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Stay in the Booth
"There are way too many other rappers who leave me with no choice than to turn off my DVD player and read a book."
By Quincy Mosby
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Youth Radio's Quincy Mosby says rappers need to think twice before leaving the recording studio and stepping onto the silver screen. Quincy argues that with the exception of some artists, many rappers rely on stereotypical, plotless films - instead of thoughtful, challenging movies - to jumpstart their acting careers. Quincy critiques this trend in the entertainment industry, and offers rappers some advice.
These days, a lot of rappers are trying to use their popularity as recording artists as a way to develop business ventures outside their music – be it clothing, cologne, or liquor.
Usually I’m fine with these extracurricular endeavors. But I simply have to put my foot down when certain rappers try to bring their hip-hop swagger to the silver screen.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are a select few MCs who have the skill to be decent at both art forms. For the most part, rappers like Queen Latifah, Mos Def, and Andre 3000 seek out interesting projects and challenging film roles. Even Ice Cube, on a good day, can make a trip to the movies worthwhile. But there are way too many other rappers who leave me with no choice than to turn off my DVD player and read a book.
These money-hungry rappers have subjected humanity to cinematic catastrophes such as The Wash, Soul Plane, and for God’s sake, I Got The Hook Up – the list goes on and on. Most of these films have the same clichéd and regurgitated scenes of toilet humor and pointless sex that don’t advance the plot in any way. And they create an image of African Americans as overly promiscuous marijuana addicts and criminals.
The dialogue in these bombs is stereotypical and just plain offensive. "Yo dogg, wassup!" It’s like the screenwriters think those are the only words hip hop artists know. Do they think if a rapper utters words with more than one syllable, his brain will implode? I can’t promise that won’t happen, but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to. What’s really demoralizing about these films is they’re often either "hood movies" with a rapper co-starring as the jive-talking friend, or, like Eminem’s 8 Mile, loose biographies about a struggling hip-hop artist trying to make it big, but being pulled down by the streets. Honestly, how hard is it to pretend to be yourself?
Believe me, I do love hip-hop and my black brothers and sisters. And everyone has a right to express themselves artistically.
But where’s the personal pride? I’d like to think if I had worked hard to become a successful musician, I wouldn’t risk my credibility doing a lousy B-movie with, say, Steven Seagal – no matter how much I might admire his undying loyalty to that greasy ponytail.
I’m not suggesting that all rappers shouldn’t act. I guess I just want them to make their films the same way I’ve come to expect them to make their music – with originality, realism, intelligence, and effort.
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