The Hip Hop Project
Sundance Channel | Release Date: May 11, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Kazi is a bundle of energy, and the film touches on an important and often-overlooked issue: The commercial pressure that is often brought to bear on rappers to be scurrilous and offensive. This project, which was produced by Bruce Willis and Queen Latifah, shows that there is another way. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
Giving "inspirational" a good name, Matt Ruskin's vibrant and soulful documentary The Hip Hop Project sets its universal message to an inner-city beat. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The film works best when it pays specific attention to how hard it is to write a rhyme worth hearing. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The story is compelling enough that even glib phrases like "healing through hip-hop" can't drag it down. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Project provides an unmistakably one-sided view of rap as God's gift to the poor, angry, black, and young, but given the beating rap has taken in the press lately (please Oprah, don't hurt 'em!), the film's pro-rap cheerleading couldn't be more timely or necessary. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid Wiegand
Art makes the difference for the few kids who make it, and it also makes the difference for the films that stand out from the pack. The Hip Hop Project, a documentary by Matt Ruskin, is one of them. Read full review
70
VarietyJohn Anderson
A beat-driven, inspirational organism that develops and blossoms along with its subjects, "Word.Life" tells the story of a once-homeless Brooklynite who prods, pushes and propels his aspiring young rappers to think first and rhyme later. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJessica Grose
From domestic strife to studio triumph, the most impressive accomplishment of Project is not the student-made album, but that when Kazi says cheesy things like "This is healing through hip-hop," you actually believe him. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMark Olsen
Perhaps the film's biggest failing is simply that the music of The Hip Hop Project isn't more thrilling, that there isn't a sonic equivalent to the wounded, searching feelings of the young writers' lyrics. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderStaff (Not credited)
In a nation that's stripped arts instruction from the public schools, the Hip Hop Project seems like a godsend. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Although it often feels more like a promotional tool than an objective documentary, there is no denying the emotional resonance propelling Matt Ruskin's first feature. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
The Hip Hop Project, a documentary about Kazi and the young men and women he mentors, isn't quite as successful as Kazi himself - a Bahamian orphan and teenage street hustler who turned his life around, and got folks like Queen Latifah, Russell Simmons and Bruce Willis to help out him and his project. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
While their stories are well worth telling, first-time director Ruskin fails to shape his material into the dynamic film it might have been. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
As a documentary, the film is woefully underdeveloped. Read full review
50
Washington PostTeresa Wiltz
Ultimately, The Hip Hop Project is all raggedy rhythm and long-winded discourse, a tuneless song in search of a hook. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
IF you like rap, you'll probably enjoy The Hip Hop Project. I don't like rap. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMichelle Kung
And while the young director tends to skip over many of the larger societal issues plaguing many of the HHP participants, his desire to honestly platform the emotional heartbeat of his subjects still rings true. Read full review
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