Belly - Opening Scene - Sound

Belly - Opening Scene - Sound

The first sound you hear is like impact with thunder in the background. Naturally this gets your heart going and you know the movie is going to be gritty and grimy like a Hip Hop movie should be. This sound sound-bridges onto the next title. This sound then trickles out to sound like the rolling of a movie tape as screen moves right. This lets you know something is about to happen and gets you hyped up for DMX about to start the opening sequence with sound.

Starting off with a famous DMX line: "I sold my soul to the devil and the price was cheap" from Let Me Fly. It accompanies the actual picture going on of a boy doing a satanic ritual. This line is set there to foreshadow DMX's character and the underworld theme of the movie.

After another line follows which rhymes letting you know DMX is rapping acapella for the opening scene and every line he says will match what happens in the movie. Naturally being a fan of New York Hip Hop this excites me letting me know a prominent figure in the industry is going to be the main character of a the movie ahead.

After DMX says "It's 2 O'clock and I'm just about to hit the streets". Instantly giving away his character as either a drug dealer or someone going to a party. Again coinciding with the picture as it shows a street sign.

"Until I knock off this rock, I don't get to eat" This let's you know he is in fact a hustler and not going to a party (Which he/his team does at the end of the sequence but oh well...). In this circumstance DMX's line doesn't coincide with the picture.

Skipping two lines... DMX says: "Ain't no real dough" showing his life, letting the audience know he may be a conscious hustler (Which he isn't). As he talks about his trouble with money and how pointless all this crime he does for it is there is a money counter in the background and the beautiful sound it makes at the end 'EEEEEEE'. Personally, his words create pathos but the picture makes me happy as I love that sound.

Skipping forward a bit to 1.04 DMX has now stopped rapping and the screen blacks out. Introducing the last production company title as the spliff burns. You can hear the literal sound of smoking and this to me gets me hyped to see what's about to happen next. 

As the spliff is tossed out of the black BMW/Mercedesesque typical hustler car the squad gets out to some somewhat gospel music which is a contradiction to the acts at hand. Then the 'ahaaaa' adlib comes in as DMX steps on the spiff. 

However, soon after the is an introduction to singing with actual words not just adlibs comes in as the clique get into the night club, letting you know it's not going to be a dreary conscious rant again in fact some action is about to happen. "Cold fresh air" is sang by the singer which is funny as it's the opposite to all connotations of a night club. Personally I got excited thinking it was gonna be like the scene from New Jack City and have Flava Flav say "YEAH BOIIIII'. 

"Take a look around" Coincides with the movement of Nas and suits his first real introduction in the movie. 

After you hear "However do you want it" and everyone in their mind says 'Yeah I know that song!' and you feel like you wanna get up and dance around in your socks.