Ice-T Says "Art Of Rap" Is Not An Attack On Pop Rap, Reveals Why No Younger Artists Are Featured

by Paul W Arnold Rugged rhymer Smoothe Da Hustler recently employed some “Broken Language” to pay homage to “109 MC’s” over a clever flip of Ice-T’s classic “Colors” track for the official music video promoting his S.M.G. partner-in-rhyme’s new documentary, Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap. Astoundingly, Ice interviewed almost exactly half that number of emcees for the film. Notable names the likes of Dr. Dre, Eminem, Rakim, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Bun B, Nas, Ice Cube, Common, Q-Tip, Big Daddy Kane and Yasiin Bey (along with over three dozen more of their peers) appear alongside Ice as they discuss just what the craft of emceeing means to those that have dedicated their lives to the now nearly 40 year-old culture brought into the universe by some South Bronx kids with little more than two turntables and a microphone. Reviving the once in-demand industry of in-theater Hip Hop documentaries like The Show and Rhyme & Reason that brought millions of new eyes and ears to the culture in the 1990s, the legendary rapper/actor puts a unique new spin on the old format by utilizing his respected status as the godfather of Gangsta Rap and his personal relationships with his interview subjects to pull out revealing responses that the average journalist could not elicit – along with some impressive, ear-grabbing freestyles (like Lord Finesse’s punchline-packed verse and even some jaw-dropping bars from Ice himself). HipHopDX spoke to Ice late last Friday (May 8th) for a brief promotional Q&A about his film (in theatres today, May 15th), in which one-half of the hit reality show Ice Loves Coco explained why Hip Hop’s devolution into Pop served as the motivation for making his debut documentary but doesn’t serve as the film’s focus, as well as why Kendrick Lamar or any other contemporary spitters were not called in to give their thoughts on the art of rhyming. And after revealing his personal favorite freestyles and interviews in the film, Ice concludes his convo with DX by delivering a special message to all Hip Hop haters and Bill O’Reilly fans. read the rest at: http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.20103/title.ice-t-says-art-of-rap-is-not-an-attack-on-pop-rap-reveals-why-no-younger-artists-are-featured hiphopdx.com