Earlier this week The Knockturnal attended Netflix’s exclusive premiere of their brand new documentary series Rapture.
The evening began with a short and sweet step and repeat, with stars from the series making an appearance including Dave East, 2 Chainz, Nas, T.I. and Rapsody. The intimate screening was held at the beloved Metrograph theatre with complimentary snacks and an open bar and dinner following the film’s reception. The premiere included episode one and episode two of the series, Nas and T.I., respectively.
To better understand the series holistically, far beyond each subject’s occupation, we need to look at the word Rapture. The documentary series is somewhat loose and free-form conceptually, at first glance, in that it appears as if each subject’s stories are unrelated or unfocused, but that is a pure misconception. Rapture is a feeling of elation or joy and in a biblical sense. “Rapture” is when all Christians are returned to Christ, a form of homecoming if you will. In this documentary series, we explore the challenges each artist has had to overcome and how they’ve done so using their only resource at the time, music. The series explores how these artists have either reformed, repaid or were simply saved using music. Stylistically, the documentary displays the artists’ monologues as well as their dialogues with other artists, family members, peers, and idols. The family is a staple we see repeated in the series as well, whether it’s Nas’ love for his brother, Dave’s love for his daughter or T.I.’s love for his family.
Episode one begins with an anecdote from Jungle, Nas’ brother. Jungle recalls how his life instantly changed when he got a call from his brother. He went from hustling in the streets to focusing on growth thanks to his brother. Nas’ episode delves into the craft of music and music making with appearances from Killer Mike and an arc focusing on Dave East, his career, past, and success. The episode depicts Nas’ current life as well as reveals how he discovered Dave East. Nas describes how his goal for a majority of his music is for it to be thoughtful. Dave East’s lyricism is what drew Nas to his work. He felt that he could relate to Dave, his upbringing, his struggles, his old soul.
T.I.’s episode was more political and focused heavily on the present day. Viewers get to see what T.I. is doing in his community. With a heavy focus on gun violence and the unlawful killing of innocent black people, T.I.’s episode was quite introspective as he discussed his journey to becoming more socially aware and active. He describes how he joined a march and ended up the leader, without realizing what his next step would be. In this episode T.I. consults activists like Harry Belafonte and Jane Elliott on his path for justice. We see T.I. take what this advice and apply it in his music. We see him wanting to be a catalyst for change and striving to create a better world for his children to live in.
With basically every artist in your playlist in this documentary, you definitely won’t want to miss this exclusive, inside look into their lives. Check out Rapture premiering on Netflix, March 30th.
