“I always start every interview with the same question “When did you fall in love with hip hop”

It was 1985, I was a junior in high school at a dance, alone, and trying hard to fit into any clique, while not quite fitting into any of them.  Then, I heard it, it started with a crowd cheering, then a synthesized trumpet “Ladies and Gentleman, the most exciting stage show you’ve ever witnessed”.  Then from that mellow beginning comes the shift from park to third gear with the beat box, the drum machine and the “oh my god”.  This was Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew, the song was The Show.  From Tony the Tiger, to “6 minutes” to the horror music sounding bridge, this was something new, something that grabbed me and took me away from my loneliness for 6 minutes.  From that moment, I was hooked.  I began to immerse myself.  Run DMc, Grandmaster Flash, EPMD, Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys, the music gave my life a soundtrack.  Through the darkness and depression, old school, as it is now called, gave my life a light, even if it was for only 3 minutes at a time.  Brown Sugar is a movie rooted in two friends love of this music style, and has a consistent undercurrent of the importance of this music on a genre of people.

The number of movies in which there are two best friends who everyone but themselves can see are perfect for each other, number into the 100s at least.  One of the best and most recent examples was Love and Basketball, featuring sports competition as the backdrop for a budding romance and connection.  That movie was heartfelt, emotional and real in its portrayal of both the friendship aspect and the love aspect of these type of relationships.  Sanaa Lathon from L & B is back again in a similar role in Brown Sugar, which uses hiphop music in place of basketball, and has a slightly lighter but similar approach to the same subject. The movie works on many levels, as a historical flashback to the good old days of music, as a representation of the power of friendship and the bond built and as a realistic portrayal of the rocky road that fate can take us down towards happiness. 

Believable performances and chemistry between Diggs and Lathan, strong supporting performance from musicians Mos Def and Queen Latifah, fitting for a movie with a musical undercurrent of the lyrical aspects of life.  The movie is filled with cameos (including the late great Russell Simmons, rest in peace) and an opening tribute and continuous homage to the effect that this truly American musical form had on the lives of so many.  As I stated in my 8-mile review, this musical style was born in the streets and was sometimes the glue that held together otherwise fractured or confusing lives.  In Brown Sugar, they forsake the street aspect, but never the impact or passion behind, hiphop music.

It is smart, cast with real people who have jobs, problems, conflicts and flaws. It deals with real issues, not just cinematically generated ones.  Situations happen in life (such as uncomfortable and coincidental meetings) that are reflected in movies and often typified as “only in the movies” scenarios.  But the truths is, movies reflect reality in all its irony, interactions and painful honesty, as well it should.  Brown Sugar captures all of these things and with its lyrical soundtrack, both figurative and literal, and it truly reflects the powerful bond that music has on all our lives.  Music has the power to give a soundtrack to our lives.  We hear songs, and they generate memories of where we were when we first heard it, or an event that occurred while the song was playing.  Sugar takes this premise and constructs a solid, touching story that gives rhythm and lyrics to the lives of those whom the music touches.  Listen to this film, the music, the dialogue and the message, and the next time you catch yourself singing along and reminiscing about a memory that a song creates, don’t be afraid to get caught up in, and enjoy the moment.

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