The 50 Best Hip-Hop Movies and Shows Streaming on Netflix Right Now

Because you need something to watch that isn't Spring Breakers.

By 
Mar 16, 2013
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The canon of what's categorically considered to be a "hip-hop" movie or television show can include films about graffiti, break-dancing, DJs, or rap, let alone any of the things rappers explicitly rap about, sure. But that's not all there is out there.

Krush Groove is a crucial hip-hop movie, but it is as influential or important to hip-hop as Brian De Palma's Scarface? Is the impact of Will Smith and "Fresh Prince" on rap equal to or greater than that of "In Living Color" or "Chappelle's Show"? When sorting out the best of what we considered to be some of the great hip-hop movies and television, we opened up the field a little. Past just documentaries, and stories about rappers. We don't need to tell you. Hip-hop's bigger than that. Just ask some of the Netflix viewership and amateur review movie corps, who have some...interesting...things to say about their favorite flicks that are readily available on Netflix streams. Granted, they don't have all the best movies that hip-hop's yielded or embraced (like, of course, Scarface and Krush Groove). But we found more than a few gems worth watching.

These are The 50 Best Hip-Hop Movies and Shows Streaming on Netflix Right Now. If you don't know, now you know (to stream them before they're gone).

50. I Got The Hook-Up (1998)

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Genre: Comedy/Action
Director: Michael Martin
Starring: Master P and C-Murder. Other people, too, but does anyone else matter?
Worth Watching, Because: There's probably no better way to understand just how big No Limit was in 1998 than by watching this movie and contemplating that someone actually let Master P make it, let alone paid to distribute it. Sometimes, it's actually good. Mostly, it's so-bad-it's-good. Also, you're living a life unexperienced until you've seen C-Murder act.
Netflix Viewers Say: "Although I will say, that this is the best movie that Master P has ever stared in. A.J. Johnson saved this movie."

49. Ghostride the Whip (2008)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: DJ Vlad
Starring: Sway Calloway (Narrator)
Worth Watching, Because: DJ Vlad directed a movie, narrated by Sway Calloway, about hip-hop and the Bay. If that doesn't sell you, nothing will.
Netflix Viewers Say: "Sway sounds like he's reading a storybook to a group of slow children, but other than that, this is a solid documentary about a neglected time and place in hip-hop history."

48. The Big Score (1983)

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Genre: Action
Director: Fred Williamson
Starring: Fred Williamson
Worth Watching, Because: Because Fred Williamson is the shit, and The Big Score—one of the former linebacker and blaxsploitation star's lesser-known flicks, incredibly—is just about Williamson, as a rogue cop, rolling around with two other badasses (Shaft actor Richard Roundtree and Roper from Enter The Dragon), busting a $100 million drug deal, kicking everyone's ass they run into. It's the most low-budget of low-budget blaxploitation classics, and fun for being such.
Netflix Viewers Say: "... not much money in the budget but well done anyway."

47. Phat Beach (1996)

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Genre: Comedy
Director: Doug Ellin
Starring: Coolio, Brian Hooks, Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins"
Worth Watching, Because: The guy who would later go on to create HBO's Entourage once made one of the dumbest (ergo, most hilarious) raunchy late-night comedies of the '90s, however unintentionally. And this was it. And Coolio was in it.
Netflix Viewers Say: "'Phat Beach' is an American institution so incredible, Nertflix doesn't even need to post a trailer. They just know you're here for the goods."

46. Blue Chips (1994)

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Genre: Sports/Drama
Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Shaquille O'Neal, Nick Nolte
Worth Watching, Because: Understanding the entire cover reference behind one of the greatest rapper mixtapes of all time. Also, Shaq's "acting" debut, before he decided to "rap."
Netflix Viewers Say: "Without question, Shaq's greatest movie."

45. 30 for 30: No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson (2010)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Steve James
Starring: Allen Iverson
Worth Watching, Because: Allen Iverson is the player who came to represent the war between the culture of hip-hop in the NBA in the late '90s/early '00s, and the efforts by the owners and the league to quell it. This is the definitive origin story that explains how he came to be that person—or rather, almost didn't—expertly told by the same guy who directed Hoop Dreams.
Netflix Viewers Say: "This is a story about a mega superstar who has it made but does not see it."

44. Bucktown (1975)

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Genre: Blaxploitation/Action
Director: Arthur Marks
Starring: Fred Williamson, Pam Grier
Worth Watching, Because: Because Fred Williamson and Pam "Foxy Brown" Grier made a movie together, is why. And you've heard "Bucktown" referenced in two ways in rap. One's to Brooklyn. This, wherein Fred Williamson goes down south to bury his brother, and ends up re-opening his old nightclub, only to find enemies in the local police force, and kick the shit out of them is the other one.
Netflix Viewers Say: "This is one of my favorite Fred Williamson films. Pam Grier is hot. They make a hot couple."

43. Wu-Tang Clan: Live at Montreux 2007

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Genre: Concert/Documentary
Director: N/A
Starring: The Wu-Tang Clan
Worth Watching, Because: Because, odds are, you're never going to see this many members of the Wu-Tang Clan in the same place, at the same time. And if seeing this many members of the Wu-Tang Clan together in the same place, at the same time isn't on your bucket list, it really, really should be.
Netflix Viewers Say: "It was good It would have been better if ODB was there."

42. Foxy Brown (1974)

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Genre: Blaxploitation/Action
Director: Jack Hill
Starring: Pam Grier
Worth Watching, Because: You know the rapper, and of course, the countless references, sure, but do you know the blaxploitation heroine who inspired her name? Pam Grier set the bar for female action heroes who kick ass as Foxy, and per her name, also happened to be a dime.
Netflix Viewers Say: "my personal favorite part is when Miss Grier clad in leather pants shows up to the bad girls house and presents her with her BF's dismembered member."

41. Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel: The Life of an Outlaw (2002)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Peter Spirer
Starring: Tupac Shakur (Footage)
Worth Watching, Because: The most prolific documentarian in hip-hop went all in on Tupac Shakur, and produced a movie that—while not as popular as Tupac: Resurrection—was one of the first truly comprehensive (and remains one of the most essential) documentaries to capture the brilliant essence of 'Pac in a meaningful, profound way.
Netflix Viewers Say: "I THOUGHT I KNEW ALOT ABOUT PAC BUT AFTER THIS I WAS SADLY MISTAKEN ALSO IT WAS NICE TO KNOW PEOPLE CLOSE TO HIM BELIEVE THE LAST PIC TAKEN BEFORE HE WAS SHOOT THAT HE KNEW IT WAS COMING. R.I.P. TUPAC"

40. The Untouchables (1987)

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Genre: Action
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, Robert De Niro
Worth Watching, Because: While it might not be one of those other Brian DePalma movies referenced by every other rapper countless times over the last twenty years (Carlito's Way and Scarface, but like that needed explaining), references to The Untouchables and its characters have made their way through some of the most famous rap songs out there ("California Love" "Ready or Not," etc, etc). Get to know the inspiration, a killer movie with an all-star cast, a brilliant director, and not too bad of a screenwriter on it, either (Glengarry Glen Ross wordsmith David Mamet).
Netflix Viewers Say: "I see why De Palma is Tarantino's favorite Director. I like his style."

39. The Human Tornado (Dolemite II) (1976)

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Genre: Blaxploitation/Action
Director: Cliff Roquemore
Starring: Rudy Ray Moore as fucking Dolemite.
Worth Watching, Because: Rudy Ray Moore as Dolemite is the peak of blaxploitation ass-kicking greatness, and a reference point for everyone from A$AP Rocky to Action Bronson and back. You want to know what Snoop was talking about when he said he was "pimping hoes and clocking a grip like my name was Dolomite." Even if you don't know it yet, yes, you really, really want to know.
Netflix Viewers Say: "Forget generic blaxploitation stuff - they're Disney compared to The Human Tornado ! So screamingly crude and funny - and weird - you'll die laughing."

38. Bling (2007)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Raquel Cepeda
Starring: Raekwon, Paul Wall, Kanye West, Jadakiss
Worth Watching, Because: Diamonds, an entire sub-category of subject matter and ubiquitous fixture of rap, have a human price. Watching two rappers (Raekwon and Paul Wall) go to war-torn Sierra Leone to see what the diamond trade actually involves is an eye-opening experience, both for the rappers (kind of, see below) and any hip-hop fan who thinks they've given the matter an appropriate amount of thought.
Netflix Viewers Say: "How on EARTH can you argue with the owner of a diamond industrial company (IN Sierra Leone, mind you) about his business being unethical and unconcerned with the struggle of the people when you have three diamond chains around your neck?I"

37. Jamie Foxx: I Might Need Security (2001)

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Genre: Stand-Up
Director: Chuck Vinson
Starring: Jamie Foxx
Worth Watching, Because: Jamie Foxx is funny, but his story about that time LL Cool J assaulted him on the set of Any Given Sunday is straight-up incredible, which goes without mentioning his entire insta-classic "punch in the club" routine.
Netflix Viewers Say: "THIS SHIOT RIGHT HERE IS Hilarious with a capital H!! I LOVE YOU JAMIE FOXX!!"

36. Rhyme & Punishment (2009)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Peter Spirer
Starring: KRS-One, Slick Rick, Beanie Sigel
Worth Watching, Because: Prison—and the millions of black American men in it—is a constant, ominous theme in rap, and a not-uncommon narrative in the rise and fall of many a rapper legacy. Peter Spirer put the two themes together, and as always, delivered essential viewing.
Netflix Viewers Say: "Who ever is saying the artist represented in this documentary are addicts and crack heads are not giving this film justice."


RELATED: The 25 Realest Rap Songs About Prison


35. Backstage (2000)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Chris Fiore
Starring: Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man, Redman, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek
Worth Watching, Because: You never knew that watching Dame Dash scream on Kevin Liles would be the most inspiring thing you'd see this weekend. Also, over a decade later, it's nothing short of amazing to watch a young Ja Rule, young DMX, and young-ish Jay-Z, each on their respective rises to the top. It's easy to forget, but the Hard Knock Life tour was a groundbreaking national rap tour.
Netflix Viewers Say: "...not only does this take me back to my favorite age of hip hop, the goals and attitude of Damon "Dame" Dash inspires me."

34. The MC: Why We Do It (2005)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Peter Spirer
Starring: Mekhi Phifer (Narrator)
Worth Watching, Because: It's a documentary about MCs, and not just what it means to be one, but what a rise to the top actually entails: business, industry contacts, networking, and where talent or hard work will (or won't) take you. Also, the assembled group of subjects and interviews? All-Stars. Think KRS-One, Rakim, Kanye West, MC Lyte, Too Short, and Common, and Jay-Z.
Netflix Viewers Say: "THIS IS THE TRUE MEANING OF 'REAL HIP HOP'"

33. Copyright Criminals (2009)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Benjamin Franzen, Kembrew McLeod
Starring: George Clinton, Chuck D, El-P
Worth Watching, Because: There could be a documentary alone just on the arguments for, arguments against, legal ramifications, and artistic impact of sampling, an essential component of hip-hop. And in 2009, there was. Chuck D, El-P, George Clinton and others weigh in on the matter, not offering up any top-to-bottom solutions, but still giving a colorful voice and ideas to one where there wasn't before.
Netflix Viewers Say: "Eclectic Method are posers... just had to get that out there; this movie makes them look like fools too! Entertaining movie."

32. Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Rock (1992)

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Genre: Comedy
Director: N/A
Starring: Chris Rock
Worth Watching, Because: When rap references finally made it onto Saturday Night Live in a meaningful (i.e. funny) way, it was a crucial, breakthrough moment in both comedy and for hip-hop, and Chris Rock was the first person to truly take it to the places it needed to go on NBC's weekly marquee comedy show. But, mostly: for Nat-X and the "Russell Simmons Presents: Def Magic Show Jam" skit with Tim Meadows.
Netflix Viewers Say: "omg this was so funny its waz hilarious best part w/commetary wen u he wears red jacket and in a jamaican accent says leave me alone charlie brown hahahahaahaa"

31. Gridlock'd (1997)

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Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Vondie Curtis-Hall
Starring: Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth
Worth Watching, Because: Tupac had acting chops and charisma, of course, but comic chops? Along with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction actor Tim Roth, 'Pac's final (and most unlikely) movie role as a junkie illustrates the extent of his talents beyond rapping.
Netflix Viewers Say: "This movie is good for some laffs but still has some serious under tones but I say let your hair down and enjoy a run thru the city !!! (fsuuncle)"

30. Snow on Tha Bluff (2011)

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Genre: Indie/Drama
Director: Damon Russell
Starring: Curtis Snow, Cat Erikson
Worth Watching, Because: It's the Blair Witch Project of what life in Atlanta's toughest neighborhood is like. A found-footage style drama that tore up the film festival circuit in 2011, causing riots and prompting the Atlanta police to contact the filmmakers about its seeming veracity, Snow on Tha Bluff might be fake, it might be real, but whatever it actually is, it's one hell of a ride through modern-day Atlanta's crack dealing scene. Of course, if you're a T.I. fan, you already know that the film's "star," Curtis Snow, was put in the video for "Trap Back Jumpin" after the Atlanta rapper saw the film.
Netflix Viewers Say: "THIS MOVIE WILL BE THE #1 GANGSTA MOVIE OF ALL TIME IN A COUPLE YEARS."

29. Rhyme & Reason (1997)

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Genre: Documentaries
Director: Peter Spirer
Starring: Diddy, Too $hort, B-Real, Kurtis Blow, Da Brat, Grandmaster Caz, and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs
Worth Watching, Because: This film about the popularity of rap and the direction it was headed in 1997—when it was reaching new peaks of pop culture crossover—might be the best of hip-hop documentarian Peter Spirer's work, and it's easily the best cast of talking heads (Diddy, Too Short, Chuck D, Dr. Dre, Erick Sermon, Busta Rhymes, et al) he'd ever assemble.
Netflix Viewers Say: "There is basically at least one scene to be enjoyed by any hip-hop fan."

28. American Pimp (2000)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Various pimps, literally.
Starring: Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes
Worth Watching, Because: It's worth knowing how card-carrying pimps differentiate from rappers who claim to be pimps. There's a reason the old rap adage isn't "Pimping: Easy as hell." Want to know why? And what it actually entails? Well, enjoy this landmark documentary, which may as well be the last word and ultimate reference point on the matter. One watch, and you'll never want to call yourself a pimp again.
Netflix Viewers Say: "CHURCH! this documentary was pretty awesome, shows first hand accounts of real pimps, if your a square you probably wont appreciate this level of game. Also, great soundtrack."

27. Bad Boys (1995)

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Genre: Action
Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence
Worth Watching, Because: It's Will Smith, at some of his most R-rated greatness, a rare part of the Fresh Prince's legacy that people forget. Teamed with Martin Lawrence—also a creator of a revolutionary, hip-hop culture driven sitcom—the duo as misbehaving cops with filthy mouths and stunting tendencies aren't just the center of a '90s action classic, or a buddy cop movie classic, but what would essentially be the mirror version of every rap song about smuggling blow.
Netflix Viewers Say: "martin and will is funny i like bad boys movie they need to get together and make another one." [Ed. They did, and it's called Bad Boys 2.]

26. Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982)

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Genre: Stand-Up
Director: Joe Layton
Starring: Richard Pryor
Worth Watching, Because: It's one of the greatest comedians of all time—whose influence on hip-hop (and hip-hop humor) is nearly ubiquitous—performing some of his finest and most legendary standup routines.
Netflix Viewers Say: "Well there's not much to say. If you don't watch this and understand why he's a comic genius then you don't know comedy."

25. Paris is Burning (1990)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Jennie Livingston
Starring: A bunch of drag queens.
Worth Watching, Because: As rappers like Mykki Blanco, Big Freedia, Katy Red, and Zebra Katz begin to get their due time in the spotlight, it's important to keep in mind the minority drag scene in New York in the early '90s (and the rise of "vogueing") that would help shape their identities, captured nowhere better than this award-sweeping documentary.
Netflix Viewers Say: "L.E.G.E.N.D.A.R.Y"

24. Paid In Full (2002)

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Genre: Drama/Action
Director: Charles Stone III
Starring: Mekhi Phifer, Wood Harris, Chi McBride, and Cam'ron. Yes, Cam'ron.
Worth Watching, Because: You want to see Cam'ron act in a movie with Wood Harris and Mekhi Phifer about—what else?—the Harlem crack game. Who doesn't? Dipset for all the Oscars.
Netflix Viewers Say: "Phenomenal movie! F*** the haters, get outa here with that sh*t."

23. The Up in Smoke Tour (2000)

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Genre: Concert/Documentary
Director: Phillip Atwell
Starring: Eminem, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg
Worth Watching, Because: Most people don't know what a Dr. Dre comeback was really like—and how incredible it was—unless you bought 2001 the day it came out, or, alternately, went to one of these shows. 
Netflix Viewers Say: "Yo this dvd behind the scenes is hott!All the stuff you didnt see at the concert and more Dre and Snoop deffinetly held nothin back in here!"

22. Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life (2007)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Peter Spirer
Starring: B.I.G. (Footage), Diddy
Worth Watching, Because: It's a brilliant documentary about B.I.G., filled with archival footage you've probably never seen, that manages to be great even without getting any music actually licensed for it.
Netflix Viewers Say: "Who cares if there wasn't any of his music in the documentary. I already know every biggie song by heart."

21. The Warriors (1979)

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Genre: Action
Director: Walter Hill
Starring: Michael Beck, James Remar
Worth Watching, Because: The pop culture template for New York City hoodlum trouble, at its grittiest and most hood. Also, getting to know the inspiration for the infamous Diddy "Baaaaad Booooyyyyy, come out and playyyyyy" intro on the "Flava In Ya Ear" remix.
Netflix Viewers Say: "I'm 20 now and can safely say that I have seen this masterpiece more times than I have masterbaited. An absolutely incredible film."

20. Juice (1992)

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Genre: Drama
Director: Ernest R. Dickerson
Starring: Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur
Worth Watching, Because: Even ignoring the incredible soundtrack ("Know the Ledge"!) this was a landmark film, the original Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City. Tupac's portrayal of Bishop was brutal, and convincing in his character's mercilessness long before The Wire ever came around. Juice wasn't just hip-hop because of its setting and soundtrack, but because it tackled one of the central moral conflicts brewing in hip-hop culture.
Netflix Viewers Say: "yo man this movie be good as heck, I was all surprised at the end tho how that ni**a didnt just let him go for shooting all his homies."

19. Jay-Z: Reasonable Doubt (Classic Albums) (2007)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Jeremy Marre
Starring: Everyone who made Reasonable Doubt, basically.
Worth Watching, Because: It's a step-by-step look at the creation of one of the greatest rap albums (let alone debuts) in the history of the genre, with almost all of the behind-the-scenes players at the forefront. If you like Reasonable Doubt, or just great rap albums, you absolutely need to see this.
Netflix Viewers Say: "After 2006 I stopped really listening to much Jay-Z but I always appreciated his flow from 1996 (when I started listening to rap I actually started with Bad Boy LOL so I got to Roc-a-Fella really quick bc they collab'd a lot in the 90s) through Black Album (2004)."

18. Pootie Tang (2001)

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Genre: Comedy
Director: Louis C.K.
Starring: Lance Crouther, J.B. Smoove, Jennifer Coolidge, Reg E. Cathey, Robert Vaughn, and Wanda Sykes
Worth Watching, Because: Initially built on a skit from the "Chris Rock Show," Pootie Tang was written by a then still-obscure Louis C.K. While it may not have turned out exactly how he desired—the comedian was fired during the editing process, and Roger Ebert once famously said it should never have been released—the film is still a hysterical and somewhat absurd satire of blaxsploitation films of the '70s. The primary conceit—that main character Pootie Tang spoke in a pidgen-esque dialect understood by all characters but none of the audience members—manages to sustain the running time, even if the loose ends of a "plot" do not.
Netflix Viewers Say: "Sign my pitty on the runny kine. My hamey din da jizzle bootay. My hiney potamey happy time furshizzle kabobs. Amen."

17. Beef (2003)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Peter Spirer
Starring: Ving Rhames (Narrator), 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Nas
Worth Watching, Because: It's a master class in hip-hop feuding history. For such a defining component of contemporary hip-hop, beefs have only gotten one perfectly definitive documentary (or three, if you count Beef's two sequels), and this is that movie.  
Netflix Viewers Say: "This movie is one hell of an emotional, triumphant as well as desperate journey towards greed and pride."

16. Cocaine Cowboys (2006)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Billy Corben
Starring: A bunch of 80s Miami coke smugglers.
Worth Watching, Because: You think you know gangsters, but you don't know gangsters. This film breaks down how Miami went from a sleepy town to the cocaine capital of America in the '70s and '80s, spelled out through interviews with law enforcement agents, the dealers, the enforcers, and the smugglers about how it all went down, via harrowing firsthand tales about reckless shootouts in malls, the ruthless murdering of dozens of people (including a heartbreaking story about a murdered baby), and just how cocaine was smuggled back in the those days. We'll never look at tow trucks the same again. 
Netflix Viewers Say: "born and raised just off bird road since 1942 this movie is right on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

15. Marley (2012)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Bob Marley (footage), Everyone who's anyone in reggae.
Starring: Kevin MacDonald
Worth Watching, Because: Bob Marley's music brought about the rise of an entire genre, which is to say nothing of its effect on modern day hip-hop (and the musical legacy he left behind with his children, Damien and Ziggy among them). This is the ultimate documentary on the man; you need not watch any other.
Netflix Viewers Say: "I've seen quite a few movies about Bob, but this one is, by far, exceptional. May he live in the hearts of all of us forever. ONE LOVE!"

14. Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap (2012)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Ice-T
Starring: Ice-T, Eminem, Common, Big Daddy Kane, Common, and Dr. Dre.
Worth Watching, Because: Ice-T's narration and connections in rap remind you that he was always a better rapper than he is a cop on Law and Order. Also, there's never been a better documentary about the creative process behind rapping, and the work and ingenuity that it actually involves. 
Netflix Viewers Say: "If you like rap, this is a 5 star documentary. It's funny to see Ice get pi$$ed off at random people on the street."

13. "American Gangster" (2006-2008)

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Genre: Crime TV Documentary
Director: N/A
Starring: Ving Rhames (Narrator)
Worth Watching, Because: Hip-hop and American gangs have had a mutually beneficial—and, often, mutually self-destructive—relationship throughout the genre's existence. So while not explicitly hip-hop per se, certain episodes are particularly relevant to the average rap fan. Check out, in particular, Season Three, Episode Nine, which covers the Romper Room Gang, a group of hooligans who robbed pizza parlors in order to finance the recording artist of Mac Dre, whose storyline is featured prominently.
Netflix Viewers Say: "The one on J Edgar Hoover was a character assassination piece!"

12. Colors (1988)

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Genre: Action/Drama
Director: Dennis Hopper
Starring: Sean Penn, Robert Duvall, Don Cheadle, Damon Wayans
Worth Watching, Because: Before there was Boyz N Tha Hood, before there was any number of L.A. '90s gangland movies, there was this one: The first great dramatization about cops getting involved in the wars between Bloods and Crips, with an all-star cast and a director who knows a thing or two about movies involving gang violence (see: Easy Rider). Doubt the reality of the film, though? Know this: Two gang members hired to protect the set were shot during the movie's filming in L.A.
Netflix Viewers Say: "What the hell crapflix this was on Watch Now and now its gone? WHAT THE HELL YOU BLOW NiTFLIX im goning to stop paying. and start Googling my shows to watch LIVE FOR FREE hahaha." [Ed. Since this review, Colors has resurfaced on Netflix.]

11. Hoop Dreams (1994)

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Genre: Documentaries
Director: Steve James
Starring: William Gates, Arthur Agee
Worth Watching, Because: You wouldn't believe it if you saw it, but this wasn't even meant to be a feature film. PBS documentarians wanted to make a 30-minute show about basketball in the inner-city but what they found was so much more. If the drama in Hoop Dreams were made in any fictional story, it would have been considered overly dramatic but life is so much stranger than fiction, offering ironies and changes of fates for the two young boys in this story. Hoop Dreams isn't just one of the best sports films ever made, it's one of the best documentaries ever, period. 
Netflix Viewers Say: "Epic, poignant, insightful, uplifting, heartbreaking, maddening and still as pertinent and vital as it was when it was created."

RELATED: The 25 Greatest Sports Documentaries of All Time

10. Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987)

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Genre: Stand-Up
Director: Robert Townsend
Starring: Eddie Murphy
Worth Watching, Because: Of all the insta-classic brilliant comic moments, like when Eddie Murphy impersonates Richard Pryor telling him that Bill Cosby is a "Jell-O-puddin' eatin' mutherfucka." Murphy's been a comic inspiration to many a rapper, and Raw—two nights of Murphy, at the Garden, in the '80s—is the man doing stand-up at his finest. 
Netflix Viewers Say: "Eddie Murphy back when he was actually funny...not the terrible cleaned up version of himself that he is now...what a shame."

9. Fresh (1994)

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Genre: Drama
Director: Samuel L. Jackson, Giancarlo Esposito, Sean Nelson
Starring: Boaz Yakin
Worth Watching, Because: Gus from Breaking Bad, playing another drug lord, except in 1992, he was having a 12-year-old kid (whose dad is Samuel L. Jackson as an alcoholic chessmaster) run drugs for him. It's an old-school crime flick about the early '90s crack trade with a Shakespearean twist, and was the first movie Quentin Tarantino's go-to producer Lawrence Bender turned out after Reservoir Dogs. And the soundtrack (Wu-Tang, Cold Crush Brothers, Grandmaster Flash) is sick.
Netflix Viewers Say: "This movie had the sensibilities of 'Finding Forrester', with plot twists and turns like 'The Usual Suspects' with tongue-in-cheek violence like 'Pulp Fiction'."

8. Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Stacey Peralta
Starring: Forest Whitaker (Narrator).
Worth Watching, Because: There's a lot of rap about gang violence, and a lot of fictionalized accounts of it, but there's never been a real-deal look into the gangland wars that continue to this day quite like this one. And Stacy Peralta, who also directed two of the greatest documentaries about skateboarding and surfing (Dogtown and Z-Boys and Riding Giants) ain't no slouch, either. 
Netflix Viewers Say: "As a psychologist who worked in the Calif juvenile justice prison system from 1979-2008, almost 30 years, I want to say this movie spells it all out."

7. Coming To America (1988)

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Genre: Comedy
Director: John Landis
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones
Worth Watching, Because: Rap is strewn with references bound to fly over your head unless you haven't seen this. Is this the funniest film of the last 25 years? Or the single greatest New York City comedy ever? You can debate those questions, but you can't argue that this was Eddie Murphy at his finest, playing several characters along with Arsenio Hall. Unlike Murphy's later films, the characters are subtle (relatively speaking) compared to the outlandish and decidedly unfunny characters he'd play in later in his career, donning fat suit after fat suit. The film has everything you can ask for in a classic comedy: Memorable characters like Cleo McDowell, an innovative, brilliantly fun storyline, and most crucial to its legacy, endless quotables ("When you think of garbage, think of Akeem!").
Netflix Viewers Say: "This is my favorite movie after Goonies."

6. Beat Street (1984)

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Genre: Drama
Director: Stan Lathan
Starring: Rae Dawn Chong, Guy Davis
Worth Watching, Because: Not only was one of the very first wide-release films to accurately portray hip-hop's cultural elements beyond rap—breakdancing, graffiti, DJing—and to actually feature rap music; not only does it offer cameos by some of rap's greatest legends and hall-of-famers (Rock Steady Crew, Melle Mel and The Furious Five, DJ Kool Herc, Doug E. Fresh, et al); it's a movie with a plot that revolves around a DJ who wants to perform at The Roxy.
Netflix Viewers Say: "I will not even TRY to review this movie. There is not enough room to even start. Ill just say, I know every line, every move, every inch of this work of art. It is my favorite movie of all time. I've watched it since I was 6 years old."

5. Boyz N the Hood (1991)

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Genre: Drama
Director: John Singleton
Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Laurence Fishburne, Ice Cube, Morris Chestnut, and Angela Bassett
Worth Watching, Because: It's the ultimate '90s gangland movie—South Central gangsta rap, manifest—that scared the shit out of an entire nation and gave America's moral majority serious cause for concern, and one of the few that continues to age so, so well to this day. 
Netflix Viewers Say: "This is one of the most amazing films made in 1990s."

4. Style Wars (1983)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Tony Silver
Starring: A bunch of graffiti writers and Ed Koch.
Worth Watching, Because: As a document of early hip-hop culture—not just graf writing, but the breakdancing, rapping, and the entire sense of place and time—nothing compares to Style Wars. Although it lets all sides of the story get a voice (from one teenage bomber's mother to the late Ed Koch himself) the film was notable for putting a human face to what many New Yorkers had seen as a chaotic plague.
Netflix Viewers Say: "Growing up in Brooklyn in the 70's/early 80's and seeing these masterpeices 30 years later and yelling "Dondi" or "Seen" is magical. Brought back so many memories and reminds me of the days when I'd tag myself. I just wish I had the talent to do what these guys did."

3. Hustle & Flow (2005)

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Genre: Drama
Director: Craig Brewer
Starring: Terrence Howard, Ludacris, Anthony Anderson, and DJ Qualls
Worth Watching, Because: Of the way it documents a southern rapper's rise, and never lets viewers' attention wander. Most notably, the scene where the Terrence Howard, DJ Qualls, and Anthony Anderson put the beat, the lyrics, and the hook together to create (and hear, for the first time) one of the most memorable songs to ever win an Oscar: Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp." 
Netflix Viewers Say: "This movies is dhe shittt ii love whoop datt trick and ihtt hard outt hea for a pimp Hott as hell songs Terrence Howard is a great actor keep makein movies :)"

2. The Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 (2011)

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Genre: Documentary
Director: Göran Olsson
Starring: Questlove, Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu
Worth Watching, Because: The film, compiled of unearthed archival footage of the black power movement, is one of the greatest collections of reference points towards understanding anything even remotely related to quote-unquote "conscious rap" (and not-so "conscious rap") that you're ever going to find, as told by some of the most essential names in hip-hop. It's stunning, touching, and brilliant. 
Netflix Viewers Say: "This documentary was worth my monthly fee"

1. "Chappelle's Show" (2003-2005)

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Genre: Comedy
Director: Dave Chappelle/Neal Brennan
Starring: Dave Chappelle, Charlie Murphy
Worth Watching, Because: Chappelle made some of the greatest jokes about hip-hop and rap culture ever put on television, which goes without mentioning the musical acts (Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Snoop Dogg with a bunch of hood-ass muppets) he aired with them.
Netflix Viewers Say: "Probably the most intelligent comedy series about the racism and the have and have-nots ever written. With fart jokes. And titties."

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