Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap

The art of rap

is the first ice-t film,

and I really felt

I had to do this movie,

because rap music

saved my life.

When I first heard rap,

it just blew my mind.

I ended up coming to new york

and met with the masters,

and they told me one thing.

Rap music requires skill.

This film

isn't about the money,

the cars, the jewelry,

the girls.

This film

is about the craft,

what it takes

to write a rap,

what goes on

inside the head of the masters.

We go from south bronx

all the way to the west coast.

This shows you

how powerful rap music is,

how it's changed the world.

This isn't a game.

This is the art of rap.

Okay, the first time

I ever tried to rhyme

was kurtis blow,

okay, had a record,

these are the breaks,

and on the back,

instead of calling it the instrumental,

they called it the

do-it-yourself version.

Okay?

And so you

were supposed to...

That's so dope.

That's so dope.

You were supposed

to try to make your own f***ing rhyme.

So me and my man, yo,

we go

to the record store.

We buy the record.

We go to his house.

You know, we play

the original sh*t.

Then we flip it over

to the do-it-yourself version.

Yo, we played that sh*t.

Yo, we just starting

at the sh*t.

Yo, we could

not figure out how the f***...

Where to begin. Like,

you know what I mean?

Like, "how do

you do this?"

Like, and we...

Ended up that day

not doing nothing,

like, you know

what I mean?

Yo, it was crazy.

But I think what

taught me how to rhyme

was being

such a fan, okay?

That's like the best rap story

I ever f***ing heard.

Yo, being...

Just...

Getting ready,

standing there,

put it on,

and go, "the f***?"

You know what I mean?

You got your mouth...

You know what I mean?

"I don't know

what the f*** to say.

How do they do that?"

Like,

you know what I mean?

"How is he doing that?"

So then, pow, and I

think my first rhyme...

'Cause at that time,

I think my name

was, like, kid magic

or some sh*t like that, okay?

And it was...

I was like, uh...

I think

I remember a little. I'm like,

I'm the kid magic

with the magical touch

Young ladies,

you know I'm just too much

With my magical wand,

I could cast a spell

Cut circles

round flash...

'Cause I was still

on some dj sh*t. Right.

And make him

go to hell

I'm the one mc

with the wizardry

Just rocking the house

for all the ladies

You know what I mean?

That's when niggas

rhymed like that,

you know what I mean?

Niggas broke out

in a goddamn rage

I even think I seen

a sawed-off gauge

But, homie, I was sent

from hell, not heaven

I broke out with

a chrome-plated .357

And the name of the game

is simply survival

At end of the night,

And me and partners,

we was gone like the winds

Police blamed it

on the crips or the brims

But some niggas knew

in the corner in the dark

Them crazy niggas

reside in triangle park

They go by the name

of brunette zel and trey

And they belong

to the association called the epa

And that's when

we called ourselves

the eliminators

pimping association.

I be trying that

all the time.

Now, now, this is... this...

I was doing this, just how

I entertained you, pre-rap.

I had never heard rap.

So I'm in the army,

and rap came out,

and I'm like,

"I could do that."

But then I tried

to do that type of...

That rhyme over beats.

It's not made for beats.

Right.

And I just

started to try

to write sh*t

within the beat,

and then I came home

from the army,

and I wanted to be a dj,

but I found out I would

get more love on the mic.

I was getting

more attention.

So I said, "f*** it.

I'll write some rhymes."

And instead of carrying

them speakers around,

I would go from party

to party and just rap.

We created

something from nothing with hip-hop.

That's what

the whole spirit of hip-hop is,

see, 'cause...

'Cause it was at a time

when they were taking

instruments and sh*t

out the schools and all

of that type of sh*t.

See... see,

black people used to be pretty musical

back in the days.

Like a motherf***er...

It wasn't unusual

for a motherf***er

to know how to play

the piano or guitar

or some sort of horn

or some sh*t like that.

And at some point,

all of that sh*t was removed from us,

you know what I mean?

Through economics

and through...

You know what I mean?

Uh, cutting things

out of schools and all of that.

So they tried to take

the music from us, you know what I mean?

When we had

created an original american music,

which was jazz, okay?

Mm-Hmm.

So what did we do?

We had

no f***ing instruments,

no horn, no drum,

we're living

in the f***ing city, and all the...

We ain't got room

for that sh*t anyway up in the projects.

Where would a f***ing...

You're... you're

huddled in that.

So what did we do?

We took the f***ing

record player,

the only thing

that's playing music in our f***ing crib,

and turned it

into an instrument,

which it wasn't

supposed to be.

Hold it now

Ho

Come on, come on

Huh

All right, go

Before rap was a game

Or hip-hop was a nation

Before lauryn hill

began her miseducation

Before milk was chillin'

or p.E. Brought the noise

Before heavy d & the boyz

Before the roof

caught on fire

Before fresh

was the word

Before whodini

and friends

And roxanne's revenge

Before the freaks

came out at night

Before say ho

Before the crash crew

Was rocking on the radio

Before whitney,

mariah and j-lo and janet

Before bam &

the soulsonic force rocked the planet

Before these are

the breaks

Before hard times

Before the sugarhill gang

And before super rhymes

Before reaganomics

Before rappers got shot

in their stomachs

Before you found

hip-hop in comics

Before gs,

before weed was trees

Before going raw dog

gave you a deadly disease

Before haters,

before thugs and perpetrators

Before the alphas

and before the betas

Before beepers

and cellphones

And retro gods

and fed-ex

Food stamps and metro cards

Before cops was 5-o,

or gats was answers

Before all the b-boys

turned into break dancers

Before legs was crazy

or outturned to swayze

When my man said,

"it's hot, humid, and hazy"

Before all the bull,

and by no means get it twisted

See my name is hip-hop,

and I have always existed

See, I'm a bronx nigga

And I don't

beg your pardon

Never saw the 13

when hip-hop was startin'

I helped lay the cement,

and when the concrete hardened

I watched hip-hop grow

out the car creepers

I deal it in

around the world

Son, as well the 'hood

Helped put the bx

on the map

Repped as well as I could

I ain't visiting no b*tch

I got keys,

I'm a resident

I ain't no client

I'm the motherfucking

president

43rd precinct,

south view of the 'hood

They say

our corner's got it cozy

'Cause we

gettin' it good

You see,

we live by the water

Where niggas be fishing

Same area they bury ya

And niggas be missing

A few blocks

from the bruckner

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes