Da Brat Movies
With her signature playful style and tart-tongued rhymes, Da Brat emerged in the mid-'90s as a force to be reckoned with in the hip-hop music scene. Charismatic, youthful, and refreshingly free of the usual hip-hop female trappings in the male-dominated industry, the in-your-face songstress would became the first female solo rapper to go platinum before setting her sights on the big screen. Born Shawntae Harris in April of 1974, in Chicago, IL, Da Brat made her feature debut alongside basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal in the 1996 comedy Kazaam. Featured in the hip-hop documentary Rhyme and Reason the following year, Da Brat would turn up on the small screen in The Parent Hood before returning to features alongside Mariah Carey in Glitter (2001). That same year, Da Brat also contributed songs to the soundtrack of the Keanu Reeves-Little League baseball comedy Hardball. Her other work on the small screen includes appearances on The Andy Dick Show and as the narrator of Carmen: A Hip-Hopera (both in 2001). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2007
- Add Katt Williams: American Hustle - The Movie to QueueAdd Katt Williams: American Hustle - The Movie to top of Queue
Katt Williams: American Hustle - The Movie offers a night of stand-up comedy featuring the controversial comic, framed by a story about him refusing to sell out to Hollywood's idea of what he should be doing with his career. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katt Williams, Red Grant, (more)
Music Video Distributors and 2RS Entertainment present this entry in the Urban Spotlight video-magazine series. Hip Hop All Stars features a number of segments on various aspects of the rap-music industry, from interviews with musicians to video clips to the cars and clothes that help define the community. Among the hip-hop performers making appearances are Xzibit, Outlaws, Ras Kass, and MC Lyte. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
Television director Neema Barnette directs the forceful drama Civil Brand, based on a story by Preston A. Whitmore II. Shot with a micro-budget of 500,000 dollars, the film stars confrontational rap and hip-hop artists Mos Def, MC Lyte, and Da Brat. The story concerns a women's prison that exploits its largely African-American inmate population as cheap labor to manufacture products for a corporation. Mostly incarcerated due to domestic violence situations, the inmates also face sexual abuse as the hands of the prison staff, headed by Captain Deese (Clifton Powell) and Warden Nelson (Reed McCants). Accused of murder, Frances Shepard (Lisa Rae) joins forces with inmates Little Momma (Lark Voorhies), Wet (Monica Calhoun), and Nikki Barnes (N'Bushe Wright), as well as law student Michael (Mos Def), in order to start an uprising. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Previously, and brilliantly, adapted as an opera by Georges Bizet, the Prosper Merimee novel Carmen served as the inspiration for this updated made-for-cable movie. Set in contemporary Los Angeles, the film stars Beynoce Knowles of Destiny's Child as the seductive Carmen, no longer an employee in a cigarette factory but instead an aspiring actress. The "Don Jose" character has become a cop named Sgt. Derek Hill (Mekhi Phifer), who after being ordered by his corrupt superior officer Frank Miller (played by rapper Mos Def) to arrest Carmen for her involvement in a bar fight, falls hopelessly--and tragically--in love with her. After leading Hill down the path to perdition, Carmen deserts him, not out of love for bullfighter Escamillo but for a top-40 rap star named Blaze (Casey Lee). Although the familiar Bizet melodies are heard as linking music, the main musical score is a complete original, composed by Kip Collins. MTV's Hip Hopera: Carmen first aired over the titular cable network on May 9, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beyoncé Knowles, Mekhi Phifer, (more)
The acting debut of pop music diva Mariah Carey loosely traces the singer's real-life trajectory to fame. Carey is Billie, an impoverished girl growing up in a tough New York neighborhood abandoned by her drug-addicted mother and dreaming of stardom. Billie gets her big break when her group's demo tape is heard by Julian Dice (Max Beesley), an infamous bad boy DJ and record producer in the club scene of the early '80s. A volatile relationship soon develops between Dice and Billie while her professional life takes off, leading to fame, fortune, and heartbreak. Glitter is the sophomore film of actor-turned-director Vondie Curtis-Hall and co-stars Eric Benet, Dorian Harewood, Ann Magnuson, Terrence Dashon Howard. and Da Brat. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mariah Carey, Max Beesley, (more)
Documentary filmmaker Peter Spirer interviewed over 80 significant artists in rap and hip-hop music for this documentary that explores the history of hip-hop culture, how rap evolved to become a major cultural voice (and a multi-billion dollar industry), and what the artists have to say about the music's often controversial images and reputation. Interview subjects range from veteran old-school rappers, such as Kurtis Blow, KRS-ONE and Chuck D., to gangsta rap icons Ice-T, Dr. Dre and MC Eiht, to several current rap hitmakers, including Wu-Tang Clan, The Fugees and Sean "Puffy" Combs. Also includes footage of a memorial service for the late Tupac Shakur, as well as one of the last interviews with The Notorious B.I.G.. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
