About BBRi

Watch short clips of original, previously unseen outtakes from Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes intercut with contemporary images from today's mainstream Hip-Hop culture.

In 2006 I released my film, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, a documentary that challenged the violence, misogyny, and homophobia in mainstream hip hop.

Several years later, the look, the sound, and many of the artists who create Hip-Hop have changed. But what about the themes and imagery in Hip-Hop? I decided to dust off my original footage, and release never-seen-before clips, and let you decide for yourself. Has anything changed in Hip-Hop since Beyond Beats and Rhymes?

As part of a project called Beyond Beats and Rhymes interactive (BBRi), funded by the Ford Foundation, you can now watch original, unreleased footage from Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes – interviews that didn't make it into the final cut of the film –  interspersed with contemporary images and lyrics from current Hip-Hop culture. Use this content to launch discussions about masculinity in Hip-Hop, or simply share your comments in an interactive online community conversation. I hope this new material reinvigorates the discourse on representations of manhood in mainstream Hip-Hop culture. Thanks for watching!