Robert Townsend: The Five Heartbeats

At the start of the 1990s, a generation of Black music defined by Motown and other regional soul and R&B scenes was transforming the path hip-hop was to follow.

Created at the height of this change and produced by a major studio, as well as written by Robert Townsend and Keenen Ivory Wayans, The Five Heartbeats tracks the rise and fall of five friends singing in a close-knit group over several decades. Though fictional, the film draws from biographical elements of several artists from this period, including The Dells, whose music appears on the soundtrack. 1991, USA, digital, 121 min.

Introduced by Hanif Abdurraqib.

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