There are certain films that aren’t just watched but absorbed, metabolized into the DNA of an entire culture. For hip-hop, Belly is one of those films. The late ’90s street saga, directed by the legendary Hype Williams, wasn’t Hollywood— Hollywood didn’t know what to do with it. This was a film made for people who understood it, who knew that the grit, the gloss, and the blacklights were telling their own story. Belly captured something about the streets that was real because it came from somewhere real. And maybe that’s because Hype Williams didn’t have Hollywood in mind; he had Queens, New York, in mind, his own life laid bare in stylized, hyper-real hues.
On Monday, November 18th, RVA Mag and The Byrd Theatre are bringing Belly back to the screen at 7 p.m., part of RVA Mag’s ongoing Movie Nite series. Here, cult classics and underground gems find a rare stage on one of the last true Grand Cinema Palaces in the country, Richmond’s beloved Byrd Theatre.
And we will be joined by newly minted Grammy-nominee Michael Millions and Shan I Am, who’ll introduce the film and share what Belly meant to them.
“For me,” Millions said, “Belly was like the highest peak of, like, cinema for the world I wanted to be a part of, or the world that represented my world. You know, from that art level, seeing Hype Williams and Nas and DMX and Method Man and Pete Rock and just, like, the soundtrack, just the colors out of it, the elements. I mean, that movie right there is why I even drive and fell in love with Lexuses. And I used to like the Dodge Intrepids and stuff like that—I never had one, but Lexuses, that’s it. I learned so much from that movie, man, and I think it’s just an influential movie for our culture, rap culture. It’s just an epic film.”
Shan added, “Belly was a culture shift at a time to see some of my favorite rappers / singers take to the big screen and enjoy them in a different light. They had on the best fashion at that time giving us a movie that went hand in hand with the music we listened to by them. Everyone wanted to reenact the walking in the club opening scene… classic!”
And that’s the thing about Belly. Critics didn’t get it; they chalked it up as a flashy wreck, but they missed the point. Audiences saw something else—a film that cut through the polish of Hollywood and laid down a narrative that hit close to home. This was Hype Williams’ masterclass, pulling out techniques that hip-hop fans knew from his music videos and laying them over the canvas of a city pulsing with tension. That unforgettable opening scene, set to the acapella version of Soul II Soul’s “Back to Life,” doesn’t just pull you into the world of Belly; it drags you through it, under the harsh blacklight, into the depths.
Belly’s aesthetic and cast—Nas, DMX, and other hip-hop royalty—were a watershed moment for Black stories on screen, making it clear that hip-hop wasn’t just a musical genre; it was a culture, complete with its own heroes, villains, and visual language. This wasn’t hip-hop dressing up for Hollywood. And for many, it wasn’t just entertainment; it was an education.
Get your tickets HERE and we will see you there.
