Hype Williams’ Classic ‘Belly’ Brought Hip-Hop to the Big Screen – See It Monday at The Byrd Theatre

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. [embedded content] 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 him. “For me,” Millions said,...