That’s not a word I ever thought I would use in a title, but that changed when I found Pick Up the Mic. I haven’t seen the film yet, so if you have, why not say something about it in the comment section? I wouldn’t hold out on yoooooouuuuu.

According to the website,

Queer Hip-Hop: it’s a lot more than a stylish oxymoron in this surprising, fast-paced documentary on the world of queer rappers. Featuring searing public performances and raw, revealing interviews with the community’s most significant players, the film captures an unapologetic underground music movement just as it explodes into the mainstream – defying the music industry’s most homophobic genre in the process.

PICK UP THE MIC features more than a dozen contemporary hip-hop artists, representing a striking range of sexual and ethnic diversity. Shot over a three-year period, the film traces their intertwining relationships from San Francisco’s underground music scene of the early ‘90s through performances as recent as 2005. It was recorded in such major cities as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, but breaks down coastal stereotypes by also covering performers in such diverse areas as Houston, Minneapolis, and Madison, Wisconsin – and a particularly memorable outdoor gig in the Ozarks.


Jen also blogs at Transcending Gender and A Life Less Convenient. Her book is available here.