"This Is The Life" Documentary

In 1989, a collective of young artists gathered at a storefront health food cafe in South Central Los Angeles. Their mandate? To reject gang culture and expand the musical boundaries of hip hop. Directed by Ava DuVernay, THIS IS THE LIFE chronicles the little known story of "The Good Life" emcees, the alternative music movement they developed, and their worldwide influence on the artform.

Ava DuVernay’s documentary "This Is the Life" is so immediately and fully engrossing that it meets its ambitious goals for the viewer... It’s rare that being schooled so deeply is so pleasurable... "This Is the Life" vaults into the upper echelons of must-see hip-hop documentaries: It’s smart, informative, and hugely important historically, filled with rare performance footage that still crackles. The underground-icon talking heads (shot in their homes, against freeway backdrops) wax poetic, philosophical and enthusiastic. “Something like that couldn’t happen in any other city, in any other part of the world, at any other time,” says Cut Chemist. “It was perfect.”

There are some airings on Showtime. Click here to see them.  If you're into underground hip hop, then this is a must-see.