SAMPLE THIS Review

Release Date: September 13th, 2013 (Limited and VOD)
Director: Dan Forrer
MPAA Rating: NR
Film Pulse Score: 6/10

Odds are, if you’re a hip hop fanatic such as myself, then you’re aware of The Incredible Bongo Band and their influence in kickstarting the genre with their song Apache.  Apache is one of the most widely sampled songs in hip hop, and is known for its infectious breaks that almost demand that you jump from your seat and start dancing.  What you probably didn’t know, is that the story of The Incredible Bongo Band starts with the assassination of Robert Kennedy, goes through the Charles Manson saga, and ends with a brutal murder. 

Director Dan Forrer’s journey into The Incredible Bongo band plays out as a typical rock doc, with talking head interviews, animated photos, and narration by Gene Simmons from Kiss.  Although the participation from Simmons seems confusing, the reason for his inclusion is explained near the end of the film.

While the visuals and stylistic choices are nothing new or exciting, it’s the story and the music that are the clear highlights.  Because the band was comprised of so many big musical talents, they each have their own backstory, which, coupled with an exploration of how the band essentially helped birth hip-hop, makes for a complex, if not slightly convoluted biography.  That said, each anecdote makes for a nice piece of an overall fascinating journey.  The idea of destiny plays as a common theme throughout the film, and it did seem like there were greater forces at work guiding those involved to create the ultimate break beat.

Unfortunately, greater forces didn’t guide the band into fame and glory, however, which is something briefly touched upon, yet not explored to its fullest.  It would have been nice to get some more insight from the members of the band on how they felt about artists taking their music and turning it into millions of dollars worth of sales.  The film is titled Sample This, however there’s little talk about the concept of sampling and where the artists stood on the practice.

Of course, one of the biggest aspects of a music documentary is the music, and the soundtrack to Sample This is fantastic.  In addition to the obvious selections from The Incredible Bongo Band, there’s a plethora of hip hop tracks both new and old, as well as tracks that featured individual members of the band over the years.

In the last few years, it seems the documentary market has been flooded with music related films, from Searching for Sugar Man to A Band Called Death, and Sample This can easily be placed alongside these as a fascinating look at an underrated group of musicians.