Hip Hop Evolution 3 (Netflix series): For fans of the music, this is extremely well done

I think it is relative important that you be a fan of rap and hip-hop in order to enjoy this series - maybe even essential. I am a fan, and was really into the scene during what I considered to be the "glory years" of hip hop during the advent and evolution of gangster rap, which is primarily what the series has focused on thus far.

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Originally an HBO special that was later picked up by Netflix, Hip Hop Evolution's first season and for the most part the 2nd season as well, didn't really appeal to me. This is only because my interest in rap for the most part began and ended with gangster rap and the early stages of hip hop, while the origins are neat enough, don't really engage me. It might for you, I dunno.

Anyway, each "season" is only 4 episodes long and they are extremely well-produced and feature interviews with a ton of the people there were there when it happened. Clearly a massive-budget production with a high level of clout and connection, the producers are able to get an audience with everyone in the game including Puff Daddy, Jay-Z, Eminem, Ice Cube, and Dre. Hell, they even got Suge Knight to not bring a gun to the interview.

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Snoop smokes a massive blunt throughout the entire portion of his interview and provides some wonderful insight into what I consider to be the most interesting part of the series: The discussion about the East Coast / West Coast beef that eventually resulted in the murder of two of their most successful respective stars: 2Pac and Biggie.

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Perhaps you were aware of this already because it is a focus of multiple films and documentaries, but these two enemies of the coasts were actually pretty great friends until some circumstances of the industry pit them against one another.

That isn't to say that this is the only thing that the series focuses on because it isn't although it is referenced quite a lot. They go on to show how West Coast hip hop dominated under Suge Knight and Dre only to have Puff Daddy emerge on the scene with Jay-Z and switch the focus back to NYC talent.

The emergence of other "tribes" in the rap game such as the Dirty South and of course, the emergence and later dominance of Eminem via Detroit, has an entire hour dedicated to it.

I know there are a ton of hip hop documentaries out there and I have watched a great many of them. From the ones that I have seen this is the most entertaining and informative. They producers also don't appear to have an agenda, giving equal time to all the different factions in the game and never choosing sides.

I highly suggest that a newcomer start at season 3 because I am presuming most of you were not alive when hip hop began (I barely was.) It isn't that the history is boring, it just isn't terribly relevant anymore (not to me anyway) and extremely old-school rap just sounds hokey by today's standards.

My suggestion would be to start with season 3 and if you dig it as much as I did, then delve into the other 2 seasons. This has been one of the best music documentaries that I have seen in a long time and in my opinion it is the best hip hop documentary ever made.