Gangsta Rap:The Glockumentary

Rating R Formats DVD Genre comedy Starring Howie Bell, Slink Capone, Schuylar Harvey Directed by Damon 'Coke' Daniels Publisher THINKFilms

There comes a time after musical trends have passed when those who have lived through them look back and recreate it from their own reflections. For director writer/director Damon ‘Coke’ Daniels, Gangsta Rap: The Glockumentary is his wacky take on the mid to late 80s Gangsta Rap scenes. The mockumentary was produced by IllVille and Big Business films and most notably stars Howie Bell, Slink Capone, and Damon ‘Coke’ Daniels himself. The film spans 78 minutes and was given an R rating for language, crude sexual content, and drug use.

The entire movie revolves around behind-the-scenes take at a fictional group called "Gangsta Rap”. The group is made up of ‘Murder Mike’ played by Slink Capone, ‘Du-Rag’ played by Howie Bell, and ‘DJ Ballistics’ played by Schuylar Harvey. The premise of the movie has the trio trying to reestablish their group into the contemporary hip-hop scene after various predictable circumstances like run-ins with the law, custody battles, corrupt management, and inter-group strife halts their success. After this inevitable slide of over a decade the members do however decide to make a final come back. As “Gansta Rap” soon finds out, their old school ways aren’t as easily impressionable as they once were nor are their previously chart topping songs (Beat Yo Mama With A Hammer & In My House Shoes).

The main characters are funny enough but totally unoriginal and somewhat demeaning because of the obvious comparison to the real-life group NWA. Upon further thought, you’ll probably notice that every character in this movie is to some degree stereotypical. And this is not funny anymore. Specifically, the members of “Gangsta Rap” are basically the kind characters you will find in most spoof movies about hip hop. You can find a great example of what I mean by this in Chris Rock’s 1993 Spoof CB4, but his movie was probably more original and more entertaining.

The story has us traveling through the life of the band from rise, to decline, and then to rise again. Along the way we encounter many things you might expect to encounter in a movie of this nature; sex, Drugs, Violence, and foul language litter this film in a way that can certainly out do the actual screenplay. In support of the story there is close to no character development. What any good story needs is a character(s) that holds it up, characters which the audience can indentify with, be it comedy, drama, or whatever. There is no connecting with the members of “Gangsta Rap” because they are too one dimensional just like their story. Hanging by it’s own hinges the movie survives because of its outlandish humor and outrageous sub-plots. However, if you’re really pay attention the movie it seems to drag at times.

The DVD features deleted scenes which make you realize why they were deleted. It also features a trailer which really does tease you into believing the movie is going to be funny and also a “In My House Shoes” music video which is a classic throwback to old ‘skool’ hip-hop videos. The music video and trailer are probably more captivating than the movie.

All in all, Gangsta Rap:The Glockumentary is stereotypical humor even for a spoof movie. If you’re looking for something to keep your eyes and ears medially busy than this movie might reward you. If you’re looking for something original, whitty, or engaging though then you’ll probably want to take your posse elsewhere.