Bigflo & Oli: Hip Hop Frenzy (2020)

Top comments

1. 

   Siskoid

   I am a big fan of the French rap duo Bigflo & Oli, two brothers who started their careers as teenagers and have since gotten atypical mainstream success, in part because they are kid-friendly and bring a positive message, though for me, it's a combination of their poetry and sincerity. Early tunes were mostly concerned with humorously deconstructing gangsta rap, but it's in later hits that things really took off - I find their ability to put themselves in other people's skin and being true to them lyrically particularly powerful. Through them, I went on to discover other rap and hip-hop acts out of France. They've been on a crazy media machine, television darlings over there if we go by YouTube, and they're about to take a self-imposed break after a massive tour, and that's what's chronicled in Netflix's new behind-the-scenes documentary Presque Trop (Almost Too Much, please ignore the English title 'flix has actually given it, Hip Hop Frenzy, yuck - frankly surprised it isn't called "Tu connais, non?"). It's of course a piece of marketing, at times rather sappy, but the boys insist on being genuine, so we see the younger brother's crippling anxiety leading up to the biggest show of their lives, and the elder heading for a burn-out in the second half of the film. What's missing for me is hearing more of the music. Instead, the vloggish montages are drowned in what sounds like rights-free music, but only one song, written for the doc, is heard in its entirety. So non-adepts will discover the personalities, but not the music, which seems self-defeating. End of the day, this is really for those who already know the duo, and acts as see-you-later message to fans. I'm not sure what English speakers reading this can get out of it... Will Smith is in it, briefly. Maybe that. 3 years 6 months ago

See all comments

Friends

Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!