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| ‘Fear of a Black Hat’ By Richard Harrington Washington Post Staff Writer June 17, 1994 | ||
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That's partly because Cundieff favors the same kind of "cinema verite with a wink" as "Spinal Tap's" Rob Reiner. Take the name, for instance. As N.W.H. leader Ice Cold (Cundieff) explains it, the N.W.H. name and philosophy is derived from slavery times when black men had to work hatless in a hot sun, which rendered them too tired to rebel against their masters. "What we're saying is we got hats now, (expletive)."
Ice Cold -- a fusing of Chuck D and the Ices Cube and T -- often tries to mask his misogynistic or violent lyrics as a political platform, though he's seldom convincing about it ("The butt is like society ... "). He's joined in N.W.H. by the Flavor Flav-ish Tasty-Taste (Larry B. Scott) and chunky DJ Tone Def (Mark Christopher Lawrence). Kasi Lemmons takes on the Reiner role as Nina Blackburn, a PhD candidate doing her thesis on the underbelly of rap.
Since art imitates art imitating life, N.W.H.'s travails have the familiarity of yesterday's news clips. The group finds increasing notoriety and success with numbers like "Kill Whitey" ("We're talking about one specific whitey," Ice Cold explains) and "Guerrillas in the Midst" (a parody of Public Enemy's "By the Time I Get to Arizona"). They get busted and soon they're the subject of public protest -- and regulars on "MTV Rock News" (with Kurt Loder hilarious simply by being his usual self).
The targets in "Black Hat" are delightfully inclusive. They range from an obvious white impostor, Vanilla Sherbet (Devin Kamienny), and egomaniacal film director Jike Spingleton (Eric Laneuville of "St. Elsewhere") to some female stereotypes: the group Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Tyme (who dismiss Salt-N-Pepa with "they common spices") to Cheryl C (Rosemary Jackson), all bobbing attitude and almost the sharpest role in the film.
Not all the targets are worthy, much less hit, but "Black Hat" knocks them all down with equal abandon, from group rivalries to Nation of Islam security. Whether their targets are narrow, broad or obvious, Cundieff and company display a cheerful irreverence that's clearly in tune with the times. "Fear of a Black Hat" is not brilliant, but it's bright enough.
"Fear of a Black Hat" is rated R for language.
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