Fear of a Black Hat

Writer-director Rusty Cundieff's first feature (he co-scripted House Party II) seems much in the same spirited vein of comedy mockumentaries as This is Spinal Tap and The Rutles. This time, the focus is on rap group N.W.H. (Niggaz Wit Hats). Ice Cold (Cundieff), Tasty-T, and Tone Def are the amalgam of Public Enemy, 2 Live Crew, N.W.A., and probably a handful of other rap acts and Cundieff has a lot of fun explaining away their sexism as political rap (listen to his exposition on the song “Booty Juice”). Most of the video swipes are good, with jabs at C&C Music Factory, Hammer, Vanilla Ice, PM Dawn, and others. But the comedy does wear thin in some places, particularly in the segments with Tasty-T showing off his armory. While it's marginally better than the Chris Rock effort CB4, it's forgettable fun nonetheless. There's no plot to speak of, just gag after gag. Rap fans will likely love most of it; all others, flip a coin.