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  4. “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” A Jarmusch film that combines hip-hop, martial arts, and diverse cultures
“Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” A Jarmusch film that combines hip-hop, martial arts, and diverse cultures

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“Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” A Jarmusch film that combines hip-hop, martial arts, and diverse cultures

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The intersection of hip hop and Mars shirt arts



One of the reasons this work became so popular is its fusion of hip-hop and martial arts. Jarmusch aspired to RZA, the leader of the rap group Wu-Tang Clan, as he was the only one to be in charge of the music for this film. RZA is known for his love of martial arts movies since childhood. After all, the name Wu-Tang Clan was taken from the English title of the movie `` Shaolin and Wu Tang'' (1983).


RZA has now been involved in over 20 films, not only as a composer but also as an actor and director, but this is his first film, and it is his first film appearance in a cameo role as an American The Samurai living in hiding.


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The question I'm curious about is, why did hip-hop and martial arts come together? I'm saying that. Simply put, martial arts films were extremely popular with hip-hop artists such as the Wu-Tang Clan.


As mentioned above, Forest Whitaker, now 58, is a karateka, and RZA, now 50, is an avid kung fu movie fan. There were TV shows called "Kung Fu Theater" and "Drive-in Movies" that showed movies that were very familiar to Americans in their 40s to 60s like these two, and they were inspired by watching such movies while growing up, from Bruce Lee movies to kung fu movies like " The Five Poisonous Fists " (1978), the little-known blaxploitation movie "Brotherhood of Death" (1976/unreleased in Japan), and " Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla " (1974).


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One reason why martial arts became so popular among them was that it was relatively inexpensive. The main tool was one's own body, and if one trained seriously, one could become strong. And the biggest reason was probably that Bruce Lee was just so cool. In America, Bruce Lee and black people were both minorities, and boys all over the country were fascinated by the way Bruce Lee defeated his opponents despite not being big. It is well known that Bruce Lee's first student was the black Jesse Glover, and Bruce Lee's sidekick in " Enter the Dragon " (1973) was Jim Kelly, with his big afro. It is not surprising that black boys would project themselves onto these martial artists.


The Wu-Tang Clan was a group of boys, and their rap lyrics reflected the spirit of kung fu and martial arts. Jarmusch discovered this, and it blossomed into ``Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.''



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  1. CINEMORE
  2. movie
  3. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
  4. “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” A Jarmusch film that combines hip-hop, martial arts, and diverse cultures