''Rappin is a 1985 film directed by
Joel Silberg
Joel Silberg ( he, יואל זילברג; March 30, 1927 – February 18, 2013) was a film, television and stage director and screenwriter in Israel and the United States. He made films in Israel including so-called Bourekas films. He then directed ...
, written by Adam Friedman and
Robert J. Litz, produced by
Menahem Golan
Menahem Golan ( he, מנחם גולן; May 31, 1929 – August 8, 2014, originally Menachem Globus) was an Israeli film producer, screenwriter, and director. He was best known for co-owning The Cannon Group with his cousin Yoram Globus. Cannon sp ...
and
Yoram Globus
Yoram Globus ( he, יורם גלובוס; born 7 September 1943) is an Israeli–American film producer, cinema owner, and distributor. He has been involved in over 300 full-length motion pictures and he is most known for his association with ...
and starring
Mario Van Peebles
Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is an American film director and actor best known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991 and '' USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage'' in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Va ...
. The film is a sequel to ''
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo'', and is also known as ''Breakdance 3''. Although it features
Ice-T (who featured in ''
Breakin'
''Breakin (also known as ''Breakdance'' in the United Kingdom and ''Break Street '84'' in other regions) is a 1984 American breakdancing-themed musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise based on a ...
'' and ''Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo''), ''Rappin
''' has a plot unconnected to the previous two films and features different lead characters and locations.
Plot
Rappin' John Hood (Van Peebles), an ex-convict, attempts to save his neighborhood from developers and hoodlums. Around the same time, one of the hoodlums' girlfriend, Dixie, persuades him to audition for a rap recording contract. Their interactions develop into a relationship.
Cast
*
Mario Van Peebles
Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is an American film director and actor best known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991 and '' USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage'' in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Va ...
as John Hood
*
Rutanya Alda
Rutanya Alda (born Rūta Skrastiņa; October 13, 1942) is a Latvian-American actress. She began her career in the late 1960s, and went on to have supporting parts in ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), ''Rocky II'' (1979), and ''Mommie Dearest'' (1981). S ...
as Cecilia
* Eyde Byrde as Grandma
* Rony Clanton as Cedric
*
Charles Grant Charles or Charlie Grant may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Charles Jameson Grant (), American editorial cartoonist
* Charles L. Grant (1942–2006), American novelist
* Charles Grant (actor) (born 1957), American actor
* Charles Grant (dancer ...
as Duane
* Melvin Plowden as "Fats"
*
Jessie Daniels
Jessica Lynn Danilczyk (known professionally as Jessie Daniels) (born August 2, 1987) is an American former actress, singer, and songwriter. She has appeared in independent films and commercials for Lifetime Television and MTV. She has also appe ...
,
Antoine Lundy, Stevie D. Lundy, Charles Nelson, Trisco Pearson as
The Force M.D.s
*
Richie Abanes
Richard Abanes (; born October 13, 1961) is an American writer and actor. As an author/journalist, Abanes specializes in the area of socio-religious issues, cults, the occult, world religions, the entertainment industry, and pop culture. Since ...
as Richie
*
Harry Goz
Harry Goz (February 16, 1932 – September 6, 2003) was an American musical theater actor and voice actor.
Career
Goz debuted in the 1956 Broadway production of ''Bajour'', co-starring Chita Rivera and Nancy Dussault. Goz played Tevye in th ...
as Thorndike
*
Kadeem Hardison
Kadeem Hardison (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dwayne Wayne on ''A Different World'', a spin-off of the long-running NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show''. He starred in the Disney Channel series ''K.C. Unde ...
as "Moon"
*
Eriq La Salle
Erik Ki La Salle (born July 23, 1962), professionally known as Eriq La Salle, is an American actor, director, writer and producer. La Salle is best known for his performance in the film ''Coming to America'' (1988) and especially as Dr. Peter ...
as "Ice"
* Leo O'Brien as Allan
* Thomas Ross as Thomas
* Joe Schad as Burton
*
Tasia Valenza
Tasia Valenza (born April 5, 1967) is an American actress.
Personal life
Tasia Valenza is the daughter of former actor and restaurant consultant Frank Valenza and Gloria Valenza. Her twin brother is a former television writer and now solar mark ...
as Dixie
*
Eugene Wilde
Eugene Wilde (born Ronald Eugene Broomfield, December 6, 1961) is an American R&B singer who had two No. 1 hits on the US ''Billboard'' R&B charts in the 1980s.
Career
Broomfield was born in North Miami Beach, Florida and raised in Miami. He g ...
as Himself
* Richy Givens as Gangster
Production
Mario Van Peebles' raps were overdubbed by
Master Gee of the
Sugarhill Gang Sugar Hill may refer to:
Places
In the United States:
* Sugar Hill, Georgia, a city
* Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, a town
* Sugar Hill, Manhattan, New York, a section of Harlem
* Sugar Hill (New York), a mountain in Schuyler County
* Sugar Hill, P ...
, who also wrote one part.
The film was filmed in and around
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
.
Ice-T's small role is uncredited and he reportedly provided the rhymes, including the hero's climactic lines, "Can't stop / Won't stop / Climbing that mountain 'till we reach the top!"
Featured songs
* Born to love - Claudja Barry
* Rappin' – Lovebug Starski
* Snack Attack – Melvin Plowden, Mario Van Peebles, Eriq La Salle, Kadeem Hardison, Richie Abanes
* The Fight Rap – Lovebug Starski
* Neighborhood Walk – Mario Van Peebles
* Itchin' For A Scratch – The Force M.D.'s
* Flame In The Fire – Warren Mills
* Call Me – D. Terrell
* If You Want To (FU12) – Lajuan Carter
* Golly Gee – Tuff, Inc.
* First Love Never Dies – Eugene Wilde, Joanna Gardner
Reception
The film earned $2.9 million at the US box office.
[Andrew Yule, ''Hollywood a Go-Go: The True Story of the Cannon Film Empire'', Sphere Books, 1987 p111]
References
External links
*
New York Times reviewThe AV Club review* {{Rotten Tomatoes, rappin
1985 films
1980s hip hop films
Hood films
American crime thriller films
American sequel films
1985 thriller films
1980s musical films
Golan-Globus films
Films shot in Pittsburgh
Films set in Pennsylvania
Films set in Pittsburgh
Fictional portrayals of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police
Films produced by Menahem Golan
Films produced by Yoram Globus
1980s English-language films
Films directed by Joel Silberg
1980s American films