Film Reporter - July 30, 2004

Music and entertainment television networks from E! to MTV and VH1 have become loony for lists, as anyone who has spent an entire Saturday afternoon glued to their TV screen strangely mesmerized by a seemingly endless marathon of countdown shows can attest.

To the cable nets' delight, millions have been held prisoner by the itchy curiosity to see just which bold-face name will capture that juiciest celebrity hookup title or heaviest metal-act crown.

But as those oh-so-preciously edgy, over-designed numbers — representing who's hottest, coolest and rockingest — whiz by, music and movie buffs above the age of 13 are usually left dumbfounded by the order in which artists are listed.

"That was the major impetus," says Kool Moe Dee on penning his new tome "There's a God on the Mic: The True 50 Greatest MCs."

"With MTV or BET, their only concern is viewership," adds the seminal rapper behind such early hip-hop hits as "Go See the Doctor," "Wild Wild West" and "How Ya Like Me Now." "Any network — any business — they are not trying to be accurate, they're just trying to be popular. I just hated the fact that there's never any criteria set up. BET or MTV, you just go online and put your vote in. We forsake everything for the sake of business now."

For "Mic," Moe Dee — whose trademark has always been his ever-present wraparound New Wave shades — devised a formula that persnickety actuaries and fans of the "Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract" might give a thumbs-up. His countdown rates each MC on 17 (!) different ratings scales, from versatility, flavor and freestyle to poetic value and industry impact.

The old-school rapper is teaming with veteran music video and commercial helmer Brett Nemeroff and producer Kelly Crean ("Prey for Rock & Roll") to bring his "On the Mic" to the big screen. The film is shooting in New York and Los Angeles, while Moe Dee and Nemeroff (who recently produced the horror remake "2001 Maniacs") continue to line up a who's who of rappers from the well-known (Will Smith, Chuck D, KRS-One and Fabolous) to the esoteric (Special K and Grandmaster Caz) to participate.

"(The film) was really pretty much defined for us because Moe is so detailed in his descriptions," says Nemeroff, who nearly cast Moe Dee in a film years ago and subsequently became friends with the rapper. "We have some very unique and creative ways that we are shooting, and I did not want to do just talking heads. It's been done too much, especially in hip-hop (docus) that I've seen."

For the same reasons, the filmmakers have bypassed the digital route to make "On the Mic" stand out. They are exploring distribution opportunities and would like to get the film out for Black History Month in February.

"This book is controversial," says Nemeroff, distancing the film from the land of lists that dominate the small screen. "It has stirred up every argument you can imagine. I've taken at least 40 phone calls this week from people in the industry who are mad that Eminem isn't in the book. So I wanted those perspectives."

As a result, Moe Dee — who plans to pen a follow-up book rating the greatest rap groups of all time — is adding a "haters table" to the film version to debate his own prized system.

The true challenge will be to persuade audiences, accustomed to the easy availability of all those populist lists on TV, to come out to theaters for a taste of the real thing.