Best movies & TV Shows like Hip Hop Uncovered

For Jimmy Smith, Jr., life is a daily fight just to keep hope alive. Feeding his dreams in Detroit's vibrant music scene, Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own voice - and earn a place in a world where rhymes rule, legends are born and every moment… is another chance.

Time Is Illmatic is a feature length documentary film that delves deep into the making of Nas' 1994 debut album, Illmatic, and the social conditions that influenced its creation.

An ex-con and break-dancer helps save a neighborhood from a greedy developer while trying to win a rap contest.

Redemption tells the story of Stan "Tookie" Williams, founder of the Crips L.A. street gang. Story follows his fall into gang-banging, his prison term, and his work writing children's novels encouraging peace and anti-violence resolutions which earned him multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations. After exhausting all forms of appeal, Tookie was executed by lethal injection.

The most feared battle emcee in the early 1980s in Queens, New York, was a fierce teenager from the Queensbridge projects. At the age of 14, Roxanne Shanté was well on her way to becoming a hip-hop legend, as she hustled to provide for her family while defending herself from the dangers of the street.

Set at the Newport jazz festival in 1958, this documentary mixes images of water and the town with performers and audience. The film progresses from day to night and from improvisational music to Gospel. It's a concert film that suggests peace and leisure, jazz at a particular time and place.

Russell Walker is a young, successful manager of rap performers, handling acts for the Krush Groove label, including Run-DMC and The Fat Boys. When Run-D.M.C. has a hit record and Russell needs more money to press more copies, he borrows it from a street hustler and soon regrets his decision.

Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That! is a 2006 concert film of the Beastie Boys. It was created by giving camcorders to 50 audience members of a sold out concert at Madison Square Garden on October 9, 2004. The audience members were instructed to keep the cameras rolling at all times. The DVD of this concert movie was released on July 24, 2006 in the UK and July 25, 2006 in the US.

A struggling young dancer joins forces with two breakdancers and together they become a street sensation.

Documentary about Fidel Castro, covering 40 years of Cuban Revolution. Rare Fidel Castro footage: he appears swimming with a bodyguard, visiting his childhood home and school, playing with his friend Nelson Mandela, meeting kid Elián Gonzalez, and celebrating his birthday with the Buena Vista Social Club group.

Young Kid has been invited to a party at his friend Play's house. But after a fight at school, Kid's father grounds him. None the less, Kid sneaks out when his father falls asleep. But Kid doesn't know that three of the thugs at school have decided to give him a lesson in behavior.

From neighborhood ciphers to the most notorious MC battles, "Freestyle: the Art of Rhyme" captures the electrifying energy of improvisational hip-hop--the rarely recorded art form of rhyming spontaneously. Like preachers and jazz solos, freestyles exist only in the moment, a modern-day incarnation of the African-American storytelling tradition. Shot over a period of more than seven years, it is already an underground cult film in the hip-hop world. The film systematically debunks the false image put out by record companies that hip-hop culture is violent or money-obsessed. Instead, it lets real hip-hop artists, known and unknown, weave their story out of a passionate mix of language, politics, and spirituality.

The true story of Jasmine Plummer who, at the age of eleven, became the first female to play in Pop Warner football tournament in its 56-year history.

Brian Hooks plays a character who is just released from jail. And the state adopts a "3 strikes" rule for felons that involves serious penalties. Hooks has 2 strikes, and wants to change his life for the better. When a friend picks him up, they are pulled over, and his friend shoots at police officers, and Hooks escapes. Now Hooks, a wanted man, must clear his name of having nothing to do with the shooting.

An aspiring DJ, from the South Bronx, and his best friend, a promoter, try to get into show business by exposing people to hip-hop music and culture.

Enjoy the smooth voice and cool rhythms of legendary American recording artist Nat "King" Cole with this music set, which includes popular hits like "Mona Lisa," "Save the Bones for Henry Jones," "Shine On Harvest Moon," "Sweet Lorraine" and more. The first African-American to host a television variety show, Cole sold millions of records throughout the course of his career and continues to possess enduring popularity worldwide.

Desperate for a breakthrough as she nears the big 4-0, struggling New York City playwright Radha finds inspiration by reinventing herself as a rapper.

Ava DuVernay focuses on the history of female MCs in the hip hop industry in this short documentary that features Missy Elliott, Salt-N-Pepa, Eve, Jean Grae, Roxanne Shante, Trina, The Lady of Rage, and many more.

Part of BBC Four's Black Music Legends of the 1980s, this documentary explores how Prince - showman, artist, enigma - revolutionized the perception of black music in the 1980s with worldwide hits such as "1999," "Kiss," "Raspberry Beret" and "Alphabet Street." He became a global sensation with the release of the Oscar-winning, semi-autobiographical movie "Purple Rain" in 1984, embarking on an incredible journey of musical self-discovery that continues to this day.

This film tells the story of one of the greatest and most controversial conductors of the 20th Century. The Hungarian-born Georg Solti had huge drive, energy and ambition. A combination of willpower and extraordinary talent took him to the peak of musical power and prestige. This film includes remarkably candid interviews which Solti talked with great honesty about his life, challenges and achievements. It also includes new interviews with some of the artists and musicians who worked closely with him.

Forty years after the release of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller,’ the best-selling album of all-time, director Nelson George takes fans back in time to the making of a pop masterpiece, featuring never-before-seen footage and candid interviews.

Hip Hop Squares is an American television game show hosted by New York radio personality Peter Rosenberg, which debuted on MTV2 on May 22, 2012. The show's format is similar to Hollywood Squares, but with a more "urban" theme. The show is taped in Brooklyn, New York.

A documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.

A 17-part television documentary series on the history of modern pop music covering some of the many different genres that have fallen under the label of "popular music" between the mid-19th century and 1976, including folk, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, vaudeville and music hall, musical theatre, country, swing, jazz, blues, R&B, rock 'n' roll and others.

Pitting notable historical and pop culture figures, real and fictional, against one another in a rap battle format.

Why is the English spoken by Maine lobstermen so different from thatscene from the broadcast spoken by cowboys in Texas? Does Spanish pose a threat to English as the dominant language in America? And what on earth do yins, wickety wack, ayuh, catty whompus, and stomping it clean mean? Robert MacNeil travels cross-country to answer these questions and examine the dynamic state of American English – a language rich with regional variety, strong global impact and cultural controversy.

Hip-Hop today is a global culture that has changed music, dance, fashion, language —and even politics. But where did this worldwide cultural movement begin? We trace hip-hop back to its humble beginnings, when the kids of the Bronx crammed into house parties, rec rooms, and public parks to hear music like they’d never heard it before.

A four-part documentary series that tells the stories of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre -- one the son of a Brooklyn longshoreman, the other straight out of Compton - -- and their improbable partnership and surprising leading roles in a series of transformative events in contemporary culture.

A one-hour anthology series that distills classic hip-hop records and reimagines them as cinematic love letters.

Transcending the music documentary genre by creating a new lane that merges music, socio-cultural commentary and and intimate family portrait of the Wu-Tang Clan.

Angie Martinez sits down with the biggest names in hip hop as they detail never-before-told tales.

A powerful and revelatory account of one of the most hideous crimes in human history told entirely from the perspectives of 16 extraordinary Holocaust survivors - from a Jewish artist or a Roma resistance fighter - whose inspiring stories of survival in a Nazi death camp and armed resistance in the WWII underground are made all the more resonant and real for a new generation of viewers by the transformative power of restored and colourised black and white archive.

Charting the growth of Master P's label from a passionate side side job into a multi-million dollar enterprise responsible for records by Mystikal, Snoop Dogg, Mr. Serv-On, and more.

An investigation of the most unique and enigmatic stories in the history of music covering topics that have altered or elevated the world of music, while highlighting the colorful characters that have indelibly changed the course of music history.

An immersive, deep-dive docuseries rich with archival footage and interviews that explores the musicians and soundtracks that shaped the culture and politics of 1971.

Estranged and out-of-touch, four women in their 40s reunite for a chance to recapture their fame and regain the swagger they had as the Nasty Bitches—their ‘90s group that made them legends in the hip-hop world.

A deep dive into the decade's untold history, revealing secrets, and prespectives.

An urban documentary-series that explores untold stories of vice, culture and humanity in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Dive into world of music mogul Irv Gotti with untold stories and firsthand accounts from those who were there to experience the rise, fall and redemption of his Murder Inc Records.

The untold story of soft rock, whose artists dominated pop music worldwide in the '70s, only to crash and burn in the '80s, eventually experiencing one of the most unlikely comebacks in music history.

Based on the influential 2015 Spotify playlist, this series is a deep dive into current events that untangles important subjects and offers a view of the world from an artist’s perspective.

Thalia takes audiences on a musical journey, uncovering the classics that inspired generations of artists and created the current Latin music landscape seen today. Through a combination of interviews, found footage and modern renditions of classic hits by today’s biggest stars, the series revisits the history of Latin music and uncovers the future of the genre in an intimate way not yet seen before.

Led by LL COOL J and Ice T alongside field collectors and museum curators, the team tells the story of some of Hip Hop's greatest artists and the items they made famous such as The Notorious B.I.G.'s iconic jersey from the "Juicy" video, Flavor Flav's clocks, DMX's Aaliyah car, and more. This exclusive partnership between A&E, Pulse Films, LL COOL J's Rock The Bells and The Universal Hip Hop Museum honors these music legends and brings their items back to the birthplace of the culture, The Bronx.

Rappers, writers and experts detail the influence of women on hip-hop music and culture in this docuseries honoring the trailblazers and game-changers.

In AP Dhillon - First of a Kind, the secretive global superstar and the small, close team behind his massive success finally tell their story. Featuring unseen personal footage and unique behind-the-scenes access, AP takes us on a journey from his early days in a small village in Punjab and tells us his incredible plan to change the music industry and inspire a nation.

This new CBC documentary series uses contemporary interviews and archival footage to chronicle Canada’s long history of anti-Black racism, including episodes on police brutality and the rise of hip-hop music.

Dig deep into the origin story of Black gospel music, coming out of slavery, blending with the blues tradition, and soaring to new heights during the Great Migration. From Mahalia to Kirk Franklin, in the last century, gospel music has become the dominant form of African American religious expression and provided a soundtrack of healing and uplift to those at the front lines of protest and change.

The never-been-told story of RUN DMC, a group that met on the streets of Queens and went on to legitimize a criticized genre of music: hip-hop.

Piece by Piece is an unparalleled motion picture experience that captures the magic and brilliance of Pharrell Williams’ creative genius, one LEGO® brick at a time. Uninterested in making a traditional film about his life, Pharrell set out to tell his story in a way that would set audience’s imaginations free. Developed from his singular vision, Piece by Piece defies genres and expectations to transport audiences into a LEGO world where anything is possible.