Securing a career in Hip-Hop music is extremely hard. If you’re lucky enough to achieve it, there is no guarantee that it will be glamorous. For a culture often portrayed in the mainstream as lavish, luxurious, and braggadocious, most working artists will be quick to tell you otherwise.

Adult Rappers is a documentary made by one former Hip-Hop artist. Paul Iannacchino, Jr. is formerly known as DJ PawL, a member of Definitive Jux group Hanger 18, and an artist who would work on albums such as Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein. Now as a director, Iannacchino spoke to his peers about working-class Rap careers, and everything the fans might not know or see.

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Those who participated in the film represent a cross section of the music. All of the artists are known for their success as independent MCs, DJs, and producers. Some, such as Atmosphere’s Slug, have topped the charts through dogged persistence. Others, including Masta Ace, represent more than 25 years of Rap sustainability, through a variety of labels, crews, and styles of music. Murs, R.A. The Rugged Man, J-Zone, Open Mike Eagle, Esoteric, Evidence, The Juggaknots, Soul Khan and J57, Luckyiam PSC, Bobbito Garcia, Despot, Alaska, Blueprint, Donwill, Cryptic One, Eternia, P.O.S., Yesh, Louis Logic, and Mister Jason are just some of the artists interviewed in this revealing documentary.

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Partially funded through crowd-sourcing, the film chronicles the earliest dreams and influences of the subjects. It morphs into the challenges of touring, recording, and actually making a dollar off of passion. The film explores the changing dynamic between creating music in your teens and twenties, to the pressures as adults and family members in their thirties, forties, and beyond. With these pressures in mind, as well as a changing climate for so-called “Indie Rap” in the 2000s, the film hones in on why some artists hung up their mics and MPCs. The interviews come across as brutally honest, and not all the subjects seem to agree on everything. What makes Adult Rappers even more interesting is how some artists are interviewed in their natural elements. They talk about families, mortgages, bills, and how to effectively rap and produce when you’re older than the fans. There is a lot to think about here.

While the film will soon a mere 99¢ to rent ($10 to own), it is currently free for 24 hour windows, if you add the promo code “free” to the promo entry in the shopping cart.

Perhaps Adult Rappers will influence how you look at your favorite artists’ work, or shows when they come to town. If you’re an artist or hopeful yourself, can you relate?

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