“House Party”: A 25th Anniversary Retrospective
Revisiting the importance of the 1990 vehicle that first introduced the Rap battle to mainstream audiences, made Kid N’ Play superstars & helped make Hip-Hop culture become commercially acceptable to middle America
Back in 1986, Harvard University undergrad Reginald Hudlin won an award for his short thesis film “House Party”. Three years later, he and his older brother writer/director/producer Warrington would expand the short into a full length first feature. The original script was written with the intention crossover Rap superstars Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince would play the main roles but they declined so the script was modified for Kid of Kid N’ Play to occupy the role originally intended for Will “Fresh Prince” Smith.
His character’s father would be played by comedian Robin Harris, Play would occupy the other lead role and comedian Martin Lawrence would play Bilal the reluctant party DJ, a role that was originally intended for Jeff “DJ Jazzy Jeff” Townes. The principal cast was rounded out by actress Tisha Campbell, video vixen & dancer A.J. Johnson plus members of Full Force as the antagonists, Stab (Paul Anthony), Zilla (B-Fine) & Pee Wee (Bowlegged Lou). “House Party” was shot in California during July 1989 before the soundtrack was done and Kid N’ Play were working on their sophomore LP.
At the time “House Party” was being shot there was a Black film resurgence post Spike Lee releasing “She’s Gotta Have It” in 1986 led by a crew dubbed by the media as “The Black Pack” (in response to the young Hollywood stars that were dubbed “The Brat Pack” and recieved a great deal of media attention during the 80's). “The Black Pack” consisted of Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Mr. Paul Mooney, Robert Townsend, Keenan Ivory Wayans, his brother Damon Wayans and many of their collaborators (which also included a young Charlie Murphy).
The Hudlin brothers were just striking while the iron was hot using the momentum generated by recent films made by Black filmmakers. Little did they know how integral their film would become to not only helping to make Rap music and Hip Hop culture break into the mainstream in 1990 but pave the way for what would be regarded as a Black film renaissance the following year. There was no way anyone could’ve expected for “House Party” to have the impact it ended up having.
“House Party” was on the surface a musical comedy aimed at younger audiences (even though it received an R rating) but it was so much more. It touched on bullying, police brutality, the disconnect between elders in the Black community and the “Hip Hop generation”, how middle class Black kids viewed the projects/public housing, the inner workings and politics of a house party and let’s not forget it was the film that introduced the concept of the live Rap battle to mainstream audiences via Kid N’ Play. There are people who know this movie word for word and have seen it a hundred times who don’t realize its actual significance.
There were many jokes in “House Party” that only people from the community would catch at first, the constant “Hey Love” commercials that used to run on BET, the Dick Gregory’s Bahamian Diet mention and the “grape” or “red” Kool Aid reference. Once they were explained an amazing thing happened, they all became a part of pop culture and the fabric of American life as did the film itself after it was released on VHS and was shown on cable in subsequent years.
The “House Party” soundtrack played a key role in the film’s success although it didn’t do well commercially itself. It wasn’t technically considered a flop because this was before Black films released soundtracks that moved units. A better way to gauge the popularity of the film would be to look at individual tracks that were featured on the soundtrack and how they did. Kid N’ Play’s sophomore LP “Funhouse” dropped right after the film opened which completely overshadowed the soundtrack. As time passed, the album would eventually go Gold.
Kid N’ Play’s lead single “Funhouse” actually became the #1 Rap single on the Billboard charts for three straight weeks from May 5th through May 19th, 1990. LL Cool J’s dancy diss track “To Da Break Of Dawn” never made it above #17 on the Billboard Rap charts but it was instrumental at helping him gain momentum towards his next single “The Boomin’ System” which led to the release of his monster 1990 LP “Mama Said Knock You Out” in August. Today’s infectious “Why You Get Funky On Me?” was a popular track but it wasn’t reflected in the Billboard charts although many a rug was cut up to it that year.
The New Jack Swing and Rap used in the film had high BPM’s which made it perfect for dancing to. Songs like Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav solo track “I Can’t Do Nuttin For Ya Man” and Eric B. & Rakim’s “Run For Cover” were used in dance sequences alongside Full Force’s “Ain’t My Type Of Hype” which was made after the fact and cut into the film so it fit seamlessly into one of the film’s biggest scenes. Kid N’ Play’s dancing ability and their onscreen dynamic helped to not only sell the film to audiences but themselves and Rap to the masses. They had considerable help in that department, though…
Comedians were cast in several key roles or did cameos in numerous scenes that helped the film flow perfectly. Robin Harris who played Kid’s father was hilarious as he searched for his son who snuck out to go to Play’s party as was a young Martin Lawrence who played Bilal. What’s even crazier is both Robin Harris and Martin Lawrence had roles in Spike Lee’s 1989 hit “Do The Right Thing”. John Witherspoon had a timely cameo as an angry neighbor and Full Force provided some unexpected comedic moments even as the villains, surprising since they were not the least bit funny when they whupped Blair Underwood’s ass in “Krush Groove”.
Robin Harris passed away shortly after “House Party” was released but awareness of his comedic genius was raised enough that Reginald Hudlin was able to produce an animated film called “Bébé’s Kids” in 1992 based on his comedy routines with Faizon Love substituting as his voice.
George Clinton had another cameo in “House Party” playing a DJ at a party Kid stumbled upon which served to highlight how Rap was viewed by our parents. The looks on the faces of the partygoers when Kid took the mic and the DJ threw on some beats and started scratching was priceless as I’d seen that same look plenty of times on my own parents’ faces. The members of Groove B. Chill had minor roles, Darryl “Chill” Mitchell kept bumping the tables as Bilal was trying to mix and Groove got so drunk he had to be removed from the party.
Also, if you paid close attention, Sharane (where do you think Kendrick got the name from?)’s little brother Peanut was played by the same kid who played Young Quick in “Harlem Nights” and Young Tre in “Boyz N The Hood” and LaDonna was played by Kelly Jo Minter, one of the key young Black actresses of the 80's.
The comedy, music and dancing in “House Party” made it popular with audiences but one thing that’s oft overlooked is the scene where Kid & Play end up battling each other at the party which introduced mainstream audiences to the concept of the live rap battle. Please keep in mind that in 1990 copies of “Wild Style” were nonexistant. It didn’t come on cable and you couldn’t even buy a VHS copy through ads in The Source. Way before “8 Mile” captured everyone’s attention fans were repeating Kid and Play battle bars. Considering that they weren’t noted for their deft lyricism that’s interesting although Kid was a skilled emcee and he and Kwamé often shared writing duties for Kid N’ Play and even Salt N’ Pepa from time to time.
“House Party” hit theaters on March 9th, 1990 via New Line Cinema and even though it only opened on 520 screens it averaged almost $9000 per screen and landed at #3 in the box office opening weekend making almost double its $2.5 million budget. “House Party” expanded to more and more theaters (topping out at 700 screens) and stayed in the Top 10 grossing films for four straight weeks. Once its theatrical run was completed “House Party” was a surprise hit raking in over $26 million in box office receipts, for all of you playing at home that’s more than 10 times the film’s original budget. Once “House Party” became a VHS rental then became available for purchase that number became even bigger.
The legacy that “House Party” leaves is it opened the door for the Black film boom of 1991 and Kid N’ Play are overlooked pioneers alongside MC Hammer in crossing Rap music over and making it widely accepted in mainstream circles. At the time “House Party” hit theaters MC Hammer’s sophomore LP “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em” was flying up the charts as was Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison”. Both “Yo! MTV Raps” and “The Arsenio Hall Show” were introducing Rap to middle America and Fox’s sketch comedy series “In Living Color” would debut the following month led by Black Pack members Kenan Ivory Wayans and his brother Damon Wayans who further helped to make Rap and urban culture go mainstream that year.
Another interesting twist is after Will Smith & Jazzy Jeff turned down the lead roles in “House Party”, Quincy Jones and Benny Medina pitched them the idea of starring in a TV show instead. They accepted and in September 1990 the show “The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air” became a hit out of the gate for NBC. Kid N’ Play would end up getting their own Saturday morning cartoon (alongside MC Hammer’s “Hammerman”), a Marvel comic and star in three other films together, none of which would do as well either critically or commercially as “House Party” did due to the fact the Hudlins were no longer involved in their creation. The Hudlins also had a cameo as thieves chased by an attack dog who jumped on the bus to escape it.
Reginald Hudlin went on to direct “Boomerang”, produce the animated Adult Swim series “The Boondocks”, write for Marvel’s “Black Panther” as well as become President Of Entertainment for BET. He also co-wrote the highly slept on script turned graphic novel “The Birth Of A Nation” with Aaron McGruder. Once the Hudlins were no longer involved with the “House Party” franchise the films got further and further away from what initially made them resonate with audiences. There’s a reason why “House Party” still works 25 years after it was first released in theaters.
At the end of “House Party” Play tells Kid that they should go watch “Beat Street” and “Krush Groove” rather than call it a night. There was no way for Reginald Hudlin to know when he wrote that line his film would be mentioned in the same breath as those movies and others like it. “House Party” is considered a “cult film” in mainstream circles but it’s essential viewing for those looking to make a film that works aimed at a niche audience but can also be appreciated by everyone else and possibly even cross over. 1990 was a crazy year, B…
