When rappers turn into actors

Recently, several shots of ASAP Rocky on the set of High & Low, the new film by Spike Lee distributed in theaters by A24, have leaked. The thriller, whose production began in March and whose release date has not yet been announced, is the English-language remake of the 1963 cult film directed by Akira Kurosawa, High and Low. ASAP Rocky joins a cast that already includes Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, and Ice Spice, another name added to the long list of hip-hop artists who have appeared in a film at least once. The boundaries between cinema and hip-hop are very blurred - to the point that they often tend to mix thanks to music videos: there are many that, over time, have drawn inspiration from cult films. Think of the English rapper slowthai, who makes cinematic references the starting point of his music videos.

In Doorman, slowthai reproduces the famous scene from Trainspotting where Mark Renton dives into the toilet drain; the music video for MAZZA - which features ASAP Rocky - draws inspiration from iconic scenes from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and - again - Trainspotting; or the homage to A Clockwork Orange in Inglorious. Clearly, slowthai is not the only artist who has consolidated the liaison between hip-hop and cinema in the genre's history. The music video for Fade, a track from Kanye West's The Life of Pablo, is a blatant rip-off of Flashdance and The Fly and The Olympics by John Carpenter. In short, between cameos and more significant roles, there are several rappers who have appeared in movie scenes, including the most recent one of Post Malone alongside Connor McGregor in the remake of Road House. The most famous remains that of Eminem in 8 Mile, both because the rapper starred as the main actor in the film and because of the film's relevance in mainstream culture. Thanks to 8 Mile, we have memorized the intro of the track Lose Yourself: «Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip».

There are also those who did not limit themselves to cameos, nor as the main actor in a single film, such as Mos Def. The rapper - a long-time friend of Kanye West and a unique character - boasts a respectable film career, which began in 1991 and ended in 2013. Among his most famous appearances is his role in The Italian Job alongside Mark Wahlberg, Jason Statham, and Charlize Theron as the character Left Ear, a demolitions expert in a gang of thieves. Mos Def is not accustomed to playing characters from the hip-hop world: one of his best performances is that of Ford Prefect in the film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - the film is really as far from hip-hop as you can imagine, while his portrayal of Sergeant Lucas in The Woodsman even earned him the Best Actor award at the Black Reel Awards.

There are artists who have made cinema a true stage to get used to criticism. One example above all is Lauryn Hill, who, even before starting her career with the Fugees and then as a solo artist, made her film debut in Sister Act. For Hill, cinema was important not only because it allowed her to prepare for the pressures of "star life", but also because it was through this that she began to present herself to the eyes of the greats of the 90s music scene. As reported by former Atlantic Records CEO Jerry Greenberg, Lauryn Hill received a record contract offer from Michael Jackson for her performance in Sister Act, which she refused because she was working on the Fugees' debut album, Blunted on Reality. In short, considering that Apple has ranked The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as the best album in music history, that is enough to consider cinema-music a winning and perhaps indispensable combination for artists.