," and the "N" word. Brief moments of some performers smoking marijuana. Talk of marijuana, and also talk of harder drugs like mescaline and PCP. Cocktail and malt liquor drinking. An interviewee discusses getting shot, and how he was confined to a wheelchair for 18 months. Interviewees talk of where they live, and what it was like to grow up poor in a community of color. While the movie is definitely relevant in that many of the artists being interviewed remain popular, if not iconic, it's also sadly relevant in how the interviewees talk about institutional racism, the racism they have experienced, and the fraught relationship between the police and their communities.
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What's the Story?
RHYME & REASON is a documentary that takes a look at the state of hip-hop in the mid-1990s -- where it has been, and where it seems to be going. It includes interviews with hip-hop pioneers like Kurtis Blow and Ice-T, as well as successful artists like Salt-n-Pepa, KRS One, and Sean P. Diddy Combs. It also includes interviews with gone-but-not-forgotten icons like Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. The documentary discusses rap and hip-hop's origins in the South Bronx, and how the music spread to the West Coast, and how, despite assertions by some in the 1980s that hip-hop was just a passing fad, it had grown by the turn of the 20th century into a multi-billion-dollar phenomenon. Interviewees also discuss their backgrounds, communities, and how what they've directly experienced comes through in the lyrics of their songs.
Is It Any Good?
This is an interesting capsule of a time and place that's still relevant in both good and bad ways. Rhyme & Reason is a documentary on hip-hop artists from 1997 that interviews many now-legends who were in the prime of their careers, as well as some who died much too soon. It's a fascinating time in that hip-hop had clearly moved beyond the "fad" some had predicted it to be when rap first emerged on the national stage with acts like Run DMC in the 1980s, and had, like punk around the same time, become an industry and culture unto itself that still had "street cred" even as it was becoming a multi-billion-dollar global phenomenon. Success, and not entirely expected success, is also a topic that comes up with some of the more successful artists, as they talk of loyalty to where they're from while having the financial freedom to live wherever they please.
As said above, it's also sadly relevant in other ways. Institutional racism, racism directly experienced, gun violence, crime, the strained relations between communities of color and the police -- these topics come up time and time again in the documentary, topics obviously still discussed so many years later in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing and the Black Lives Matter movement. Rhyme & Reason manages to cover a lot of ground and interview a wide array of artists in a little over 90 minutes, and while perhaps some of it isn't saying anything new that hip-hop fans don't already know, it's still a solid documentation of the state of hip-hop on the verge of the turn of the 20th century.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about music documentaries like Rhyme & Reason. How is this similar to and different from other music documentaries you've seen?
While this documentary came out in 1997, what are some of the ways in which it's relevant to today's world?
What has changed in hip-hop music and culture since this movie was released? What has stayed the same?
Movie Details
- In theaters: March 5, 1997
- On DVD or streaming: November 8, 2012
- Cast: Ice-T, Dr. Dre, Da Brat
- Director: Peter Spirer
- Studio: Miramax
- Genre: Documentary
- Topics: Music and Sing-Along
- Run time: 89 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- Last updated: July 1, 2022
Our Editors Recommend
For kids who love music
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