Review of Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap (2012) by Darryll K — 02 May 2013

Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap was "entertaining" in the same way an action-figure might be "entertaining" - for a divorced, balding middle-aged man. The Art of Rap (which I will refer to hereon as Ice-T's movie) is basically ultimate fanservice with no substance. It's meant to titillate the viewer with all the really "cool interviews" and "awesome freestyles bro!" from their favorite rappers, simultaneously feeding Ice-T's ego while doing so. Really. That's it. Watching Ice-T's movie for anyone who cares about Hip-Hop is like buying a video-game with all your favorite characters or teams, only to find out you can't do anything but watch the computer play them. Or watching a movie with all your favorite actors (a la The Departed) only to be pained and appalled by how shitty it is (New Year's Eve). It's an empty illusion. As a documentary or dissertation on Hip-Hop, it fails on so many levels that elucidating each one would require an attention-span I don't feel like providing to this film.

Even as fanservice, Ice-T's movie still proves pretty crappy. Most of the freestyles are uninspired, many interviews just useless bantering, the skyscraper/skyline shots lazily put-together and unnecessary, and scenes like the one with the gawking fan and Q-Tip... A middle finger to video editing. The fact Ice-T put his movie out like this supposes he's either mentally retarded or completely narcissistic. Probably a mixture of both.

Hey, I still enjoy Ice-T in Law & Order. Maybe that accounts for *something*.