Beef (documentary)

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[[Beef (released on DVD in September 2003) is a film that documents the history of rivalries in hip hop and rap music. The film was produced by Casey Suchan and Denis Henry Hennelly, executive produced by Quincy Jones III (QD3), written by Peter Alton and Peter Spirer (who also directed), and was narrarated by actor Ving Rhames. In this film, it shows a chronological look of battles (some friendly, but many personal), dating back to rap music's infancy in the early 1980s. Among the notable rivalies discussed include KRS-One vs. MC Shan, Kool Moe Dee vs. Busy Bee, 50 Cent vs. Murder Inc., Common vs. Ice Cube & Westside Connection, the break-up of legendary group NWA, which includes Ice Cube's abrupt departure, and the later animosty between Dr. Dre and Eazy-E, and perhaps the most well-known feud in the history of genre--Tupac Shakur vs. The Notorious B.I.G.

Many prominent hip-hop personalities such as Russell Simmons, Snoop Dogg, Kool Moe Dee, Jay-Z, KRS-One, Mack 10, DMX, and Ice-T also participate in the film through interviews (new interviews for the film itself, as well as archived interviews from footage of other sources, as such as MTV, BET, and others). Beef also features never-before seen performances of many of the film's participants, as well as many others.

Subsequent releases in this series have been released, including Beef II (released in 2004, also produced by Suchan and Hennelly, and narrated by actor Keith David), Beef 3 (released in 2005, narrated by DJ Kay Slay), and a BET series titled Beef: The Series, which premiered in 2006. These sequels are a continuation of the original film, however these two films cover more lesser-known confrontations and developing beefs just prior to the release of each respective film, such as LL Cool J vs. Canibus, 50 Cent vs. The Game, Lil' Flip vs. T.I., Nelly vs. Chingy, and Erick Sermon vs. EPMD partner Parrish Smith, for example.

Recently, The Source Magazine was to be included in one part of which provided detailed information on publication's misdeeds. The documentary featured nearly 30 minutes of interviews from Eminem, 50 Cent as well as Benzino and Dave Mays, and detailed the situation that led to the negative public perception of Benzino and The Source. The segment featured scenes lambasting Benzino, painting him in a negative light. The debacles at The Source have been discussed, criticized and speculated about for years. It was all going to come to a head with the release of the Beef II DVD, which The Source had threatened to block from being seen. Other deals on the table with The Source had to comply with the magazine's decisions to remove the near 30 minutes of footage exposing them. Even better in the contact it claimed that "nobody is ready to die for that shit." Image Entertainment and The Source agreed to have the footage removed from the final cut of the documentary. This fueled rumors of QD3 and The Source's involvement in distorting the truth. Image Entertainment also distributes The Source Hip-Hop Hits.]]