I Am Hip Hop: The Chicago Hip Hop Documentary

I Am Hip Hop: The Chicago Hip Hop Documentary is about street music. It's about the underground, where hoop dreams are formed and the hardest MCs come to wage verbal warfare. This film is about the rappers that live, breathe, sleep and eat hip hop, who have a one in a million shot and know it. this is their story. I Am Hip Hop offers a snapshot of rap music in Chicago from 2004-2009. 130 artists were interviewed and 500 live performances were videotaped. Forgoing Windy City superstars such as Kanye West, Twista, and Common, I Am Hip Hop ventures into Chicago's subterranean night life, where lyrical wars are waged by hungry MCs eager to make a name for themselves. The film represents all sides and sounds of Chicago rap music - socially conscious backpackers, hardcore gangstas and everyone in between. More than a mere concert film, I Am Hip Hop explores universal themes such as racism, class struggle, urban poverty, gang violence, stereotypes and authenticity. Packed with candid interviews, powerful live performances, all-night studio sessions, and street corner ciphers, I Am Hip Hop offers a backstage pass into the lives and art of Chicago's rap music underground.