Pull the fire alarm: we have another new blog contributor! We now present to you, musings on cinema by the great Khris P –– rapper extraordinaire and producer of the 51st best song of 2013. He's been dropping heat lately on his SoundCloud so peep him out there, too. Thanks Khris!

-Andrew

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When I get home after a hard day of labor I usually like to settle down by taking a shower and smoking an enjoyable amount of weed. With the attention span of a sock, I tend to find it hard to find things I like to watch. For fun, I began looking in we’ll say the “hood cinema” section of Amazon Prime app. Most of them being lower budget movies made by popular local rappers in their cities. Similar to “Killa Season” (classic btw) their plots are kind of all over the place, usually about betrayal, played by a cast of family and friends. Basically elite drama and entertainment too major for the big screen.

I tweeted about my activity and was asked to do reviews. So this may or may not keep going. Here’s my recent Prime viewings and thoughts:

I started with “Conflicted,” made by I believe the Griselda gang. It stars Benny The Butcher and a few homies, and gets pretty deep actually when the character Hunter finds out some fishy things! The movie was cool, a little predictable and drawn out, but good twists. I don’t think one person wears a shirt under XL in it.

The next one was “McGraw Ave,” which sparked a revolution. Reading the plot I had the expected expectations. But by the end of episode one I wanted to know how long I’d been missing out. If “The Wire” had an aspiring cousin in Detroit this could be it. Set in the middle of Detroit, the streets are open game after Luger makes a decision to keep himself safe. Along side his Igor-like secretary Vic, he instills trust in a real hitter known as Murda Pain, a feared and revered man known for doing what he says at all times. Things go weird as expected and the hood becomes Game of Thrones. Who shall reign as King of the Ave? I became invested and stuck, not knowing how. But I understood after realizing the magnetism comes from the authenticity of the show. It’s raw. Seeing potential, I told numerous friends who I believe share the same open mind. And response has been surprising! Ready and hoping for a new season, being that the first was six episodes.

On a lighter mood I watched one called “The Mule” which is produced by the same people who made "McGraw Ave." They’re like a collective of rotating people like an Apatow production. It’s smart! It gave me a reason to check it out more. The movie is based around BJ, a hustler in Detroit (what’s new?) wanting to run his bag up so he can get his dream car. With no transportation and plays to make, he hits up his cousin to borrow her car but nope. Unfortunately, her goofy boyfriend Boobee has been out using the car “running errands” and “looking for work." The two meet and have a stand-off in which BJ immediately realizes he has to work with a clown. Putting a speed bump in his plans BJ scrambles to get his money in time but will he make it?! Boobee may play like the sidekick in the movie but definitely has star quality and makes it feel Hollywood. Which feels key as well to keeping the viewer engaged. On top of that I believe comedy is executed best when you generally tell they’re having fun. Relatability.

In the meantime I’m going to continue to smoke weed and search the Amazon for new discoveries. Move over Siskel and Ebert.