Beat Street (1984)
Upbeat, lets-put-on-a-show, musical about the wonders of rap music tells the story of Kenny, a young hip-hop artist living in the rough slums of the Bronx with his younger brother Lee and their mother Cora. Kenny dreams of making it big as a disk jockey and playing in the most swank of Manhattan nightclubs, The Roxy. Into their lives comes Tracy, a composer and assistant choreographer from New York College who inspires him to try to continue his dream while romance begins to grow between them despite coming from different neighborhoods and worlds. Meanwhile, Lee is part of a break-dancing gang set on dominating the scene of their street. The rest of their friends include Ramon, a graffiti artist determined to spread his painting to every subway car in the city while dealing with his girlfriend Carmen. Chollie is a fellow rapper who becomes Kenny's manager after he lands him a gig at a Bronx club as the DJ. Many rap groups, break dancers, and pop singers whom include Us Girls, The Treacherous Three, The System, Rock Steady Crew, Soul Sonic Force & Shango, The Magnificent Force, New York City Breakers, Furious Five, Tina B., Afrika Bambaataa and Johnny B. Bad make cameo appearances.
Primary Title
- Beat Street
Date Broadcast
- Saturday 3 May 2008
Release Year
- 1984
Start Time
- 00 : 10
Finish Time
- 02 : 27
Duration
- 137:00
Channel
- C4
Programme Description
- Upbeat, lets-put-on-a-show, musical about the wonders of rap music tells the story of Kenny, a young hip-hop artist living in the rough slums of the Bronx with his younger brother Lee and their mother Cora. Kenny dreams of making it big as a disk jockey and playing in the most swank of Manhattan nightclubs, The Roxy. Into their lives comes Tracy, a composer and assistant choreographer from New York College who inspires him to try to continue his dream while romance begins to grow between them despite coming from different neighborhoods and worlds. Meanwhile, Lee is part of a break-dancing gang set on dominating the scene of their street. The rest of their friends include Ramon, a graffiti artist determined to spread his painting to every subway car in the city while dealing with his girlfriend Carmen. Chollie is a fellow rapper who becomes Kenny's manager after he lands him a gig at a Bronx club as the DJ. Many rap groups, break dancers, and pop singers whom include Us Girls, The Treacherous Three, The System, Rock Steady Crew, Soul Sonic Force & Shango, The Magnificent Force, New York City Breakers, Furious Five, Tina B., Afrika Bambaataa and Johnny B. Bad make cameo appearances.
Classification
- Unknown
Owning Collection
- Television Vault
Broadcast Platform
- Television
Languages
- English
Captions
Live Broadcast
- No
Rights Statement
- Made for the University of Auckland's educational use as permitted by the Screenrights Licensing Agreement.
Subjects
- Hip-hop--New York (State)--New York--Drama
- African American youth--New York (State)--New York--Drama
- Break dancing--Drama
- Musical films
- Rap (Music)
- Feature films--United States
Genres
- Drama
- Music
Contributors
- Stan Lathan (Director)
- Steven Hager (Writer)
- Andrew Davis (Writer)
- Rae Dawn Chong (Actor)
- Guy Davis (Actor)
- Jon Chardiet (Actor)
- Saundra Santiago (Actor)
- Doug E. Fresh (Performer)
- Afrika Bambaataa (Performer)
- Harry Belafonte (Producer)
- David V. Picker (Producer)
- Arthur Baker (Composer)
- Harry Belafonte (Composer)
- Webster Lewis (Composer)
- Orion Pictures (Production Unit)
Subjects
- Hip-hop--New York (State)--New York--Drama
- African American youth--New York (State)--New York--Drama
- Break dancing--Drama
- Musical films
- Rap (Music)
- Feature films--United States