Posted on: September 14, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Hip Hop Life / 2007 Universal / 79 Minutes / http://www.universal.com /

I like rap battle DVDs. That much is true. Hip Hop Life has a rap battle in it, but one has to wonder why exactly they picked the judges that they picked. Jadakiss for all intensive purposes was a two-hit wonder (“Why” and “U Make Me Wanna”), MC Lyte hasn’t been relevant since 1997, and Freeway hasn’t hit it big with either of eir two albums (2003’s “Philadelphia Freeway” and 2007’s “Free At Last”). It’s not that the battle is whack at all, but rather that they could have found some more impressive judges. However, even with the odd choices made to bring the judge panel together, there are other things present during this DVD that individuals should take notice to.

For individuals that might not like the gritty nature of the battles or not knowing who any of the participants are, there are a number of live performances during this video. Luckily, the individuals that perform are a little bit more famous than the judges at this date and time; Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, Trina, and Fat Joe all make appearances here. While this would be a two hour special if one watched it on commercial TV, I still feel as if there could be more in the way of special features or extended scenes to make the value of Hip Hop Life increase. Right now, the movie rests at 79 minutes; at $19.98 list price, one may want to try to find “MC Battle Live – The Movie” or “Exclusive Street Battles”. The live performances on this DVD may be sharp, but the one thing that should urge individuals into buying this disc is the freestyling. Individuals have already heard versions of the songs that are performed live by the rappers on this DVD, but the freestyles, the rap battles are one-time only things that individuals have not heard before.

If there will be more Hip Hop Life volumes, my suggestions for Universal and the compilers would be to increase the amount of overall content, increase the amount of freestyling, and get judges for the freestyle competition that actually have had a hit in the last five years. The footage is great, but there is not enough of it; the same thing could be said about the freestyle rap on this video, My recommendation for Hip Hop Life is to rent it from Netflix or Blockbuster Online, and try to find copies of it on either eBay or on the marketplace section of Amazon. Check and see if there are subsequent volumes to be released in the next few years, and try again then. I just can’t see dropping a 20 spot on this DVD, though.

Rating: 4.4/10

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