Shout: Word on the street
By Wade Kwon
The flavors of hip-hop continue to multiply. Old school, Dirty South, gangsta rap, crunk, East Coast, West Coast, hardcore, trip-hop.
And now, homo-hop.
The 2005 documentary “Pick Up the Mic” attempts to put down queer stereotypes (gays can be rappers, too!) while introducing various pioneers of the form. While steady in its all-inclusive approach, the film feels almost quaint in presenting another look at Artists Who Happen to Be Gay and Who May or May Not Want Their Orientation to Color Their Message.
It’s part of Saturday’s lineup at the inaugural Birmingham Shout film festival.
Clip No. 1: movie intro (3:31, Quicktime download)
The 95-minute doc profiles one hip-hopper after another, most with the standard-issue misspelled names: Katastrophe, JenRO, God-des, Tim’m T. West and more. They vary in genres, goals and yes, labels — they’re the Noah’s ark of out-of-the-closet hip-hop: gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders in all colors and ethnicities.
Not surprisingly, some prefer to “keep it real” and rap about their lives, their hopes and dreams, their setbacks and fears. Others prefer to go all out to entertain or provoke the crowd, with sexually explicit lyrics or a general “bite me” attitude.
Many of the film’s featured players wouldn’t get a second look onstage, so similar in sound and style are they to hetero hip-hop artists. But they also haven’t succumbed to the current fad of bling and booty over actual talent and charisma.
Clip No. 2: Hip-hop artist Marcus Rene Van of Deep Dickollective says the world may be ready for gay rappers, but what about transgender rappers? (3:30, Quicktime download)
Fans of hip-hop are likely to discover at least one or two new artists worth a download. And though first-time feature director Alex Hinton offers a brief glimpse into the lives of many artists, primarily in San Francisco and New York, we learn too little about the why gay hip-hop came to be, or why it matters as a subculture.
Only near the end do we find Aggracyst, the in-yo’-face MC, professing loneliness in making art. It’s a surprisingly tender moment among the mundane revelations that fill the minutes.
The patriarch of the movement, Juba Kalamka, works diligently to ensure that homohop isn’t a footnote in music history. And yet, “Pick Up the Mic” already feels as though it is that footnote, and the page is about to turn.
“Pick Up the Mic” will screen at 4:30 p.m. Saturday with opening short, “Donnie and Clyde,” at the WorkPlay soundstage. Director Alex Hinton and hip-hop artists Aggracyst and JenRO are scheduled to take questions afterward.
And check out additional coverage of Birmingham Shout.
Clip No. 3: Meet gospel singer-turned-hip-hop artist Miss Money. (2:31, Quicktime download)
