The Best Music Documentaries on Netflix Right Now

From 'Lil Peep: Everybody's Everything' to 'Taylor Swift: Miss Americana,' here are the best music documentaries on Netflix to binge on while self-distancing.

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Complex Original

via Complex Original

netflix music documentaries complex

Netflix has plenty of great options for music fans. Whether you want to dive deep into an obscure subgenre from a continent you've never been to, or you just want to watch Beyoncé's new concert film during a lunch break, there is a music documentary waiting for you. There are so many music docs to choose from that it's actually a little overwhelming, so we narrowed down a list of the best options currently streaming on Netflix. From in-depth films about legends like Quincy and Amy to docs about new artists like Travis Scott to wide-ranging docuseries like Hip-Hop Evolution, these are the best music documentaries on Netflix right now.

Lil Peep: Everybody’s Everything

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Year: 2019

Director: Sebastian Jones and Ramez Silyan

Before Lil Peep’s tragic death in 2017, he was well on his way to becoming one of the biggest artists in music, after coming from underground emo rap beginnings. Everybody's Everything—featuring interviews with friends, family, and music industry experts—outlines the life of Gustav Elijah Åhr from his childhood in Long Beach, New York, to his overdose death in a tour bus at the age of 21. It's an intimate look at the life of a fascinating, endlessly talented artist, and if you still aren't convinced, take Drake's word for it. "I just watched the Lil Peep documentary on Netflix, which is a really genius documentary on Netflix," he told Rap Radar in late 2012. "You should watch it. I didn't really know too much about him at the time, but now all of a sudden, I'm deeply invested in the career that he had. People don't understand how overwhelming it is for these young kids, man." —Eric Skelton

Travis Scott: Look Mom I Can Fly

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Year: 2019

Director: White Trash Tyler

Look Mom I Can Fly takes fans behind the scenes of the biggest year in Travis Scott’s career so far. While the film focuses on the creation of his 2018 album, ASTROWORLD, it also chronicles his humble beginnings in Houston and rise to superstardom. Compared to other popular celebrity documentaries, we get less of an inside look at Trav’s personal life with Kylie Jenner and their daughter Stormi, but the doc excels most when it shows clips from his recording and creating process. This film is best for diehard ragers and fans interested in learning more about Scott’s creative process. —Jessica McKinney 

Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé

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Year: 2019

Directors: Beyoncé, Ed Burke


One year after we all crowded around YouTube streams of Beyoncé's performance at Coachella 2018, the iconic performance is now available to watch on Netflix (in HD with better camera angles!) in the form of Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé. Supplemented by behind-the-scenes footage, as well as narration from Beyoncé herself, the film provides new insights into how she pulled it all off. “I definitely pushed myself further than I knew I could,” she admits at one point. “I will never, never push myself that far again.” Written, co-directed, and executive produced by Beyoncé herself, Homecoming sets a new standard for modern concert films. —Eric Skelton

Reincarnated

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Year: 2012

Director: Andy Capper


Remember when Snoop Dogg said he was tired of rapping, changed his name to Snoop Lion, and went to Jamaica to record a reggae album? Well, it was all caught on film. VICE’s Reincarnated documentary follows Snoop along his journey in Jamaica as he collaborates with reggae artists and transforms into his new Rastafari self. This is a thrilling up-close look at a fascinating chapter in the career of an icon. —Eric Skelton

Rapture

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Year: 2018

Director: Steven Caple Jr., Marcus A. Clarke, Geeta Gandbhir, Sacha Jenkins, Gabriel Noble, Ben Selkow

When discussing the future of the music industry, it is important to reflect on those who built it from the bottom up and the artists currently making waves. That’s where Rapture comes in, a Netflix documentary series about hip-hop in 2018. A product of Mass Appeal, Rapture uncovers the current state of the genre and explores its global impact through in-depth interviews with stars ranging from Logic to Nas. Each episode dives into the lives of different performers, taking you through their tours, private lives, and their unabating desire to hustle. —Alessandra Maldonado

Taylor Swift: Miss Americana

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Year: 2020

Director: Lana Wilson


After Tiller director Lana Wilson delves into another controversial, emotionally charged subject here: Taylor Swift. Wilson takes a seemingly endless amount of archival material and shapes it into a story about Swift trying to shed her lifelong need for approval, and to be thought of as good; and instead to express her whole self—including, most notably, her political views. It’s not an accident that the doc’s end credits song is the post-election number “Only the Young.”Shawn Setaro

ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke

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Year: 2019

Director: Kelly Duane de la Vega

When Sam Cooke died in 1964, a feeling of defeat lingered over the country. His death worked as a double-edged sword, eliminating his music and the legacy of social change he spent the last few decades building (hence the title of the documentary). Narrated by some of soul music’s most influential figures in Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warrick, and Quincy Jones, ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke details Sam Cooke’s peerless voice, how he steadily crept up the charts in direct competition with Elvis Presley, and how he used songs like Bob Dylan’s “Blowin” as inspiration to record “A Change Is Gonna Come,” to evoke racial equality. In just over an hour, ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke is full of stories that show something that Sam Cooke and Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, and Malcolm X had in common: using their platform to improve the world. —Kemet High

Quincy

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Year: 2018

Director: Rashida Jones, Alan Hicks

The story of Quincy Jones is inimitable—so inimitable that you could argue no one should ever make a movie about him because they wouldn’t get it correct. But if your daughter happens to be Rashida Jones—aka Ann Perkins from Pawnee and a celebrated documentarian in her own right—you’d give it a go. Released in September by Netflix and directed by Jones and Alan Hicks, Quincy traces the story of one of the century’s most culturally impactful musicians through crippling poverty during the Great Depression, his early years playing with Frank Sinatra, and eventually producing mega-hits like Thriller for Michael Jackson. At just over two hours, Quincy could have used some time on the editing table, but when you have a career so expansive and spectacular, it can be difficult to cut things out. The documentary is definitely a far cry from his outrageous GQ interview in early 2018, but Quincy paints a more holistic picture of Jones as a father, artist, innovator and musical pioneer. —Kate Ebeling

What Happened, Miss Simone?

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Year: 2015

Director: Liz Garbus

There are few do-it-all artists quite like Nina Simone; her musical range spanned through genres including jazz, R&B, and blues, propelling her into stardom. Simone, born Eunice Waymon, got her start as a practicing musician while taking private piano lessons and performing at small clubs and bars before she turned into a household name. What Happened, Miss Simone? is an ode to a musical legend and civil rights activist who has forever changed the landscape of the music industry. —Alessandra Maldonado

FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened

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Year: 2019

Director: Chris Smith

Remember Fyre Festival? The Ja Rule-backed musical event was supposed to be the festival of the century, putting Coachella to shame and becoming the new hot spot for millennial influencers? Instead, it was a complete disaster that unearthed criminal activity. It's now known as one of the biggest scams in history. FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened is a fascinating documentary that provides an in-depth look at the failed festival and its criminal mastermind, Billy McFarland, who defrauded investors out of millions. The doc premiered on Netflix days after Hulu’s Fyre Fraud, but it is arguably the better film with a lot more payoff. Although Hulu’s documentary includes interviews with McFarland, Netflix tells a more well-rounded story with anecdotes from McFarland’s inner circle, construction workers on the Bahamian island where the festival was set to take place, and other players caught up in the scandal. —Jessica McKinney

Taylor Swift Reputation Stadium Tour

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Year: 2019

Director: Paul Dugdale

If you didn't personally contribute to the $345.7 million in ticket sales for Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018 and you were hoping to see what the fuss was all about, you're in luck: Taylor began the new year in 2019 with a concert documentary on Netflix. Shot on the final night of the U.S. tour in front of 60,000 Dallas fans, the film captures the larger-than-life experience of a Taylor Swift show. Outside of a few backstage shots after the credits, this doesn't reveal much about Swift's life outside of music, but it's the best documentation we've seen yet of the over-the-top pop spectacle she's able to produce. —Eric Skelton

Sample This

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Year: 2013

Director: Dan Forrer

If you've listened to any hip-hop at all, you've surely heard the unmistakable "Apache" break—it's been sampled in well over 500 songs. But the story of how the track, by the strangely named Incredible Bongo Band (which wasn't a band at all, but rather a collection of studio musicians put together by an eccentric founder) moved into ubiquity is strange and fascinating. This superb and necessary doc traces that journey through a series of wild events, including world-changing assassinations and tragic murders, before ending at the track's current b-boy ubiquity. —Shawn Setaro

Surviving R. Kelly

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Gaga: Five Foot Two

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Year: 2017

Director: Chris Moukarbel

To everyone who does not identify as a Little Monster, Lady Gaga likely seems like an enigma. It’s a fair assumption. Ever since that blood-soaked 2009 VMA performance of “Paparazzi,” Gaga has upped the artistic ante in pop music, which, while cementing her status as an icon, has made it difficult for us non-stans to parse out the “real” her. Gaga: Five Foot Two follows Lady Gaga as she records, promotes, and releases 2016’s Joanne. And it attempts to lift the veil, much like the stripped-down album itself. We see Gaga experience a number of heartbreaks—the end of her engagement with Taylor Kinney, her best friend Sonja Durham’s battle with cancer, her own chronic pain—and delve into family trauma for both inspiration and solace (the album is named after her late aunt Joanne, who died at age 19). She handles some things with grace, and others with attitude, just like any other human being would. It’s a touching documentary that humanizes Mother Monster. —Carolyn Bernucca

ReMastered: Who Shot The Sheriff

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Year: 2018

Director: Kief Davidson

Bob Marley as a dorm-room-poster, energy-drink-adorning icon is familiar to millions. But the story of Bob Marley, man caught in violent political crosswinds is less well-known. In 1976, there was an attempted assassination of Marley. This Netflix doc, the first in a series about music-related crimes, uses that incident as a jumping-off point to discuss Jamaican politics, gangs, colonialism, and how the attempt ended up, surprisingly and ironically, helping Marley to become an even more popular international superstar. Research and interviews with the singer's friends and family help make an incredibly complex situation understandable and compelling. Plus, any doc that has Vivien Goldman in it is awesome by default. —Shawn Setaro

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

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Year: 2019

Director: Stanley Nelson Jr.

This exhaustive, two-hour 2019 documentary gives us the entire life story of the jazz legend, starting with his birth in 1926. It travels through both the artistic and the personal, talking to biographers, ex-lovers, bandmates, hometown friends, and even legendary promoter George Wein, who tells a sad-but-amusing story about his very first encounter with a strung-out Miles. —Shawn Setaro

Hip-Hop Evolution

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Year: 2016

Director: Darby Wheeler, Sam Dunn, Scott McFadyen

Canadians have a rich tradition of insightful, thorough, and impartial music interviewing, thanks in part to the exemplary work done on television channel MuchMusic over the years—especially newsmagazine show The New Music. It was an incubator for the likes of George Stroumboulopoulos, Denise Donlon and Avi Lewis (hell, even Fox News boob John Roberts). While Canuck rapper Shad’s casual-yet-scholarly hosting style quickly got him booted from his turn hosting Q on CBC Radio, the ghosts of MuchMusic coarse through his leisurely Bronx walk and talks on Hip-Hop Evolution—an HBO Canada original from 2016 now on Netflix. The eight episode series features nearly every living legend, all still keen on sharing their perspective about how the most popular form of music today came to be out of a burning Bronx in the 1970s.

Shad is able to maneuver through the opinionated Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Caz, Afrika Bambaataa, Russell Simmons and Kool Herc, giving them (and other major players) the space to shape the story without leaning too much on one opinion or letting egos get side-tracked. Also, don’t confuse Shad’s limited narration for dispassion. He’s doing what so many MuchMusic hosts have done before: sit back and let the artists tell the story. He’s doing well-worn rap history, so often told along regional lines, the conciliatory Canadian way. —Erik Leijon

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