Fear of a Black Hat
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Fear of a Black Hat (1994, US) is a mockumentary on the evolution of American rap music. This pseudo-documentary gives us the perspective of fictional film-maker Nina Blackburn, as she trails a hard-core gangsta rap group called N.W.H. ("Niggaz With Hats", a play on the name of the popular group, N.W.A.). In many ways, Fear of a Black Hat is similar to the satirical film about early 1980s heavy metal, This is Spinal Tap. The name of the film derives from the Public Enemy album Fear of a Black Planet (1990, Def Jam.)
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[edit] NWH members
- Ice Cold, the main rapper and the intelligent and vulgar backbone of the group.
- Tasty Taste, the ultra-violent secondary rapper who always seems to be armed with a variety of dangerous assault weaponry.
- Tone-Def, the esoteric DJ, who is talented enough to scratch with his butt and his penis (although this is not seen in the movie, only suggested).
All members wear outrageous headwear during their performances. This is explained as an act of rebellion, remembering their slave ancestors, who had to work bare-headed in the sun. According to NWH, hats are a symbol for resistance and revolution since their hatless ancestors were too hot to revolt. This is a typical example of the bizarre logic the group uses to explain the deeper meanings behind their music and images.
Although it is tempting to say that each of the three members are direct parodies of specific people, they actually each combine different aspects of different rappers and other people in the rap industry to create stereotypical characters rather than direct impersonations. For instance, Tasty Taste's violent personality and lyrics are similar to the rapper Eazy-E from NWA however, his dress and name can just as easily be attributed to Flava Flav from Public Enemy. Similarly, Ice Cold's name can be said to be a parody of the many different rappers that use the name "Ice" in their name such as Ice Cube and Ice T but, it can also be said that he easily parodies others such as LL Cool J, and Snoop Doggy Dogg as well as other rappers. By not centering their parody on one particular person or group, NWH had the flexibility to satirize a wide range of artists, groups, and events in the world of gansta rap, or rap in general.
[edit] Plot
The film satirizes the testosterone-fueled gangsta rap scene, which is obsessed by materialism, street credibility, sex, violence, and their obvious connections to bling bling. Many topics that made hip hop controversial are being spoofed, from hip hop feuds, bogus whiggers (before Eminem), censorship, greedy record companies and many more.
The film is told from the point of view of Nina Blackburn, a sociologist who analyzes hip hop as a form of communication for her degree. She chooses NWH as the subject of her thesis and follows them around for a year. She familiarizes herself with the band members, their beliefs, and their often strange behaviour.
A steady source of comedy is NWH's use of over-the-top graphic language (i.e. sex, violence and rantings against the police), which detractors see as a cheap means to sell records, but in their eyes is essential to convey a "socially relevant message". They offer jaw-dropping explanations why songs such as "Booty Juice" and "Come and Pet the P.U.S.S.Y." are in fact deep and poetic, and that detractors obviously do not truly understand the "real meaning". Throughout the movie, it is difficult to tell if the members of NWH truly believe what they are saying, or are just portraying an image.
A lot of time also goes in to describing NWH's feud with another rap group, the Jam Boys. The groups constantly insult and discredit each other, even sometimes resulting in brandishing weapons. NWH emerges triumphant when they prove that the Jam Boys' lead rapper attended a prep school, utterly destroying his street credibility.
A macabre running gag - inspired by This Is Spinal Tap - involves their Jewish managers dying under mysterious circumstances.
NWH's internal matters turn sour when Ice Cold cuts down his involvement because he wants to participate in a film, and Cheryl C., a groupie, hooks up with Tasty-Taste. Although she is clearly more interested in his money than in him, Tasty lets her take over his life. When Tasty finds Cheryl and Ice Cold in bed, NWH is no more.
The group breaks up and each member launches a solo career. Ice dedicates himself to house music, Tasty brings out a diss track in which he curses Ice, and Def becomes a hippie (with obvious references to "flower rappers," P.M. Dawn). None sees much success until they ultimately reunite for a triumphant comeback in which all their differences have been settled and resolved.
[edit] Cast
- Ice Cold - Rusty Cundieff
- Tasty-Taste - Larry B. Scott
- Tone-Def - Mark Christopher Lawrence
- Nina Blackburn - Kasi Lemmons
[edit] Comparison with "Spinal Tap"
"Fear of a Black Hat" has been often compared to This Is Spinal Tap, and criticized for being somewhat derivative[citation needed]. Arguably, both films saterize a subculture, and FOABH "borrows" certain plot points, such as:
- People dying strange deaths, (Spinal Tap's drummers and NWH's managers)
- Girlfriend of a member corrupting the band
- Censorship issues
- Controversy surrounding the cover of their next album
- The feud with a rival group, although it is only a brief scene in TIST
- Both groups are waning in popularity but have a triumphant comeback
However, there are several different points that arguably hint that FOABH is a film of its own:
- Less emphasis on accidents and mishaps, more emphasis on (pseudo-)political issues
- Racism (incidentially, both ways)
- The overall look-and-feel, as NWH are African-Americans from a ghetto, whereas Spinal Tap are middle-class Englishmen
- NWH seems to always be beating people up behind closed doors
The ultimate defense of FOABH against allegations that it is a rip-off, is that it satirizes events that are actually traceable to 1980s and 1990s rap music culture, just as TIST satirizes events that are actually traceable to rock music culture. Defenders of FOABH believe such criticism usually comes from persons unfamiliar with the histories of the rap artists parodied in the film, and having no frame of reference other than music "mockumentaries."
According to the DVD commentary track, a scene was planned for the end where NWH would open a door in the stadium to find the skeletal remains of Spinal Tap (who had been lost in that stadium years before- a TIST reference) but no time was left to film this scene.
[edit] Parody reference
- NWH: NWA
- Fear of a Black Hat: Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy
[edit] Characters
- Jike Spingleton: John Singleton and Spike Lee
- MC Slammer: MC Hammer
- Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme: Salt 'n' Pepa
- Vanilla Sherbet: Vanilla Ice
- Yo Highness: Queen Latifah
- Ice Tray; Ice Box; Ice Coffee; Ice Berg; etc: Variations of the name "Ice" and the overuse of it in general in the rap industry.
- The Jam Boyz: NWH's main rivals.
[edit] Songs
- A Gangsta's Life Ain't Fun: gangsta rap in general, spoofing its thinly-veiled admiration for sex, crime and drugs. This is also mirrored in the title, because the video implies that a gangsta's life is fun.
- Booty Juice: its video spoofs the prototypical hip hop "pool scene" found in many videos, with NWH surrounded by a bevy of scantily clad girls.
- Come and Pet the P.U.S.S.Y.: "Everybody Dance Now" by C&C Music Factory. The main joke is that a petite Asian girl lip-syncs the voice of a powerful (but obese) African-American woman without the latter getting credit for it. This features the conflict Martha Wash had with C&CMF in the track "Everybody Dance Now".
- Wear Yo Hat (Buried and Bald)
- Fuck The Security Guards: "Fuck Tha Police" by NWA
- Guerillas in the Midst: "Guerillas In Tha Mist" by Da Lench Mob
- Grab Yo Shit alias Grab Yo Stuff: satirizes the fact that NWH sacrifices its artistic integrity/ gangsta attitude in order to avoid trouble. The song was originally called Grab Yo Shit, but was changed into Grab Yo Stuff when police threatened to arrest NWH.
- Granny Says Kick Yo Ass: "Mama Says Knock You Out" by LL Cool J
- Ice Froggy Frog: "Snoop Doggy Dogg (What's My Name?)" by Snoop Dogg
- Kill Whitey: Not actually played in the movie, but discussed with Nina Blackburn in an interview regarding N.W.H's highly controversial lyrics. Apparently the title "Kill Whitey" does not actually refer to violence against whites, but instead is a reference to their former manager Whitey DeLuca, who allegedly scammed the band out of a sum of money. Anyway, Whitey DeLuca wasn't actually white, he was "olive-complected," according to N.W.H.
- Just a Human: "Set Adrift A Memory Bliss" by PM Dawn
- My Peanuts: "My Adidas" by Run DMC
- White Cops On Dope: Only available on the motion picture soundtrack; parodies The Tubes "White Punks On Dope", which was itself a parody of Crass' more serious "White Punks on Hope", and guest stars Ric Ocasek from The Cars
[edit] Albums
- P.U.S.S. Why?
- Straight Outta Da Butt - A parody of N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton
- Kill Whitey
- Garden Ho's
- Ho Ho Ho's - A Christmas album
- Guerillas In The Midst - A parody of Da Lench Mob's Guerillas in tha Mist
- Fear Of A Black Hat
[edit] Reception
Although a critical success, Fear of a Black Hat was a financial flop. According to imdb.com (see below), it only grossed about $238,000 on a budget of just under a million dollars, thus collecting only 23.8 cents for each dollar invested.
[edit] Trivia
- "Fear of a Black Hat" was released shortly after CB4, a film with a similar topic and extremely similar storyline. However, CB4 was only garnered a lukewarm reception from the critics, despite starring Chris Rock and being delivered with much more hype.
- FOABH was mostly the brainchild of Rusty Cundieff, who was director, writer and lead actor (Ice Cold)
- The budget was exactly $999,999.99, so that the firm that produced the film would not have to say that they gave newcomer Cundieff a "million-dollar deal".
