Adult Rappers – Fandependent Films Review

Hello everyone Kevin here with Film Fervor bringing you another Independent film review. Today marks the first review of the Fandependent film festival which will be a five review set. We are starting off the series with Paul Iannacchino Jr.’s 2015 documentary Adult Rappers.

Adult Rappers pulls back the curtain on mystique of the modern day musician and gives you a very detailed view on the lives of the men and women in the industry. The artists featured in the documentary do not give in to the stereo type of a Hip Hop artist needing to be a thug or gangsta but instead remain socially grounded and offer heartfelt testimony on their lives in the industry. Each of them have a very personal and interesting view on their experiences trying to make it big and the many hardships and obstacles they had to overcome to even stay productive members of society let alone a successful musician.

The camera work of Adult Rappers is perhaps some of the best I have seen in an independent documentary. While almost all of the film is sit down interviews with the various artists it is always professionally done with no blurring or shaky came effects and in several places they even set up as a video crew to record some of the music used in the film which was an interesting aspect.

If the production had one flaw it was the audio quality which may surprise you. Adult Rappers focuses on an industry that revolves around getting the best audio you can for your recording and yet there are several areas in the film where you can barely hear the artists speaking due to either being outside or in a loud venue. It was a bit distracting to the flow and pacing of the film when you have to rewind it to make sure you are hearing what the person is trying to explain, this is annoying in a entertainment movie and practically inexcusable in a documentary. Thankfully however this only happens twice in the entire film. That said however the original score of Adult Rappers is very well done and is a welcome addition provided by Cryptic One, one of the rappers featured in the film.

I have to say when I first found out about the story behind Adult Rappers I was hesitant and reluctant to view it as I had a preconceived notion about rappers and the types of lives they live. I was very surprised to find how wrong I was in that they are not all overbearing braggarts talking about how they slap their ho’s and need to try to act tough constantly. Nearly all of the rappers interviewed (and there were over thirty interviewed) were down to earth people just struggling to get by and try to do what they loved doing. Many times most of them said that the glamour of the road life wore off and they were constantly beaten down by offensive people who had preconceptions about them and their art. Yet for all of that they continued to try to do what they loved and tried to earn a living doing it.

If you are interested in the field of music and Hip Hop in particular watching Adult Rappers will help you get a very raw and real look into the musical world, one where it isn’t all glamour and drinking Crystal but a struggle of hard work and long hours. I think the goal of any documentary is to educate it’s viewers on it’s message and Adult Rappers certainly succeeded with me as I now have more respect for the artists in the Hip Hop scene and the trials and tribulations they must go through on a daily basis just to try to make a living. Many of the men and women featured here have gone on and had some successful careers in the music industry but many others just caved under the enormous pressures put on them by demanding fans and nearly tyrannical studios so that they left and got what we would consider normal jobs.

I was very impressed by Adult Rappers and think it’s message is one everyone should take to heart. If you are passionate about something you keep trying until you can’t go on anymore either do to old age or just when it becomes such a burden you have to step back and reevaluate your life. I hope Director Paul Iannacchino Jr. continues to produce such informative pieces and look forward to his next work. I give Adult Rappers a solid four out of five.