Beyond Beats and Rhymes Documentary

Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, a documentary by Byron Hurt aims to investigate the underlying social issues that have permeated hip-hop and been propagated through the music and culture. The documentary offers multiple perspectives from industry professionals and artists that aim to dissect prominent social issues such as violence and hypermasculinity, stereotypes, homophobia, and the misogyny that pervades hip hop music and culture.

Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes provides insight into these issues and raises awareness about these issues impact hip-hop yet the insight appears to be slightly skewed and only focuses on men and hip-hop. The documentary begins by focusing on issues of violence and hypermasculinity and why these issues are so prevalent in hip hop music.

While the documentary points to how these issues are not only a major concern in hip hop, but rather an overarching social issue that has been propagated through the media as far back as 1915 with D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation. While the documentary contends that depictions of violence and hypermasculinity pervade hip hop music, the documentary attempts to further investigate how these issues are further developed within the black community. The documentary asserts that violence and hypermasculinity are seen as elements of power within the black community.

The documentary also contends that the use of force is one of the only ways that men in the black community assert their position within their social hierarchy. The depiction of violence and hypermasculinity in hip-hop further propagates stereotypes of black men and the black community. The documentary briefly interviews a series of white hip-hop enthusiasts who view the musical genre as an anthropological tool that allows them to gain insight into the black community and its social constructs.

However, they recognize their flawed approach because hip-hop only depicts a single aspect of the community, which is pointed out by one of the hip-hop artists interviewed by Hurt as he describes how his life changed when he and his mother moved to Long Island and the stark contrast the new community was to his old community.

The documentary also touches on the issue of misogyny and how artists continue to propagate the stereotype of women in their music without being able to defend their point-of-view when they are asked about it in real life (Nelly and BET). Furthermore, the documentary points out how the media continues to propagate stereotypes and promote violent and hypermasculine music and images without taking responsibility for the impact that it has on its viewers and the community.

While Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes aims to provide insight into the world of hip-hop and how men and women are depicted through music and images, Hurt fails to demonstrate the evolution of hip-hop as a social and political platform. The film should have also included how hip-hop has helped artists to voice their political opinions rather than just focusing on the negative aspects of the genre. Furthermore, the documentary only focused on one aspect.