Biz Markie, Talib Kweli, Meth, RZA, GZA, Ghost, MOP, Busta, Lauren Hill, Slick Rick, Outkast, EPMD, Everlast, LL, Jay Electronica, Lupe, Jay-Z, Eric B, Beastie Boys, Flav, Ren, Too Short, Boo Yaa Tribe, De La, Jungle Brothers, Das EFX, DMX, King Sun, King Tee, The Roots. These are just some of the names that don't feature in this wasted opportunity. I love Ice T but he's missed a trick here in my opinion, really not taking in some people who for me would be glaringly obvious to speak to about the origins and art of Hip Hop and how it has grown and shaped the genre. In addition it's almost criminal for me that he spoke to people like Rakim, Ice Cube, Chuck D etc for literally seconds, while indulging others who are arguably less deserving for ages while they freestyle, pontificate in stupid faux-philosophical mode and reel off almost entire songs from their back catalogues. Not disrespecting Kanye but did he warrant a full song, when time might have been better spent talking to Erick Sermon, Black Thought, Mike D, or Big Boi, for example? Also, not too many (if any) mentions of the impact made by Guru, MCA, B.I.G, JMJ, etc. The interviews were also pretty lame and cosmetic, and had little in the way of structure. Many simply pandered to ego, rather than unearthing some fascinating insight. Surely more time with Chuck D & Rakim would have produced this. Or delving deeper into the inception of NWA with Cube, rather than listening to Snoop offer cringe worthy nonsense dressed up as prophetic advice. Was really looking forward to this but ultimately felt a bit let down. I guess there would always be someone left out that would cheese people off, but this should have been much better.

Let me mention a few things at the top. The documentary by Ice-T does not have every MC in it. Not every rapper could have fit into the running time obviously, but you do wonder where someone like Jay-Z is? Maybe he'll be in the additional interviews that are on the Blu Ray/DVD as a special feature. Ice T did not react to a tweet I send him concerning that matter, but he gets so many tweets, he might have missed that one. He also concentrates his effort on MCs and not the producers or other artists involved in the making of a track.As he said himself, his great motivation to do this, was his wife Coco. They were in the car and she bluntly told him, she doesn't care about the lyrics to a song, as long as the beat is nice. You can imagine Ice-T was pretty shocked by that statement, being an MC himself and working hard to make his own lyrics work.The movie also does only involve American artists. If you're eager to know what French, Korean, British or other rap cultures are about, this will not satisfy you either. But again, there is only so much you can put in a movie. Having pointed out those things, the documentary is really light and shines the spot light on quite a few talents. If you're a fan of the music, you should know most of them (even if they're not active anymore).You get a lot of freestyle and a lot of little stories thrown into the mix. Other reviewers have mentioned a book that is out there, which is supposed to be good. I haven't read it, so I have to take their words for it. I might get that too, as an addition to the movie

I saw this movie followed by a live feed with Q&A of ICE-T (and others) in London.According to Ice-T this movie is just the appetizer and more will follow Well I for one can't wait to see more. Ice-T said he wanted to "give back" and I think he did with this movie. I certainly liked the stories told in the movie even If I do not fully agree with the distinction they make between Rhyme Sayers (rappers) and MC (entertainers), I personally think it really depends on the era.I've now dusted off all my old records and am listening to stuff I had not listened to for years. Ice-T also made me remember why I fell in love with hip hop. It was the old stuff that was like magic to me.It's not that I do not like modern hip-hop, I do, but in my mind I probably never granted the modern kind the same stature as the Old School.The term Old School it self is tricky. There were always fierce disputes as to what could be considered Old School in the nineties and who was part of it. Now every one of those disputing is over 30 and called old. Look up Old School in wiki for more info.On a personal note. I don't know if Old School is/was better but it certainly appealed to me at that point in my live. As I believe that what was on the radio back then was more diverse.I doubt that political rap of PE, KRS-1, Arrested development, X-clan, or the early Paris would even stand a chance against today's more mainstream popular hip-hop of Jay -Z Kanye, Lil Wayne and M&M. But the former was necessary at the time. It was an era of so many styles, ego tripping, enjoyment (party rap) and education (a tribe called quest, De La soul, intelligent hoodlum) and who would have thought that Miami Bass pioneer Luther Cambell (Luke) would be the one to defend artist's constitutional right to use profanity and parody.What I mean to say is that Old School laid a lot of bricks for newer artists to follow; you cannot have Jay-Z without Grandmaster Melle Mel.Something this movie makes really clear.

The Art of Rap is a documentary of the evolution of Hip Hop and the artists who were instrumental in creating an urban musical revolution. This film did exactly what a documentary should do, it provided a record of the pioneers of this art form through an up close and what felt like a personal conversation with these artists. Ice-T traverses the Big Apple as he talks candidly with East Coast artists like Rakim, Chuck D, Q-Tip and my personal favorite Doug E Fresh, who by the way is still phenomenal with the art form of Beat Box. Yes, I heard it here from the man himself that he is the originator of Beat Box, which he defines as an accompaniment to the Master of Ceremony. This film was educational in that I learned if you are not an MC you are just a rapper. Rappers come and go, MCs endure because they are lyricists. Apparently, Mos Def is no longer Mos Def, which sounds so much cooler than Yasiin. When Xzibit was being interviewed I had to recover my thoughts of him being an MC, I couldn't shake Pimp My Ride, but that just made me think of how far he and others like Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Ice T have come in the entertainment industry. I found it to be profound when Ice T spoke to Eminem after Red Man had given him his props to say that one of the greatest of all times is a white cat. It is true Eminem is one of the best. I was a bit disappointed in the fact that only one female MC was featured in the East, Salt and only one in the West, MC Lyte. I thought that Eve could have been counted, but maybe she's considered part of the new school. Salt and MC Lyte were both poised and articulate, did a bit of a freestyle as did the Guys but did not delve into the standard language of the Hip Hop culture that being the colloquialisms and the profanity. The film is not yet rated, but every conversation included: fork, beach, sheet, 4Q and knicker (figure it out). When it does get a rating it will be at minimum an 'R', just for the language alone. This film is not for the prudish or young children, but anyone who grew up listening to these artists will love the on screen journey. It's not for everybody but I liked it and am giving it a green light.