Trailer from; Blacking Up: Hip-Hop's Remix of Race and Identity

Taken from Press Release: BLACKING UP: Hip-Hop's Remix of Race and Identity explores racial identity through the lens of hip-hop music and culture. The film focuses in particular on the tensions that surround white identification with hip-hop. Popularly referred to by derogatory terms such as "wannabe" or "wigger," the white person who identifies with hip-hop often invokes heated responses. For some, it is an example of cultural progress - a movement toward a color-blind America. For others, it's just another case of cultural theft and mockery - a repetition of a racist past.

Showing the parallels between the figure of the white hip-hopper and previous incarnations of white identification with black culture, BLACKING UP: Hip-Hop's Remix of Race and Identity highlights a lineage that includes blackface performers such as Al Jolson, jazz figures like the "hipster" and the "white negro," and rock-and-roll icons like Elvis Presley. White participants in the film discuss where they see their place in hip-hop, reflecting earnestly on how they have been affected by the words "wigger" or "wannabe." Black participants debate what white adoption of hip-hop might mean today, considering past instances of appropriation and mockery of black cultural expression. All participants' praises and criticisms contribute to an understanding of how race functions in America today.

Notable entertainers, historians, and cultural critics also contribute to the discussion, including Amiri Baraka (cultural critic/author of Blues People), Russel Simmons (CEO Def Jam Records), Chuck D. (rapper for Public Enemy), Vanilla Ice (rapper), DJ Kool Herc (hip-hop's "founding father"), Paul Mooney (comedian/writer for The Chapelle Show, among others).

http://www.blackingupmovie.com/the-film