Ice-T opens up his phone directory and calls the rappers he knows to talk about their art. Some are just them stroking one another’s egos, some are genuinely substantial. Not all are articulate about their craft. That’s part of the point. There are few women in the mix, and except for Eminem, this is an African-American story. No great shock in that, but others of comparable talent (the Beastie Boys?) could have been there. Similarly, while the film places this art in the tradition of ‘doing the dozens’ as battle, I wish there’d been some discussion of the verbal roots in Beat poetry and musical declamation via Gil Scott-Heron and The Last Poets in addition. Filmed in some very simple apartments, fancy homes, in clubs and on the street, this has folks rapping, doing their work, and sometimes gets down into the art of writing and composition itself. That’s the most interesting part and, sadly, some of the best bits on the actual art of writing were cut for the extras. Still, I learned from this piece and really enjoyed watching this. The tension of mutual respect and battle prevails. Very interesting take on Dre’s work as a producer. I liked it, but I would have preferred more on the compositional art to hearing the lengthy declamations. It’s at its’ most interesting when it does things like compare writing to freestyling. Be sure to watch the interviews in the extras