Hip-Hop Evolution
Hip-Hop Evolution is a four-part Canadian music documentary series, which aired on HBO Canada in 2016.[1] Hosted by Canadian rapper and broadcaster Shad,[2] the series profiles the history of hip-hop music through interviews with many of the genre's leading cultural figures.[3]
The series was screened at the 2016 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival[2] before being picked up for broadcast by HBO.[1] In December 2016, it was added to Netflix for international distribution.[3]
Content
Hip-Hop Evolution features in-depth, personal interviews with the progenitors of DJing, rapping, and production, culminating in what is now taken to be Hip hop music and rap, adding to the existing understanding of hip-hip's earliest decades. Such original artists, producers, DJs, and promoters include DJ Kool Herc, Coke La Rock, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, Fab Five Freddy, Marley Marl, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Moe Dee, Kurtis Blow, Doug E. Fresh, Whodini, Warp 9, DJ Hollywood, Spoonie Gee, The Sugarhill Gang, and Russell Simmons.
The first episode documents the history of the inceptive hip-hop party at 1520 Sedgewick Ave in The Bronx where DJ Kool Herc, who thus emerged as a godfather of the tradition, DJed his sister's birthday party.[4]
The series went on to feature some of the most influential artists of the genre, without whom its current form would not exist, such as Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, N.W.A, Ice-T, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and LL Cool J, as well as documenting Schooly D, from Philadelphia, as the influence for Gangster Rap on the West Coast, as told by the words of Ice T. It limits it telling of the history at that point, as it documents that was the turning point in which Hip Hop had turned from an underground movement within music to a mainstream genre, that ripples its influence throughout contemporary culture.
Awards
The series garnered three Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards in 2017, for Best Biography or Arts Documentary Program or Series, Best Editing in a Documentary Program or Series (Steve Taylor and Mark Staunton) and Best Direction in a Documentary or Factual Series (Darby Wheeler). It won the awards for Best Biography or Arts Documentary and Best Editing.[5]
Episodes
# | Title | Directed by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Foundation" | Darby Wheeler | 4 September 2016 |
2 | "From the Underground to the Mainstream" | Darby Wheeler | 11 September 2016 |
3 | "The New Guard" | Darby Wheeler | 18 September 2016 |
4 | "The Birth of Gangsta Rap" | Darby Wheeler | 25 September 2016 |
References
- 1 2 HBO Canada takes Wheeler’s “Hip-Hop Evolution”. RealScreen, August 17, 2016.
- 1 2 "Canadian-Produced Documentary Series Hip-Hop Evolution to Premiere in Toronto". The Fader, March 16, 2016.
- 1 2 ""Hip Hop Evolution" Documentary Arrives On Netflix". HipHopDX, December 7, 2016.
- ↑ Batey, Angus (2011-06-12). "DJ Kool Herc DJs his first block party (his sister's birthday) at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ↑ "Canadian Screen Awards 2017: The National, CBC Olympics win top awards". CBC News, March 8, 2017.