The Screen Queen Presents: Love Beats Rhymes

by Dana Muwwakkil

Meet Coco (rapper Azaelia Banks), the self-assured wordsmith looking to get a record deal for her music group. A natural leader, she is the only female rapper in her group and her ability to string together words effortlessly is important to her because music – particularly rap – is her life. While Coco considers herself a bit of a master of her craft, her social life is at a standstill as she is hung up on Mahlik, a young man in her group who doesn’t seem to be interested in anything more than their casual hook ups.

Coco is hustling to get a demo together for a potential agent and waiting tables at her mom’s cafe, but her mother hounds her to finish school. Coco concedes to her mother’s wishes and signs up for classes at her local community college. Only a few credits shy of getting her degree, she decides to take what she assumes will be an easy course called Poetry 101.

Immediately Coco and Professor Dixon (Jill Scott) butt heads over the differences between poetry and rap. Stubborn and hardheaded, Coco refuses to bend as she raps and recites verses for her assignments, much to the disappointment of Professor Dixon and the teaching assistant, Derek. Not one to back down from a challenge, Coco enters the world of spoken word and begins to put pen to paper in a different way. As she finds herself in her poetry and grows closer with Derek, she alienates her rap group and starts to question how much she’s willing to change for a passing grade.

Currently on Netflix, Love Beats Rhymes reflects a positive message about following passions and not being afraid to grow - or even change.

Screen Queen Dana Muwwakkil tackles social trends and movies in her blog and for other publications. She lives with her husband and their three children in Ulster County. This review originally appeared in the May/June 2018 issue.

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