In the early 1980s, a film was released that had a profound effect on the history of hip-hop. It seemed unlikely to have any resonance in the rap world -- its director was best known for his self-referential artsiness, the cast featured no prominent roles for African-Americans, and its soundtrack featured off-kilter poppy gloss that was the furthest thing from hard. Its star, a short-statured veteran actor in a colorful and ill-fitting suit, didn't seem like the sort of figure who would become an icon to a coming generation of gangstas. But that's exactly the way it played out, and American culture would never be the same.
The movie, of course, was Pee Wee's Big Adventure.
An entire generation of rappers dissected the film with the precision of the most tenacious deconstructionists. Sampled dialogue from it showed up everywhere. MCs named themselves after the characters both minor and major. The visual style of the movie became required for anyone working in the gangsta rap subgenre for the next 15 years -- the blocky, "wacky" lettering used in Big Adventure's poster art appeared everywhere, and hardly an album was reseased from 1986 to 2000 by a would-be thug-lifer that didn't feature a red-and-white Radio Flyer bike in its graphic design. The Geto Boys -- the hardest of the hard in a medium full of hard men -- virtually built their careers and public personae around Pee Wee's Big Adventure, from their lead rapper Mr. Pee Wee's nom du rap to ambitious concept songs like "Mind Playin' Tricks On Me (I Play Tricks Back)". P.W. Herman's "I'm a loner...a rebel" became the most sampled bit of dialogue in the history of rap music; its only serious competition was from "I know you are, but what am I?", from the same movie.
Source: Ludic Log
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