Actor Jonah Hill’s an avid hip-hop fan and has been a fan since he was a teen, and it soundtracked every step of his childhood. The Get Him To The Greek actor loves all eras of the genre but particularly has an affinity for the 1990s.
Hill grew up on the Westside of Los Angeles, and the actor (born in 1983) was only ten years old when the iconic Doggystyle was released. However, as a California native, he was immediately fascinated by Death Row and the G-Funk movement he was at the epicentre of.
He immersed himself in rap music and was overwhelmed by the likes of 2Pac but also began to become fascinated by figures on the East Coast, such as the Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest. While promoting his self-directed film Mid90s, Jonah Hill sat down with The Breakfast Club for an in-depth interview about acting and music.
During his conversation with the hosts, Hill even revealed that in his early days, he considered being a hip-hop producer, not an actor. During an appearance on The Breakfast Club, he said: “This is an exclusive. I didn’t have an emcee name, but I made a lot of beats.”
However, he eventually unveiled his producer name, disclosing, “This is very embarrassing – it was Spindrome. Like syndrome, but spin. It was wack, dude. I’m not a good emcee or a good producer – I mean, I kind of made fire beats – but I still had an MPC [drum machine] and was making beats for six years.”
Hill revealed that as the years have passed, he has become more of an East Coast rap lover but always hated how hip-hop culture got portrayed in films. Opening up about Mid90s, Hill proclaimed, “Hip-hop, like skateboarding, is always misrepresented in film. It’s always shown – people driving through the hood or popping champagne – as some exploitative dumb stereotype.”
While on his press run for Mid90s, Hill sat down with Rob Markman of Genius to talk favourites, during which he professed his love for Ice Cube’s ‘It Was a Good Day.’ However, he exclusively revealed his favourite album, stating, “Tribe…they’re The Beatles, man! The Low End Theory album is probably my favourite album of all time.”
You can watch Jonah Hill’s Genius interview in the video below.
