The Hip Hop Project is a documentary that focuses on the experiences of a group of teenagers from a rough part of New York City who join a program to independently produce a collaborative hip-hop album. The program — the Hip Hop Project of the title — is founded and initially taught by Chris 'Kazi' Rolle, a once-homeless rapper in his twenties. The film was released on single-disc DVD in North America in January by Image Entertainment/E1.

Chris 'Kazi' Rolle

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CREDITS
Genre: Documentary
Starring: Chris 'Kazi' Rolle, Diana 'Princess' Lemon, Robin 'Kheperah' Kearse, Christopher 'Cannon' Mapp, Bruce Willis, Russell Simmons, Doug E. Fresh, Sway
Director: Matt Ruskin
Screenwriter: N/A
Producer: Bruce willis, Queen Latifah, Scott K. Rosenberg and others
Distributor: Image Entertainment

Runtime: 85 mins
Rated: PG-13
Synopsis: [from the distributor] From executive producers Bruce Willis and Queen Latifah, The Hip Hop Project is the compelling story of a group of New York City teens who embark on a unique journey of self-discovery as they dare to reach for their dreams. Inspired by a formerly homeless teenager named Kazi, the young people struggle to write music about the tough issues affecting their lives. Over the next four years, they overcome daunting obstacles to produce a powerful and thought-provoking album, recorded in a studio donated by Willis and hip hop mogul Russell Simmons. Winner of 16 film festivals this critically acclaimed film is a lasting legacy to the teens' transformation through the power of hope and healing.

OUR RATING

Want to know more? As the directorial debut of Matt Ruskin, The Hip Hop Project focuses on the first cohort of students to pass through Kazi's program. The film provides little detail on how Kazi started the Hip Hop Project but it is clear that he was helped by generous donations of time and facilities. In his interviews he gives particular praise to Robin 'Kheperah' Kearse, a speaker on hip hop, youth empowerment and personal development. He met her at a conference and she became an integral part of the program. He also got help from Bruce Willis, who gave Kazi access to the recording studio he owns with Russell Simmons. Willis is listed as an executive producer on the movie with Queen Latifah.

Among Kazi's students whom we meet in the movie is Diana 'Princess' Lemon. Lemon lost her mother to multiple sclerosis and her father is in jail while she is a student on the program. After recording the album, she is picked by Kazi to take over the reins as the Project's leader. The first year cohort also includes Christopher ‘Cannon' Mapp. He has also seen his mother pass away and nearly loses his apartment as a result when the landlord attempts to evict him and his adoptive grandmother. So convinced is he that his music will support him, he also neglects his schoolwork.  As the movie's epilogue explains, though, he completes the program, graduates from high school and wins the court case that allows him to keep his home.

The film features the big steps the Project's participants take in producing their album on both a technical and personal level.  There are scenes in the classroom (in which the smart and astute Kazi explains the program's philosophy of fostering inspirational rather than angry voices), in the recording studio (including partial performances by some of the students) and in the participants' homes. Kazi's story is one of the most poignant. He was abandoned as a child by his parents in the Bahamas and passed through several foster homes before emigrating to America. The film doesn't give much information about the time between his arrival in the US and when he started the Project. Evidently, though, Kazi is a man who pulled himself up off the street and turned his mistakes and misfortunes into a positive message and a commitment to giving back. His tale is a lesson to anyone who may argue that violent, misogynistic forms of rap are the inevitable consequence of a life lived around drugs, guns and jail.

Who's in it? The truly inspirational Kazi, Kheperah, Princess, Cannon and other students who contributed to the Hip Hop Project's first album. There are also brief cameos by Bruce Willis, Russell Simmons, producer Scott Rosenberg and MTV's Sway Calloway.

Why you should watch it. The Hip-Hop Project is a revealing, rhythmic, moving and uplifting film. Kazi's trip to the Bahamas to revisit is past and his attempt to reconnect with his biological mother in Queens, New York, are particularly poignant. The students, meanwhile, sing their hearts out.  Some performers sing so fast that their words are hard to understand but the positive message in their stories is clear.

The Hip Hop Project won the Best Documentary Award at the Savannah Film Festival and the Harlem International Film Festival, as well as the Audience Award at the Zurich Film Festival and the Urbanworld Vibe Film Festival. It was also rewarded by Heartland Truly Moving Pictures, a non-profit organization established in 1991 to recognize and honor filmmakers whose work explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for positive values of life.

Disc details: This release comes on a single disc standard definition DVD with a decent set of extra features: a featurette on the making of the film, a sequence in which Kazi meets his biological father, a selection of deleted scenes, additional performances and the theatrical trailer.

Who won't like it? Anyone who can't stand hip hop, documentaries or hopeful messages.

Anything else? The Hip Hop Project reveals the intelligence and literacy that many young rappers in rough neighborhoods have.  The tragedy is that some of them may not realize they have those talents.