Know Thy Enemy (2009) 3/10

Starring : Sheaun McKinney, Marlon Taylor, Jeremy Mitchell
Director : Lee Cipolla
Running Time : 85 mins

Nate “Nemesis”Harris (McKinney) has been dubbed the hottest rap artist in Miami, but secretly he doesn’t want to be a rapper – he only agreed to be a hard-core stereotypical hip-hop artist in order to get a record deal and some much sought after airplay. His publicists set about making him appear to be a typical rapper by faking a violent history for him, but when his fans demand to see some evidence of Nate’s true gangster nature, his bosses set his childhood friend Razor Ric (Taylor) against him to create a rap war.

Clearly this movie is aimed at people with low IQs, as the narrative really spells everything out for the viewer. I especially found the scene where Razor Ric tells his cronies that he is declaring war on Nemesis to be a prime example of this talking-down-to narrative. Fans of bad rap movies will like this, otherwise steer clear.

You’ll like this if you liked : 8 Mile