The Great Hip Hop Hoax

As a brazen act of defiance—fueled by desperate ambitions to transcend their boring lives—the titular hip-hop identity fraud perpetrated by the Scottish duo Silibil N' Brains definitely goes beyond faking a little street cred. Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd—best friends blessed with a fair amount of rhyming/rapping talent—initially have their dreams of stardom dashed: during a humiliating audition in London, record execs snidely dismiss them as the “rapping Proclaimers.” But with their talent for mimicking American accents, Gavin and Billy set out to meticulously craft for themselves an image of snotty Eminem-type California rappers…and almost immediately begin to see doors opening. After a single gig, the pair attract major-label interest: nearly literally overnight their wildest visions of fame seem to be coming true. But will the industry out them as frauds? Although director Jeanie Finlay's The Great Hip Hop Hoax doesn't always show Gavin and Billy in the most sympathetic light, it's hard to fault the pair of gutsy Scots for effectively exposing the shallowness and gullibility of an industry that talks smack about “authenticity” but thrives on fabricated image and fakery (phoniness embodied by one of the film's primary interviewees, Chris Rock of Island Records, a white Londoner who has remade himself in the image of a South Central L.A. gangsta). A fascinating and entertaining music documentary, this is highly recommended. (M. Sandlin)