Pitchfork reports that Tubi, a third-tier video streaming service (for now, available only in the U.S.) is concentrating on rap in movies. According to the report, their catalog is stacked with just about every overlooked, forgotten, or possibly imaginary film to ever feature a rapper.
Tubi has become the “go-to platform for fans of ‘low-budget’ Black film.” With that comes movies that star rappers, or at least movies that claim to star rappers. If you’ve seen the 1996 adventure-comedy Phat Beach, you know what I mean: On that movie’s poster is a huge image of Coolio, who in reality is probably in the film for less than three minutes. (Naturally, Phat Beach is on Tubi).
Some of the gems that can be found on Tubi, according to Pitchfork include the 1997 flick Mean Guns starring Ice-T, and 2022’s Detroit Dreams, one of the many Detroit-made independent Black films on the platform.
