The 12 Best Movies About African-American Music

 

On June 7, 1979, President Jimmy Carter officially decreed June Black History Month. Thirty years later President Barack Obama rechristened it African-American Music Month. The entire world had been enjoying gospel, the blues, jazz, soul and rock 'n roll every day of the year for decades before Carter was elected. Hip hop was born in the 1970s and has since conquered the global music charts. Hollywood has made multiple attempts to celebrate some aspect of these various genres with varying degrees of success over the years. These nine movies did the best job: 





12. The Show

The Show serves as a time-capsule of 1995 hip hop, featuring appearances by Wu-Tang Clan, Biggie Smalls, Snoop, Puff, Dr. Dre, LL Cool J, Russell Simmons and more.









11. Cadillac Records

Cadillac Records explores the dynamics between some of the legendary  -- and highly influential -- musicians signed with Chicago's Chess Records, including: Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter and Etta James. 









10. Ray

Examining 30 years in the life of soul music legend Ray Charles, from his childhood in Northern Florida to his conquest of American radio in the 1960s, Hollywood finally gives Ray Charles Robinson his due -- in a film that bears his first name.









9. Sign 'O the Times

Though Prince racked up a decent-sized filmography for a rocker, the best way to see him onscreen is in concert. The film features 11 of the songs from his ninth album of the same name performed at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota. There's also a performance of 'Little Red Corvette" as a cherry on top. But the highlight is probably "If I Was Your Girlfriend".









8. Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap

Rapper-turned-actor Ice-T knocks it way outta the park with his directorial debut. The West Coast hip hop pioneer sheds light on the craft of MCing by personally questioning several of his fellow rappers about their approach to the art form that made them all celebrities. Something from Nothing is a Who's Who of the rap game, featuring candid interviews with the likes of Rakim, Nas, Big Daddy Kane, Ice Cube, Lord Finesse, Grandmaster Caz, KRS-One, Snoop, Chuck D, Kanye West, Bun B, Doug E. Fresh, Redman, Xzibit, Treach, Immortal Technique, Joe Budden and Eminem -- just to name a few. Most of the interviewees -- and Ice-T -- also perform a Capella freestyles.









7. Beyond the Lights

Though fictional, Beyond the Lights remains the best film about a Black pop starlet's experiences navigating the music industry. The story focuses on ultra-successful new singing sensation Noni Jean as she undergoes a very public meltdown while on the verge of mega-stardom. After literally being talked down from the ledge by a police officer during a suicide attempt, Noni hires him to be her bodyguard and the two develop feelings for one another. The young officer, Kaz Nicol, who's on course for political stardom, inspires Noni to resist a fast show business lifestyle as well as the pressure she feels from her controlling momager, the media and her record label -- which ultimately leads to her rediscovery of her love for music.









6. Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall

This is Michael Jackson for those who like him brown-skinned, makeup-free and with short hair -- or at least with hair that's too short to put in a ponytail. This is 1970s Michael Jackson: before the glove, before the drama -- even before Thriller. Come to think about it, this is your father's mother's Michael Jackson. Forget Chi-raq, this is Spike Lee's comeback movie.









5. Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell

4. One Love

3. Purple Rain

Minneapolis band leader the Kid has a volatile home life, a fierce rivalry at the club at which he regularly performs and a new love-interest. After his girlfriend, Apollonia, gets a little too close to his archnemesis, Morris, Kid begins to exhibit the same behavior that has caused him to resent his estranged father. Making matters worse, his self-absorption is threatening to destroy his band just as their position at their regular club grows shaky.

This quasi-autobiographical film catapulted rocker Prince, who had absolutely no acting experience, into the show-business stratosphere and made him a global superstar. Combining his own experiences with (reportedly) Marvin Gaye's family dynamics and irresistible music was exactly the formula that moviegoers didn't even know that they wanted.

 

2. Straight Outta Compton

While Boyz N the Hood transferred N.W.A.'s subject matter to the big screen, Straight Outta Compton tells the story of the notorious rap group itself. After a mere 13 days of release, Compton became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time in North America, consequently kicking off the current trend of presenting theatrical biographies of legendary music superstars. After five weeks in theaters -- three of which were spent at number one -- the movie became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time worldwide. Compton ultimately quadrupled its $50 million budget at the box office, prompting the release of 2016's Nina, 2017's All Eyez On Me, 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody and 2019's Rocketman by studios eager to duplicate its unprecedented success.

Appropriately directed by F. Gary Gray, who filmed N.W.A. when he worked as a cameraman and went on to oversee music videos for Dre and Cube; the latter's classic comedy Friday; and grew up in Cube's native South Central Los Angeles, Compton chronicles the formation, rise and dissolution of the group credited with popularizing west coast hip hop and "gangsta" rap.

Spanning nine years, the crux of the story begins and ends with the late Eric "Eazy-E" Wright. Opening in 1986, the film shows Compton, California-native and poverty-stricken electro-funk disc jockey Andre Young persuading local drug dealer Wright to finance a record company. Inspired by the inner-city California-centric lyrics of South Central teenager O'Shea Jackson, Young envisions Wright's Ruthless Records, with himself and friend Antoine "DJ Yella" Carraby as in-house producers, changing the face of west coast rap and all of their lives. When a song written by Jackson and produced by Young and Carraby is turned down by Queens, New York-based rap group H.B.O. (Home Boys Only), Young talks Wright -- who has no rap experience -- into recording the track himself. Following a marathon recording session to accommodate Wright's deficiencies and the subsequent release of "Boyz-n-the-Hood", the song in question, Ruthless finds that they have a smash hit on their hands. And the rest is hip hop history. 

Putting a cooler spin on the familiar trifecta of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll, group members Eric "Eazy-E" Wright, Andre "Dr. Dre" Young, O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson, Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson and Antoine "DJ Yella" Carraby's indulgence of sex, weed and reality rap makes for an illuminating peak into an aspect of popular music rarely afforded the reverence given to the genres that preceded it.









1. Resurrection

If you're one of the millions of people who were disappointed by the 2017 Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez on Me, you should check out Resurrection. This innovative documentary presents Tupac's life story in his own words via narration culled from the various interviews given by the actor and rapper throughout his lifetime. Juxtaposed with an extensive collection of photos and video clips, this retelling of the legendary firebrand's story -- which amounts to a scant 25 years of existence -- is his definitive biopic.

Updated 8/18/14

Originally Posted 5/19/20