I’ve got two turntables, a microphone and a clean-up on aisle 4

Gangstas gave rap a bad name. The uninitiated believe that all hip-hop generated in South Central L.A. automatically features, well, automatics and uzis, bitches and hos, cop-killers and pot-addled chillers. However, there is a B side, a lesser known track that flips the (racist) stereotyping. Back in 1989, a group of young artists gathered weekly at The Good Life health food store to share their beats, their chants and their worries in a rhythmic rip on white boys’ salons. The venue may have been offbeat, but the vibe was pure magic, a sanctuary for artists in the midst of a neighborhood better known for its outbursts of violence. Instead, performers such as Chillin Villain Empire, Freetsyle Fellowship,  Abstract Rude, Chali2na, Medusa and Pigeon John presented their latest riffs and risked the judgment of their mic-passing peers in this peaceful, fraternal setting. THIS IS THE LIFE testifies the ground-breakers and the groove-makers impacted the genre more than widely acknowledged or sometimes readily believed. Yet, Ava Duvernay‘s straight-up doc makes its case with the characteristic aplomb of its subjects.

THIS IS THE LIFE has won several awards on the festival circuit and can now beseen on Showtime and ordered on dvd.