tanning of america

Produced by Steve Stoute and featuring commentary from luminaries ranging from famed emcee Nas to civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton, the project took a look at how hip-hop’s emergence into a major cultural force shaped a generation and American culture over the past 40 years. But the documentary, an ambitious and engrossing look at hip-hop as both art and commodity, virtually ignores the contributions and histories of hip-hop locales outside of the mecca of New York City. Even the participants themselves, save for hitmaking superproducer Dr. Dre, tended to be mostly from the Big Apple.