“Beat This: A Hip Hop History” (1984), was a BBC program that debuted the same year as another GV gem, “Beat Street”.
With the same stodgy wikipedia tone as all its other culture docs, this BBC piece takes us to the streets of the BX, then back to Manhattan, to hear the late Malcolm McLaren tell it to a group of B-Boys about how hip hop culture came to him. He goes at around 09:40.
The doc is narrated with the butter smooth tone of Imhotep Gary Byrd, and done up like a live radio broadcast cum history video.
Afrika Bambaata fans can rejoice, too. It’s packed with rare raw footage from the era that really set it off for hip-hop.
channibalsmith.com 