But a new movie coming out of the U.K. has been overturning preconceptions of hip hop as it has been making waves at screenings around the world from New York to Israel, via Bermuda and Holland.

This small, self-funded indie film was lovingly shot over 4 years and paints a warm, human and funny portrait of hip hop being made for the sheer love, not through any drive to achieve a multi-million dollar lifestyle. It’s a time capsule of hip hop’s original spirit, essence and values.

But the film isn’t set in grimy Inner City London – it documents hip hop taking root and growing up in some weird and wonderful ways in the least likely of places…the seaside towns of southern UK.

The film ‘South Coast’ was selected for screening at the prestigious Barbican where it was described as ”brilliant”. The Daily Telegraph described the character-driven documentary as “joyful and laid back”.

Brighton hip hop pioneer Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) is featured in the film reminiscing about the early days of hip hop in the UK in the 1980s and is clearly taken aback at the sheer volume and quality of underground local talent that has grown from those humble origins and Norman said, "I’ve really got to get out more!”

Thirty years after hip hop crashed onto these shores, it has found a distinctive and quintessentially British voice amongst the pebbles, deckchairs and the cheeky postcards.

Maybe it’s because in a town or small city like Brighton, everyone knows everyone so it’s inadvisable to make enemies. Maybe it’s because they know you’d be laughed out of town for trying to rap about bling and drive-bys when you live with your parents. In Eastbourne.

But for whatever reason, you’re more likely to find MC’s in ‘South Coast’ exchanging cutting comedy put downs, bad mouthing the seagulls or rhyming about everyday British life than bragging about the size of their penis or some mythical ghetto superstar lifestyle.

Because this ain’t East Coast. This ain’t West Coast. This is South Coast.
www.southcoastthemovie.co.uk
 

The past is at once a bad trip down memory lane and a highly personal quest for peace. (Gua, meaning ‘peace’ in Jal’s native Nuer, was the title of his 2005 debut album.) Now in his mid-20s, the unassuming Jal cuts a magnetic screen presence: sad-eyed, soft-spoken and quiet-mannered, he exudes a soulful intensity that finds release through his music.

Jal was born as civil war took hold of Sudan, and moved from his home in the South to one of the UN-supervised children’s refugee camps in Ethiopia, a recruiting ground for the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army. Abandoned by his father after his mother’s death, he embraced being drilled to kill by the SPLA. As he remembers how excited he was at brandishing an AK-47 – the biggest gun he could handle at age 8 – and the hatred he felt toward the Islamic government troops, Jal marvels at his recent collaboration with fellow countryman and Muslim musician Abdel Gadir Salim.

After almost five years of service, Jal was one of 400 soldiers to desert the army and one of 12 to survive. Having recounted their grueling flight to a group of students in Washington, DC, he admits that telling his story depresses him, even renders him suicidal.

18 years later, Jal returns to Sudan, and resolves to heal his war-torn family ties by acting as a caring relative – a cool cat cousin rather than a parental role model – for youngsters who look up to him. Whether sharing his journey in song or championing the value of education over the hustle of the music industry, pledging solidarity with Sudanese orphans at a UN refugee camp in Kenya or sponsoring students at his old Nairobi prep school, Jal blazes a trail of knowledge as empowerment to safeguard the vast numbers of African kids still victimized by martial lawlessness.

by Kenneth Crab (The Indypenent)

Film synopsis:

For more than 10 years, Hip-Hop has greatly influenced Japanese youth culture and continues to affect the lives of many young people. Through Hip-Hop they have been given a voice and a new way to view the world.  Through an eclectic cast of characters, this film recounts the explosion of Hip-Hop in Japan and the subsequent rise of new forms of self expression.