PICK UP THE MIC (Alex Hinton, U.S.). 95 minutes. Friday (May 19), 7:30 pm. ROM. Rating: NNNN Rating: NNNN
If you missed this revolutionary doc about queer rappers at last year’s TIFF, it’s here again in all its taboo-breaking glory.
Director Alex Hinton tracks down a dozen feisty hiphop performers at the forefront of the underground movement in various American cities. Their backgrounds are as diverse as their beats. Some come out of the spoken word scene others just want to express themselves in what’s been the most persistent cultural trend in decades.
Unlike Paris Is Burning, there’s no big competition to provide a climax, but there’s plenty of attitude on display as well as some poignant moments, such as when one closeted rapper decides to come out to his homophobic peers.
