Dope

“It’s hard out there for a geek” and Dope is as geeky as the tag line makes it out to be.

Three seniors in high school share a close pack (as well as a hipsterish rock band) due to their overzealous love of 90s hip hop, which main character, Malcolm feels happened between Public Enemy’s, it It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (released in 1988) and Jay-Z’s, the Blue print (released in 2001).

Dope in itself is a geek fest for the filmmakers as it pays the perfect tribute to movies of the 1990’s (especially early 1990’s) influenced by the music at the time.

From the poster I saw of the film I was expecting something light, but the movie gets real heavy at times as well. It’s a real portrayal of everything that’s happening and still going on in the hood.

I must admit, it’s a curve ball when the movie goes from what it means to be “dope” to how to sell “dope”, cause I was only expecting it to be about being “dope”, but a good filmmaker shows you how to role with the punches and that’s what happen here.

Produced by Pharrell Williams, he consulted on the music to pick a large variety of what Hip Hop had to offer. From New Jack Swing to East Coast. My personal favorite was when they used the Instrumental from the Korn song, Blind during a drug using sequence (Only someone who calls themselves a 90s Hip Hop geek would add this).

I can’t help but to think that Pharrel probably sees a lot of himself in Malcolm, a geek who somehow is not black enough because his mind is open to other things outside his own environment (an issue I feel all good artist should have). Dope expresses the message of being yourself and one day, you’ll be as dope as he is.

So if you do love movies like Juice and House Party and Friday, you got to see this one.