With the sale of Beats by Dre for a price of 3 billion dollars, Dr. Dre became the world’s first hip hop billionaire. This 2012 documentary takes a look at the business activities of four rappers who have been very successful the last couple of years: Puff Daddy, Jay-Z, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. It takes a look how they managed to get there. The central question this documentary asks is who will be the first hip hop billionaire. Even though we know the answer now the question is whether it offers enough other material to still make it worth checking out.
The films shows the viewer how something which initially started as music for a niche market turned into something much bigger than that. It looks at business men like Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin, who didn’t only start their own label (Def Jam), but also were responsible for one of the first big rap related business deals between Run DMC and Adidas. It inspired many others, resulting in an industry where the big artists are no longer solely focussing on their music, but also start their own clothing lines, have their own games, electronics and drinks. For each of the four featured artists it explains which business ventures they decided to put their effort into.
For those expecting interviews with the subjects of this documentary, I’ll have to disappoint you. When these men are shown it is done using archival footage. The interviews which are featured are people from the industry who give their own vision on the successes and try to predict who will be the first billionaire. If you have an interest in these artists then you will probably already know most facts about them. It gives a quick history lesson how hip hop and the commercial side of things started to become one and grew into an industry worth billions. Something which Dr.Dre and other artists have managed to use to their advantage.
