Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World

Mapping the history of hip hop culture and rap music provides a powerful lens through which to view the past 50-plus years of American history. However, even though Fight the Power attempts to narrow its focus to hip hop's impact on social change, the documentary runs into the problem of giving too little time to such a broad, deep subject. The series makes incredible use of archival footage and interviews with artistic luminaries, as well as frank discussion of the negative impact that White politicians and administrations have had on Black and other minority communities. But a lot gets lost in trying to cram so much history into so little space. When the doc talks about DJ Kool Herc inventing hip hop music at a house party in 1973, for example, it doesn't mention what was unique about his artistry that launched the movement. Though the series touches briefly on many aspects of hip hop culture, it consistently fails to connect the dots to its thesis that hip hop directly inspired contemporary activism. In fact, most of the subjects it churns through have their own in-depth documentaries and books devoted to them, making Fight the Power most useful as an introduction or overview of an uncommonly rich movement.