Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World

:

Season 1
  • Network: PBS
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 31, 2023
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4

Critic Reviews

  1. Decider
    Reviewed by: Johnny Loftus
    Feb 8, 2023
    80
    From hip hop’s inception and its emergence and growth, Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World offers a powerful message that connects influence, innovation, and a unifying beat to how we continue to think and speak about the artform today.
  2. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Jack Seale
    Jan 23, 2023
    80
    There’s almost no hip-hop in the first episode of BBC Two’s new four-part documentary about the genre. ... Instead, we are given an hour-long history lesson on New York City in the 60s and 70s – the decades leading up to hip-hop’s birth. This, however, is the correct approach, and it signals that Fight the Power will treat its subject with the respect and rigour it deserves.
  3. i
    Reviewed by: Ed Power
    Jan 23, 2023
    80
    Fight The Power was fascinating. Cutting though music doc cliché, it delivered a street-level portrait of rap music’s formative decades.
  5. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Andre Gee
    Jan 31, 2023
    60
    Series directors Yemi Bamiro and Todd Williams were tasked with packing 50 years of history into roughly 4 hours. They smoothly guide us through hip-hop’s timeline, starting with a slow-burn introductory episode highlighting New Yorkers’ dire need for creative expression. This proves the series’ strongest hour. ... In 2010, Chuck D chastised Jay-Z and Kanye’s luxury opus Watch the Throne. ... Fight the Power needed more of that energy.