Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap

Ice-T does a documentary about rap. I wouldn't say that it's particularly focus. Mostly it's Ice-T chatting up other rappers about old times. It's not as enlightening as much as fascinating. There's some great stories. There's also some boring parts. If he could try to frame this as rap history, he could give this better structure. Although it does feel more free flowing like the rappers giving their own raps to this film. This is really just Ice-T traveling around, sitting and chatting with other rappers. Many people does a rap. They're not framing this as a definitive history of rap. Just people telling old stories.

It's funny, when I saw this, I too immediately thought, "hey, that's like that How To Rap book!" so it's nice to see another reviewer thought the same thing as me.

I agree with that reviewer that the book is more thorough and complete when looking at the craft, so that remains the go-to resource, but this movie is great for other things.

The verses that the rappers recite are mostly great (though I prefer when rappers do freestyles over beats, not a big fan of the "here's... my... really... slow... acapella... rap... so you... can hear... all the... words"), and it's cool seeing Ice-T just have relaxed conversations with rappers he knows.

It's actually best when it veers away from the craft and just goes into funny stories and interactions between Ice-T and the person he's talking to.

If you're a rap fan, definitely go look this movie up, you'll find something to like in it!

This was a pretty good documentary, lots of nice insights and interviews...

I checked it out because I have that book which is similar, "How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC" which came out a few years ago and they interviewed many of the same rappers for that. In my opinion, that book goes into a lot more detail than this documentary, because it's wall-to-wall quotes and a lot more subjects are covered, but it was cool seeing a documentary that touched on some of the same topics.

Where it lacks actual extended discussion on writing rhymes, this doc makes up for it with quite a few interesting moments on screen -- most of the rappers kick a verse or two and they often go on tangents and happen upon some interesting topics even if they aren't really about the "craft" of rap, as the title suggests.

Well worth watching if you're a hip-hop fan, and a nice companion to the "How To Rap" book.

I've watched quite a few hip-hopumentaries now and each one is a little bit different. "Rhyme & Reason" came out in the late 90's featuring the best artists during the golden age of hip-hop. "Hip-Hop Evolution" is a more recent Netflix mini-series that is very educational. "Beats, Rhymes, & Life" focuses solely on A Tribe Called Quest. Ice-T's "Something from Nothing" is a bit of "The Show" and "Rhyme & Reason" with a focus on rapping. Ice-T goes from the East Coast to the West Coast with a stop in Detroit to interview some of the legends of hip-hop.

There's hardly from the south, Bun B; but other than that, where's the south. You can go to all the states down south, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, and you got successful artist coming from there. I don't know anyone that's said to me, "oh yea lemme put on that new Rakim track." Bur I guarantee they remember alotta tracks from the Cash Money Records days in NYC. Jay Z's 'Big Pimpin' wasn't hot cause of Jay Z; it was hot cause UGK, and more specifically Pimp C (RIP). But yea, until they start recognizing what the South has done for Hip Hop/Rap I'm not trying to hear it.