Beat This!: A Hip Hop History – (1984)
Directed by Dick Fontaine

Beat This!: A Hip Hop History was a hour long program by the BBC about hiphop. Coming out in ‘84 it sought to show this new thing (at the time, as hiphop was just getting some mainstream coverage) to UK residents. It’s good in that it has some really great footage of Afrika Bambaataa and Kool Herc. Although has some corny parts as well like the breakdance “battle” by The Dynamic Rockers. Also it features a rhyming DJ narrator. Here is an example of what gives you

“What Herc did was throw down the sound of forgotten heroes, like James Brown. And separate the good stuff from the junk. With an emphases on a lot of funk. And in the middle of the funky sound Coke La Rock, his rapper, would go to town. The music was hot and very loud. With participation that would excite the crowd. Then Herc would drop a mighty blast. With a golden oldie from music past.”

It just tries too hard to be “hip” it would have been better to have a normal narrator. I wouldn’t recommend Beat This to everyone it doesn’t have universal appeal. It’s mainly just for fans of the early era of hiphop. But for those that want a peak into the early days it’s worth checking out.

Although it was released on VHS a long time ago in the UK it has never made it to DVD. I came across it online but couldn’t find a current link to the full movie except one. hiphop-network.com have it archived in 19 small quicktime movies, it’s better then nothing I guess. If you find it online feel free to put it in the comments.

EDIT: since then there are more copies online just search the full title of the movie in google to bring up some options.

Tags: 1984, Afrika Bambaataa, BBC, documentary, hiphop, Kool Herc, UK
Categories: Films, Music

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