Directed by Rusty Cundieff
Chronicling the controversial career of bad boys N.W.H. (Niggaz With Hats), this uproarious 'mockumentary' lampoons all of hardcore rap's hot-button issues. This underground laugh riot recounts the rise, fall and resurrection of a clueless bunch of would-be rappers, Ice Cold, Tone-Def & Tasty Taste performing as N.W.H.
Schieß auf die Weißen, 嘻哈歪传, 嘻哈歪傳
USA Sundance Film Festival USAR 
UK15 UK USA 
"We got some hats now, motherfuckers."
In a perfect world, this would be just as funny as This Is Spinal Tap, but in the world we live in it doesn't quiiiiite get there. It's still hilarious, though, a refreshing, concentrated blast of silliness spoofing NWA, Public Enemy, Ice T playing a cop in New Jack City, probably some stuff I'm not cool enough to know about, and security guards ("Fuck the Security Guards"). New dream is to see it with an audience.
The closest through line we've got from Spinal Tap to The Lonely Island, wearing its inspirations like a snug hat while establishing a proud, genre-bending sound all of its own.
The hit rate isn't quite as tight as it needs to be to make the all-time spoof charts but director Rusty Cundieff makes his vision sing by understanding the secret sauce of the successful parody; A genuine love of your subject where homage and playful pokes can enter the same sold-out arena, less the biting of a stale flow than tasteful, loving intonation of the greats.
Mix in the lo-fi, underground beat that makes up the spine of our backstreet adventure into all things 80's hip hop, circumventing its origin as necessity to sell the gritty aesthetic of MTV-esque rap videos and our motley crew tap into a potent melody as time machine meets archive of an era. 'Fuck the Security Guards' is a certified all-timer.
With a gat in my hands and a hat on my pate!
Pretty damn funny. Not just the rise of fictional rap group NWH (from Tough Neighborhood, USA) but a broad swipe at all the peripheral industry goings on at the time. Some great lines.
“I was a pharmaceutical distributor.”
“Predictability is the stepson of ingenuity.”
“The black man was the first sensitive man. Long before Alan Alda.”
“A ho fucks everybody. A bitch fucks everybody but you.”
“Your album was like dookie on the street. It just sat there and stank.”
As a longtime fan of Rusty Cundief’s TALES FROM THE HOOD (the first one, anyway) I really should have got to this mockumentary sooner. Rusty wrote most of the rap lyrics, and they’re actually tight as well as witty.
Rusty Cundieff's tour-de-force as director/writer/star produced a Spinal Tap for the first decade of the rap genre. Script, performances, wardrobe and especially the songs and videos make this both a love letter and a fine piece of comedy.
Fan of 90s Hip Hop flicks (Boyz n da Hood, Juice, New Jack City, Friday) including an underrated 90s gem: CB4 starring Chris Rock. A mockumentary type film featuring an NWA type group.
I saw "Fear of a Black Hat" once a long time ago and remembered nothing about it today. So this recent re-watch felt fresh. And all I could think of during the first 15 minutes was how much better CB4 was. (They both came out months apart and both films share identical plotlines).
But then, somewhat surprisingly, Fear of a Black Hat found it's groove, and rapidly improved. I also clued in that I wasn't watching an inferior CB4 movie but rather a "This is Spinal Tap"…
“I mean, we have all kinds of hats.”
“I'm talking beanies, Kangols, fedoras...”
“Scarves, babushkas...”
“Baseball caps, beanies.”
“Yarmulkes.”
“Yarmulkes?”
“Yarmulkes! I'm talking about some really fresh motherfucking hats.”
“In a wide variety.”
"And that's what the whole riots was all about. The riots was one big FYW: Fuck Y'all Motherfuckas"
why had i never heard of this before rolling stone mentioned it in an article about NWA i read today?? it's SPINAL TAP but for gangsta rap and it's hilarious. NWH (the H stands for hats) beats up a white rapper named "vanilla sherbet," there's a "black auteur" character named "jike spingleton" who says to camera "to john and to spike and to matty, you stole my shit! i had the hat before you did, i had the glasses before you did, and i was short before you were! ....i'm pissed," and kasi lemmons plays the director of the documentary who says in one of the final scenes "thanks, i like to keep my juices to myself" with a straight…
Back in the nineties, there was a fear,
When some Hats would start to appear.
Led by Ice Cold,
Lyrics were bold,
While starting a big rap career.
I defy you to find a better hat-based satire
There is nothing funnier than one of their albums being named “Straight Outta Da Butt”
In short: N.W.H. > N.W.A.
It’s kinda, like, ‘This is Spinal Tap’ — but told through a Wayans Bros.-esque lens. Like, instead of drummers mysteriously dying, it’s white managers.
I dunno why, this line had me dying:
“The black man was the first sensitive man — long before Alan Alda.” 🤣💀
However, this bit almost had me almost piss, myself:
youtu.be/h5hJzjwn5NY?si=QuwSSJFNAJ_jG9WW
Not a bad watch — but you could just pro’ly YouTube the best clips.
[Watched on Tubi.]
