TV Show Review: The Defiant Ones

The Defiant Ones


Genre: Documentary mini series
Length: 4 episodes

"The Defiant Ones" examines the partnership between Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre - one the son of a Brooklyn longshoreman, the other straight out of Compton - and their leading roles in a chain of transformative events in contemporary culture.

| IMDb | Amazon |

| HBO |

My Review:

I enjoy music of quite a few genres. Rap and hip-hop are towards the top in that so-called "list". For nostalgia's sake Eminem is one of my favorite rappers. When Philip Defranco spotlighted this series a few days ago in one of his videos I jumped at the chance to know more about how Eminem got the opportunities that he got and how he and Dr. Dre clicked.

I was surprised from the beginning (because I hadn't known what I was walking into) and eventually came to the conclusion that this miniseries was very enlightening. I ended up learning quite of bit about things that had never crossed my mind. I had no idea how bad and violent the beefs in the "rap game" was a couple decades ago. So many senseless deaths and violence. It also felt like the media was just pouring gasoline on an already turbulent and growing fire.

From the little I knew (before going into this series) N.W.A was once considered (still considered?) one of the most violent rap groups because of the narrative and pro violence lyrics they promoted. Seeing the other side of that was very humbling. Everyone chooses a perspective to agree with and I think (at one point) even they came to the conclusion that it could have been handled better, from both sides.

I enjoyed hearing about the journey these music icons took to get to where they are and have the level of accomplishment that they have today. They came from almost nothing and with shear luck and perseverance here they are today. I liked how they touched on the fact that even though you think you've made it, you still have to work twice as hard to keep it because you could easily lose it.

One thing that did throw me off was how this series glorified Apple and the Beats By Dre brand. At times it felt like it was force feeding me propaganda. I love Apple and Beats By Dre probably more than most people, so I didn't understand why I ended up feeling almost violated to a certain degree. Imagine how people who dislike these brands must have felt while watching this?

Overall, this is a very enlightening and eye opening series if you're interested in learning about the backgrounds of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine and how they made it in the business. It's humbling to see these well known people present their successes and failures openly.

My Rating: