Fear of a Black Hat (1994) | agoodmovietowatch
Fear of a Black Hat 7.3 1994 Movie

Fear of a Black Hat

Dir. Rusty Cundieff · United Kingdom, United States of America · English

An irreverent and colorful parody of the hip hop scene far ahead of its time

Our take by Emil Hofileña

Though it’s still very much a product of a time of certain jokes that haven’t aged well, it’s still remarkable how the humor and the satirical edge of this mockumentary has remained so current. As a very-low budget mockumentary of a still-young American hip hop scene, there’s so much more effort that goes into these fake songs and music videos than you’d expect. But the film doesn’t stop at simply poking fun at the rappers and hip hop artists of the era; the jokes always circle back around to the racism of the time and the self-seriousness of the culture in the music industry. It’s a hilarious time capsule with some brutally incisive lines in practically every scene.

What happens

Chronicling the controversial career of bad boys N.W.H. (Niggaz With Hats), this uproarious 'mockumentary' lampoons all of hardcore rap's hot-button issues. This underground laugh riot recounts the rise, fall and resurrection of a clueless bunch of would-be rappers, Ice Cold, Tone-Def & Tasty Taste performing as N.W.H.

What the critics said

Notable Critics

"Inspired by This Is Spinal Tap, this mockumentary exposes the trials of a hardcore rap band, N.W.H. (Niggas With Hats) with wild, irreverent humor and exuberant music."

— Emanuel Levy

Awards

Sundance

1 nom

Nominated: Official Selection

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About the author

Emil Hofileña

Emil Hofileña

Emil Hofileña is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. He also writes as a theater critic, with work published in Rogue and Out of Print, among others. He’s probably crying over a movie or an episode as we speak.