Anthony ‘Blest’ (Mark Webber) is one of the most talented and notorious graffiti artists in New York City. Despite the tragic loss of his older brother during a nightly 'bombing' foray with a graffiti crew, Anthony has the same insatiable addiction. With the other members of his ‘crew,’ Anthony parties, shoplifts spray-paint and 'tags' virgin walls with his signature 'Blest.' He does his best to avoid run-ins with the cops and hostile rival crews, but he can’t avoid the pressure from his mother to attend college, and from his girlfriend to leave New York with her. As tensions rise, a physical threat from the cops causes the crew to intensify their bombing excursions, calling an all out war on the city. When the inevitable confrontation happens, a tragedy results that pushes Anthony to make a decision that has even darker consequences.
Childhood was complicated for Yoshida and he faces Japanese society as an outsider after his return from London alongside his parents. He feels displaced and frustrated, but soon finds new strength through hip-hop. Under the name of SEEDA, he starts to rap and deals drugs to produce his music while surviving in Tokyo. When he realizes that his new life as a rapper can’t simply undo the connections to his family, it’s too late.
A hybrid film story, combining the form of a musical with elements of a music film and a personal documentary. The central character and narrator of the story is Quebo – a renowned artist who disappeared from the scene and now returns to speak about his struggle with bipolar disorder.
After a run-in with local thugs, aspiring Harlem rapper Rob flees to a place and father he never knew, and finds his salvation in Reggaeton, a spicy blend of hip-hop, reggae and Latin beats. Puerto Rico, the spiritual home of Reggaeton, inspires Rob and his step-brother Javi to pursue their dream of becoming Reggaeton stars. Together with a dancer named C.C., they learn what it means to stay true to themselves and each other, while overcoming obstacles in love, greed and pride, all culminating in an explosive performance at New York’s Puerto Rican Day Parade.
Jason and Midget are two young, black teenagers living in Newark, New Jersey, the unofficial car theft capital of the world. Their favourite pastime is that of everybody in their neighbourhood: stealing cars and joyriding. The trouble starts when they steal a police car and the cops launch a violent offensive that involves beating and even shooting suspects.
James is the lead singer in a local rock band who is allergic to responsibility. Leslie is the bass player in the band, a middle-aged single mom struggling to connect with her teenage son. And Tim West is Booda, a rapper trying to maintain his dreams of a music career while living up to his responsibilities as a husband and father to two young boys. These characters will wake up tomorrow and struggle again, but they each find a little hard-won peace at the end of the day.
Tommy tries to live under his alter ego "Tommy G" after having made a mixtape with his best friend Pelle aka "Little P".
In a split narrative, a young man follows two paths: his father's dream of him becoming a cop, and his own dream of becoming a rapper
A young hip-hop artist who, having had enough of the hopelessness of trying to live off a musician’s earnings in Zambia, decides to head for the States to chase the American dream.
Outwardly a chilling portrait of the aimless lives of unemployed inner city youths living on society's fringe, the underlying message of this volatile drama seems to call for violence to rectify social injustices. The film centers on two teenaged gangs who basically terrorize their neighborhoods with their anarchic behavior. There are few limits to their unpleasant philosophy of "desire equals acquisition." The loosely structured tale reaches its climax at a concert where the two rival groups collide.
Fantasy A, autistic Seattle rapper, suffers trials and tribulations from total creeps as he attempts to become a superstar. Along the way he also finds a mattress to sleep on, after being kicked out of his group home.
I'm Still Here is a portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, the film follows the Oscar-nominee as he announces his retirement from a successful film career in the fall of 2008 and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip-hop musician. The film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads and explores notions of courage and creative reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.
Early 90s London gets a vibrant dose of African culture in this mini odyssey fusing dance, music and fashion.
Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.
A young female breakdancer, Angel, moves to Los Angeles after an attack by an ex-boyfriend nearly ends her dance career forever. B-Girl follows Angel through recovery and acceptance of a new life as she busts a move into the male-centric world of underground hip hop.
Mattia is 17 years old. Raised in a post-industrial province and experiencing an identity crisis, he is the son of a trade unionist and a housewife. Hypersensitive and fragile, he expresses himself through hip-hop music. The death of his older brother begins a period of great changes. Mattia leaves school, starts working in a factory and, through a North African colleague, approaches Islam. Prey to a lacerating restlessness, Mattia takes the path of progressive isolation and radicalization.
After his laptop is stolen, an aspiring rapper goes on a quest across the gentrifying streets of Toronto to recover his music in time for the event that could change his life - a meeting with a Grammy Award-winning producer.
After three years of hustle in the capital, Jony Nyberg is dumped and forced to move back into his mother's mobile home, still parked in the Motown of Finland. Returning to the hoods he grew up in, Jony has to contend with loose ends from his past, including a repressed hip-hop persona known locally as "MC Pahis".
The story of Washington D.C. radio personality Ralph "Petey" Greene, an ex-con who became a popular talk show host and community activist in the 1960s.
Sal is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.