Amazing Music Documentaries
Movies that went behind the music.
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Amazing Music Documentaries - Brooklyn keeps on taking it. Yesterday, Dec. 4, Jay celebrated his birthday by releasing a 24-minute documentary that takes a look at his eight-show run at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, which he co-owns. He's seen performing, walking the arena, and even taking the subway to the arena before the last show. Here, in light of Hov's latest win, BET.com takes a look at some incredible music documentaries. Lights, camera, action. —Alex Gale(Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
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Made in America - Hov has another promising concert documentary in the works. He recently recruited super-director Ron Howard to direct a documentary about his massive Made in America festival in September in Philly, which he headlined and helped curate. With the concert's bold-name backers and incredible lineup, we have high hopes the doc will be a winner. (Photos from left: Stuart Wilson/Getty Images, Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Jameson)
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Marley - This essential 2012 documentary is a definitive look at reggae icon Bob Marley's life, music and impact, told through interviews with some of his closest friends, family members and collaborators. (Photo: Courtesy Cowboy Films)
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Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest - Actor-turned-director Michael Rapaport's acclaimed 2012 film at the rise and contentious fall of one of hip hop's most beloved groups. (Photo: Rival Pictures)
Photo By Courtesy Rival Pictures
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The Show - The Show interviews an incredibly thorough and diverse list of hip hop legends — Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Method Man, Run-D.M.C., Slick Rick (behind bars at Riker's Island at the time), Wu-Tang Clan, Warren G., Notorious B.I.G. — about their own music and hip hop in general. (Photo: Savoy Pictures)
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Backstage - Living up to his name, this 2000 doc goes behind the curtain at the 1999 Hard Knock Life Tour, one of rap's biggest tours ever, with Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man, Redman, Dame Dash's tirades and groupies galore. (Photo: Dimension Films)
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Style Wars - Though not a music film per se — its primary focus is graffiti, though rapping and b-boying are also covered — this classic 1983 doc is a must-see time capsule of hip hop culture in its cradle. (Photo: PlexiFilm)
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Wattstax - Wattstax captures the historic 1972 concert of the same name — seen by many as the Black answer to Woodstock — in booty-shaking, fist-raising detail, with Richard Pryor narrating and legends like Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers and the Bar-Kays performing.
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Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser - 1988's Straight No Chaser is a poignant look at one of jazz music's most important, eccentric and enigmatic personalities.(Photo: Warner Bros.)
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Rhyme & Reason - This 1997 movie directed by Peter Spirer interviews over 80 rap greats to examine hip hop's history, its strengths and its shortcomings with brutal honesty.(Photo: City Block Productions)
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