PLANET ROCK: THE STORY OF HIP HOP AND THE CRACK GENERATION (TV)
Summary
This Vh1-produced documentary is about the rise of crack cocaine in America in the 1980s and its influence on hip-hop culture. The program opens with an overview of the increased popularity of crack cocaine and the gang violence that followed, leading many to find “a way out” through music, as many drug dealers had “a hell of a story to tell.” Wu-Tang Clan member RZA discusses his childhood in Brooklyn and his perception of crack as an affordable alternative to the “elite” powder cocaine popular at largely white establishments like Studio 54. As freebase cocaine was chemically complex to create, it fetched high prices, but Los Angeles dealer “Freeway” Rick Ross discovered a way to create “ready rock,” cocaine that could be smoked immediately rather than snorted. Prices began to fall, and the name “crack” entered the cultural lexicon. RZA describes his first time using crack mixed with marijuana. The drug trade soon spread to other large cities like New York and Miami, encouraged by the recession of the early ‘80s and the increased financial imbalance between the classes; Snoop Dogg explains that he too turned to selling crack as it provided far more money than a legitimate job did. The 1983 crime drama film “Scarface,” starring Al Pacino as drug kingpin Tony Montana, had a significant impact on the culture because of its extreme depiction of “the American Dream.” Azie Faison operated out of Harlem, and he and others describe seeing crack users start to become dangerously addicted to the drug, more potent than regular cocaine. People soon began spending all of their money, including welfare and food stamps, on the drug, neglecting their families and turning to prostitution in desperation.
Artist Keith Haring soon created a mural featuring the words “crack is wack,” and the sentiment was echoed by the media, which began excessive “sensational reporting” on the topic, stressing the dangers of the drug in the news. The DEA immediately realized that the drug was “different” from most narcotics and began to encounter violence when pursuing users and sellers, and made the decision to tell the public about the “epidemic,” which soon became the biggest news story since the Watergate scandal. Many noted that the media chose to focus on crack use in predominantly black neighborhoods, despite high numbers of white users. In 1986, new Boston Celtics recruit Leonard Bias died at age 22 of a heart attack resulting from cocaine use, adding further infamy to the drug’s reputation. President Ronald Reagan took advantage of the social climate and enacted harsh laws punishing dealers, eventually passing the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 that made the sentence for dealing crack cocaine many, many times longer than dealing other drugs. Nevertheless, the drug dealers soon became trendsetters, promoting the “hood star” lifestyle, and rappers began selling their music to rich dealers, conflating the worlds of hip-hop and drugs. Rappers became “reporters” of the drug laws and lifestyles, explored in such songs as Schoolly D’s “P.S.K. (What Does It Mean?)” and the album “Paid in Full” by Eric B. & Rakim. Fashion soon reflected the culture; oversized chain necklaces and designer labels became popular in demonstrating wealth.
In Los Angeles, “Freeway” Rick Ross gained more notoriety for his dealing, and increasing numbers of people became “employed” by the trade. Gangs rose in size and popularity, with both Snoop Dogg and Cypress Hill member B-Real joining different groups. AK-47 assault rifles became “the standard” weapon amongst the gangs, and murder rates rose. In response, L.A. Police Chief Daryl Gates made use of the B-100, known as the “Batteram,” an armored vehicle that smashed down crackhouses and other suspects criminal dwellings, much to the objection of many. In 1986, Ice-T came out with the hit song “6 in the Mornin’” about police brutality, and the N.W.A. (“Niggaz Wit Attitudes”) formed in Compton, leading to the creation of the genre of “gangsta rap,” often funded by drug dealers. In 1987, President and Mrs. Reagan recruited many big-name celebrities to do anti-crack television ads, but this paled in comparison to the appeal of the money made from dealing. George H.W. Bush was elected in 1988, and in 1989, gave a televised speech in which he held up a bag of crack cocaine allegedly purchased in Lafayette Park near the White House. It was soon discovered, however, that Bush’s speechwriters had lured an 18-year-old dealer to the park to facilitate the “prop,” further suggesting the government’s manipulative position in the drug war. “Cops” debuted in 1989, featuring many scenes of violent drug arrests, and Freeway, Snoop and many other young black men were incarcerated and given extreme sentences. Faison describes being shot by a friend and deciding to give up dealing, and B-Real recalls his epiphany after seeing a friend’s mother willing to die for her stash. Snoop Dogg explains how he honed his rapping skills in prison and later teamed up with Dr. Dre, gaining fame with a somewhat “fictionalized” song about the murder of a cop for the 1992 film “Deep Cover.” Ice-T then released “Cop Killer,” reflecting the sentiments felt in the aftermath of the 1991 Rodney King beating, which led to six days of rioting in L.A. when the cops in question were found innocent.
In 1991, the film “New Jack City,” starring Ice-T, was released, the first to focus on the crack epidemic. Snoop Dogg’s 1993 album “Doggystyle” had great chart success, and with the rise of rappers like Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z, rap became more “corporate” and less based in crime and poverty. Crack “burned itself out” by the ‘90s, having significantly ravaged its users, although the gang-related violence continue, although in Harlem, one rehab center created a gospel choir for its recovering members. A rumor that the CIA helped to distribute drugs in the U.S. from Nicaragua surfaced during the decade and has never been sufficiently investigated. However, President Barack Obama passed the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, reducing the extreme sentences given to crack dealers, although the racial disparity in prison population continues. Hip-hop culture continues to reflect the crime-based, capitalism-heavy imagery of the ‘80s, and “Freeway” notes in frustration that rapper Rick Ross stole his “identity” and persona in his stage name. Rapper Jay-Z is compared to a more successful version of Scarface, becoming a celebrity and contributing to a glamorous culture with its ignoble basis in “a demon drug.” Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: Vh1
- DATE: September 18, 2011 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:24:34
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 106354
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Documentary; Drugs; Music; African-American Collection - Music
- SERIES RUN: Vh1 - TV, 2011
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Brad Abramson … Executive Producer
- Stephen Mintz … Executive Producer
- Jeff Olde … Executive Producer
- Shelly Tatro … Executive Producer
- Ice-T … Executive Producer, Narrator
- Pam Widener … Coordinating Producer
- Richard Lowe … Producer, Writer, Director
- Martin Torgoff … Producer, Writer, Director
- Charles Roberson … Consulting Producer
- Matt Wilson … Line Producer
- Ion Furjanic … Music by
- Leonard Bias
- George H.W. Bush
- Rodney King
- Azie Faison
- Daryl Gates
- Keith Haring
- Barack Obama
- Al Pacino
- Nancy Reagan
- Ronald Reagan
- Rick Ross
- B-Real
- Biggie Smalls
- Dr. Dre
- Eric B. & Rakim
- Ice-T
- Jay-Z
- N.W.A.
- RZA
- Schoolly D
- Snoop Dogg
- Wu-Tang Clan