What's Beef? is SoapBox's first long-form documentary.  With a “art reflects culture” mantra, this piece serves as a critical analysis of the common critiques of American gangsta rap from the 1980s to early 2010s. It highlights the emergence of the genre in the late 80's as modern cultural response to larger, often ignored, systemic harms in an American social context. Originally an academic paper, this documentary examines the reality behind some of the more criticized images/themes of hip-hop, specifically gangsta rap.  In this deep dive into NWA's forceful breakthrough into mainstream popular culture within the timely context of their fame, journalists and academics alike unpack the projected image of "street culturalism" (violence, disregard for authority, and other gangsta rap credos) and how it is socially, politically, geographically, economically and racially constructed by larger, intergenerational systems of white supremacy and American capitalism.

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​Written, Directed, Produced, Edited, Shot, Animated by Caullen Hudson
Additional Cinematography by Michael Penick
Supported by DePaul University

**Used as part of the curriculum for GEO 399: Independent Study—Hip Hop, Politics and Place at DePaul University, taught by Dr. Euan Hague

Academic Text

“Even in it’s original context, hip-hop was a response to something. Even in the early days in the Bronx in the 1970s hip hop was a response to the lack of public space for Black and Latino youth. It was the response of the gutting of education programs in New York Public Schools. It was a response to the lack of political voice for young black and Latino folks… so hip-hop clearly was a response but most forms of black music and Black expression…has been a response to structural realities."
MARK ANTHONY NEAL | Professor & Author