West-Coast
Rap has become the dominant form of music in America. It has
grown from the mean streets of Compton, South Central and Long
beach... to the main streets of Middle America.
THA
WESTSIDE details West-Coast Rap’s notorious past,
present and future, through never-before-seen footage and
interviews with the West-Coast most influential music pioneers.
With rare looks into the lives of Tupac and Snoop Dogg, leaders
of the West-Coast Rap scene, Tha Westside is an important
chronicle in the history of music.
The
material contained on this DVD is an assortment of rare
never-before-seen footage and interviews of the West-Coast's
most influential rappers discussing everything from the Chronic,
N.W.A, Thug Life, and right down to the death of Biggie and
Tupac.
The
Video
THA
WESTSIDE appears
in no particular aspect ratio on this single-sided, dual-layered
DVD; it’s unclear whether or not the image has been enhanced for
16X9 televisions. The video format is mainly presented in full
frame and various aspect ratios.
Due to the
assortment of video clips, the program appeared reasonably
accurate and distinct. Some examples of jagged edges and
shimmering appeared, but those actually seemed more reserved
than usual for a program of this type. I thought I noticed a
little edge enhancement, but the roughness of the original
material made it difficult to tell. I established no evidence of
video artifacts.
Colors
came across somewhat muddy at times but they looked pretty
decent for the most part. I don’t expect much from video
documentaries in this regard. Black levels seemed somewhat muddy
but usually appeared tolerable, and shadow detail looked
similar. Like I mentioned I couldn’t expect anything more given
the origins of the material. On the other hand a common aspect
ration and anamorphic enhancement might have tightened up the
picture to a point, but the fairly low-resolution source footage
would still remain awkward.
The
Audio
THA
WESTSIDE
is presented in a Dolby Digital 2.0 mix presented. Music
displayed reasonable stereo spread, and I heard a little
ambience from the sides. However, most of the track stayed stuck
in the center. Sound quality came across better than I expected
considering the documentations presentation.
The
narration and interview snippets seemed nicely warm and natural.
Speech in some case seemed rougher, and I did encounter
substantial difficulty in regards to intelligibility, with an
occasional hissing sound. Effects became distorted during the
concert clips, however they usually seemed clean and accurate,
and they also demonstrated fairly deep low-end.
The
Extras
Not
available on this DVD.
Overall
The
documentary provides a compelling and provocative look at the
chronicle history of West-Coast rap music. The DVD features
picture and sound that accurately replicates the source material
along with an outstanding compilation of interviews and
never-before-seen footage that adds a lot of value to the
package. If you are
a fan of West-Coast rap or are a fan of rap music in general, THA WESTSIDE offers a tremendously revealing piece
and comes highly recommended.
