Fear of a Black Hat is a 1993 American mockumentary film on the evolution and state of American hip hop music. The film's title is derived from the 1990 Public Enemy album Fear of a Black Planet. First screened at Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 1993, and later released on June 3, 1994, Fear of a Black Hat co-stars and was written, produced and directed by Rusty Cundieff.
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Fear of a Black Hat | |
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Directed by | Rusty Cundieff |
Written by | Rusty Cundieff |
Produced by | Darin Scott |
Starring |
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Cinematography | John Demps Jr. |
Edited by | Karen Horn |
Music by | Jim Manzie Larry Robinson N.W.H. |
Production company | ITC Entertainment |
Distributed by | The Samuel Goldwyn Company |
Release dates |
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Running time | 89 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1 million (estimated) |
Box office | $233,824 |
This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (September 2022) |
The film is a comedic mockumentary depicting the perspective of a filmmaker as she trails a hardcore 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 members of N.W.H. are:
The film is told from the point of view of Nina Blackburn (Kasi Lemmons), a sociologist who analyzes hip hop as a form of communication for her degree. She chooses N.W.H. 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 behavior.
The 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 N.W.H., hats are a symbol for resistance and revolution since their hatless ancestors were too tired from working all day in the sun to revolt. This is a typical example of the bizarre logic the group uses to explain the deeper meanings behind their otherwise crude and base music and images.
A steady source of comedy is N.W.H.'s use of over-the-top graphic language (e.g. 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 socially significant, and that detractors obviously do not truly understand the "real meaning". Throughout the movie, it is difficult to tell if the members of N.W.H. truly believe what they are saying, or are just portraying an image.
A lot of time also goes into describing N.W.H.'s feud with another rap group, the Jam Boys. The groups constantly insult and discredit each other, even sometimes resulting in brandishing weapons. At one point, N.W.H. brings to light evidence that the Jam Boys' lead rapper attended a prep school, directly threatening his street credibility.
A macabre running gag—inspired by This Is Spinal Tap—involves their white managers dying under mysterious circumstances (the group originally insist that they "wasn't in town when the shit happened"). They explain to Nina that their first few managers were black—in fact, were their relatives—and that they decided switching to white managers would be better for their families and the black community.
N.W.H.'s internal matters turn sour when Ice Cold cuts down his involvement because he wants to participate in a film, and Cheryl C. (Rose Jackson), 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, N.W.H. 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 Tone Def becomes a hippie (with obvious references to "flower rappers," such as P.M. Dawn). None sees much success until they ultimately reunite for a triumphant comeback in which their differences have been set aside, at least for the time being.
The members of N.W.H. were created by using combinations of different aspects of different rappers and other people in the rap industry, as opposed to each of them satirizing a specific individual. For instance, Tasty Taste's violent personality and lyrics, short stature, and Jheri curl hairstyle are similar to the rapper Eazy-E from N.W.A, while his dress and name can just as easily be attributed to Flavor Flav from Public Enemy.
Similarly, Ice Cold's name can be said to be a parody of the many different rappers that use the word "Ice" in their names such as Ice Cube and Ice-T, but it can also be said that he easily parodies others such as L.L. Cool J and Snoop Dogg, as well as other rappers. By not centering their parody on one particular person or group, N.W.H. had the flexibility to satirize a wide range of artists, groups, and events in the world of hip hop.
The film satirizes the testosterone-fueled gangsta rap scene, which is obsessed by materialism, street credibility, sex, and violence. It also spoofs and lampoons alternative hip hop, political hip hop, and Afrocentric rap groups. Many hip hop controversies are spoofed as well, including feuds, racial appropriation, censorship, greedy record companies, and many others.
Along with the film's title and its central characters, there are other characters seen briefly who are parodies of real-life prominent figures in hip-hop:
The original soundtrack was released by Avatar Records on June 1, 1994. The soundtrack has eleven songs however the song from the film A Gangsta's Life Ain't Fun was not included in the soundtrack.
Although a critical success, Fear of a Black Hat was a financial flop.
Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote:
Flattering the daylights out of Rob Reiner and his "Spinal Tap" crew, Rusty Cundieff turns "Fear of a Black Hat" into an unapologetic "Spinal Tap" imitation. And there's no point in faulting Mr. Cundieff for such derivativeness, because "Fear of a Black Hat" is too savvy and cheerful to warrant complaints. Anyway, the more the merrier: what "Spinal Tap" did for heavy metal certainly deserves to be done for rap, which is the target this time. If Mr. Cundieff doesn't match the satirical genius of Mr. Reiner's film, he does understand the rules of the game.[1]
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B-grade, opining that although it "never achieves the dizzying cinema verite swirl that made Spinal Tap such a timeless satire [...] Cundieff has what nearly every commentator on the rap scene has lacked: a first-class bull detector."[2]
Roger Ebert wrote, in a three-star review, that the film "is not as fearless and sharp-edged as it could be—but it provides a lot of laughs, and barbecues a few sacred cows." He added:
A truly uncompromising satire on this subject could probably not be filmed at this time, I suppose. You can almost feel "Fear of a Black Hat" pulling back in sensitive areas; going so far and no further. Nor does the movie really have much to say about the music itself - music which, like the heavy metal of "Spinal Tap," takes itself more seriously than anyone with common sense is likely to take it (rap and heavy metal are both more about attitudes than about melody). But the movie is funny and fresh, and filled with wicked little moments like the uneasy meeting of five or six rappers who all have "Ice" in their names.[3]
A decidedly more mixed review came from Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times, who wrote that "the idea is so funny that for a long time the film coasts on our good will. But it should be funnier than it is. Writer-director Rusty Cundieff, who also stars, along with Larry B. Scott and Mark Christopher Lawrence, as one of the three members of the rap group N.W.H., has a loose-limbed comic sense, and there are hilarious bits poking through the tedium. What the movie lacks is any kind of smart, sociological sense. It's a defanged spoof."[4]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 83% from 23 reviews.[5]
Films directed by Rusty Cundieff | |
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