It’s Friday, and many of us are going to go see Lucy, Hercules, or some other summer blockbuster you’ve been dying to watch. Well, movies are as much a part of hip-hop culture as break dancing, and rap itself.
From Run-DMC and Russell Simmons making Krush Groove, to Wu Tang’s RZA asking Meth for his Killer tape, to Biggie calling himself Frank White, movies have been married to hip-hop for a long time. So for all you young heads out there, we decided to put together 34 flicks all Hip-Hop Heads must see before they turn 25.
1. Krush Groove – This is pretty much how Russell Simmons founded Def Jam and the reason why hip-hop is what it is today.
2. Beat Street – To really get in touch with the culture, this movie captures hip-hop in the early years.
3. Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo — Break dancing battles, community centers, graffiti, and Turbo & Ozone.
4. Menace II Society – The roles played by a young Samuel L. Jackson, Jada Pinkett and Larenz Tate make this one of the greatest movies ever made.
5. Boyz N The Hood — Y’all want to see a dead body?
6. Above The Rim — One of Pac’s finest roles and one of the best soundtracks ever.
7. Scarface — This is pretty much where all rappers of the ’90s and ’00s get their persona.
8. The Godfather — This movie is still influential and the foundation of hip-hop’s fascination with the mob.
9. The Mack — Snoop Dogg put us on, but The Mack put us all up on game.
10. Heat – De Niro and Pacino. Nuff Said.
11. King Of New York – Kendrick Lamar might claim to be the King of New York, but this is the reason the crown exists. Biggie took Frank White’s persona, Jadakiss took his words, and KONY is one of the best films ever.
12. Juice – Tupac’s best role, it’s when we found out Sams got his act together.
13. Lean On Me – Morgan Freeman played Joe Clark and told Sams to kill himself.
14. Tougher Than Leather — Rev Run before he was Rev.
15. The Killer — Wu’s favorite movie.
16. Backstage – Def Jam’s greatness in the ’90s captured in a movie.
17. Paper Soldiers – This movie helped Kevin Hart perfect his craft and Beanie dust off his robbery skills.
18. Soul Plane — A reminder that we all don’t start off great.
19. Goodfellas — Mafioso at its finest.
20. A Bronx Tale – If a woman doesn’t open the door for us after we let her in first, she is not a keeper.
21. Belly — Tarak was a keeper.
22. Carlito’s Way – Benny from the Bronx.
23. House Party – This showed everyone how to throw the right kind of party and that jumping over your leg is pretty cool.
24. Streets Is Watching – This is when we realized that Jay Z should just stick to rapping.
25. I’m Bout It – Master P put on for his city.
26. Snow In The Bluff – We still don’t know if this is real or fake, but it’s entertaining as hell.
27. Another 48 Hours – Is this like the prequel to Ride Along, or nah?
28. Eddie Murphy Delirious – The funniest stand up ever.
29. Harlem Nights – Three kings in the same film – Eddie, Richard, and Red.
30. Coming To America – This is why we all know you find your queen from Queens.
31. American Gangster – Denzel as Frank Lucas was dope, but the new Jay Z album it inspired was doper.
32. Paid In Full – People get shot everyday, b!
33. Hustle & Flow – Three Six got an Oscar for this.
34. Training Day – King Kong ain’t got nothing on me.
