As Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits theaters today (Aug 8th), we as a Hip-Hop culture are reminded of our genre’s ever-present ability to spread like an amoeba to other corners of globe and to other areas of pop culture. Case in point the whole Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series of movies and cartoons. The four brothers have always had an affinity for Hip-Hop growing up in New York City, the birthplace of Hip-Hop, so you know they represent in the new movie. Who can forget in the cartoon when the turtles were breakdancing and spinning around on their shells à la Crazy Legs and other famous break dancers?
Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign – “Shell Shocked” ft. Kill The Noise & Madsonik
But, this movie takes on a whole new level of action as the film enlisted the talents of the famous Megan Fox and summer blockbuster producer Michael Bay. Balancing a level of darkness, while still keeping true to the turtle’s ability to appeal to young audiences, director Jonathan Liebesman found the perfect balance for all viewers.
We don’t want to give anything away, but ironically enough the writers of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) movie are natives of New York City and they grew up listening to Wu-Tang other key players of the New York Hip-Hop scene of the early to mid 90’s. Writers Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Evan Daugherty all felt the need to incorporate Hip-Hop in the movie enough that theme song on the soundtrack is the Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign and Juicy J featured song. While there’s been some controversy as Vanilla Ice hated on the song, it slaps and hits as hard as some of the kicks in the movie. Be sure to look out for the Hip-Hop undertones throughout the flick, from the great one liners, to the overall appearance of the turtles.
Fans of the TMNT can also check out some of the movie content below and also check out the official website here: www.teenagemutantninjaturtlesmovie.com. Also be sure to like and follow the official pages on Facebook and Twitter.