Remember the movie CB4? Apparently the makers of Gangsta Rap don’t. This low-budget mockumentary attempts to poke fun at both hip-hop stereotypes and the stylistic formulation of music documentaries and fails at both. (Don’t they know that this was all done much better several times previously?) By gleefully invoking rancid stereotypes and played-out observations on the L.A. hip-hop scene, it is possible that Gangsta Rap is actually so postmodern that it’s one big statement about how hip hop has become self-parody, so this parodic venture is, in and of itself, a self-parody … but that’s just too much meta to fit into one movie. It’s more likely that the amateurish performances and subpar scripting are simple symptoms of amateurish, subpar filmmaking. Though the actors clearly think they’re blessed with improvisational chops and excellent comedic timing, their stilted delivery is a constant distraction. Even worse, the time-sensitive references that should drive this nostalgic fakery don’t hold up; when the group (called Gangsta Rap, of course) “debuts” in the ’80s, they’re totally rocking their mics over beats that didn’t gain traction until nearly a decade later. Visionaries? Hardly. When a hip-hop comedy makes Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood look like This Is … Spinal Tap, then perhaps it’s time to lay the idea of mock-mockumentaries to rest.
First appeared March 19, 2008 in Detroit Metrotimes.
