Historically the music-to-film crossover hasn’t gone well.
One simply needs to look at Brittany Spears’ 'Crossroads', or Justin Timberlake in really anything he has ever tried to act in (love your music JT), to see that it can be a situation destined to fail.
For some reason, however, several rappers have been able to make the leap and do decent jobs on the big screen. Here is JayCee’s Top 5 list of rappers who featured in movies.
5. Tupac - 'Juice'
I’m a little biased with this one. Tupac is, in my opinion, the greatest rapper of all time, and seeing him in movies like this one just made me respect him all the more. A gritty story set in Harlem following four friends in troubling circumstances, the acting from the whole cast was exceptional. Pac has one particularly memorable monologue where he tells his friend Q (Omar Epps) exactly how he feels about him and their situation, dropping truth bombs and F-bombs all over the place.{youtube}3MZD2YLcKL8{/youtube}
4. Yasiin Bey - 'The Woodsman'
Opinions are divided on the mighty Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) and his forays into the world of acting. For example, my brother says '16 Blocks' sucked super hard, and I can’t really disagree with him. Whatever can be said about his other gigs such as 'Be Kind Rewind', 'Hitchhiker’s Guide' etc. this little-known film starring Kevin Bacon let Bey show off his acting chops, giving several intense monologues and achieving more than most people would expect of a rapper-come-actor.{youtube}hGWeiwCr9AI{/youtube}
3. Method Man & Redman - 'How High'
This one could easily slip under the radar for most, but the fact that both Meth and Red did such good jobs from start to finish shouldn’t be dismissed. The two have great comedic timing, and there are some real laugh-out-loud moments in here. Unless you’re not into the whole stoner-comedy thing, in which case you’ll probably hate it. But you’re missing out, just sayin'.{youtube}HoSoLmNsOWY{/youtube}
2. Ice Cube - 'Three Kings'
While the remainder of Ice Cube’s filmography is questionable at best, this film (also featuring former rapper Mark Wahlberg) goes down as one of my personal favourites. Solid acting and a great plot, one wonders if Cube just peaked too soon? (N.B. the 'Friday' movies are awesome, and he does a great job in the 'Jump Street' series, but 'Are We There Yet?' C’mon man…){youtube}38rHuxIhf6I{/youtube}
1. Eminem - '8 Mile'
When talking about these rapper/ actor crossovers, in my opinion, nobody did it better. Semi-autobiographical, '8 Mile' told the tale of Jimmy ‘B-Rabbit’ Smith’s rise from the bottom and was so good it was even shown to us in an acting course I did when I was younger as an example of good acting. Maybe this was just lazy teaching, but we all agreed then, and most agree now, this one is a classic.{youtube}ylkOAtifuJ0{/youtube}
JayCee will be surfacing to launch his new EP, 'Identity Thieves', at The Zoo 5 September with support from fellow locals Mantist and Blaq Carrie.
