Krush Groove (1985 ): 18 Shocking Facts You Totally Missed

Krush Groove (1985): 18 insane behind the scenes secrets Russell Simmons turned this movie down twice before he ever agreed to make it. Harry Belafonte offered him a version that became Beat Street. Menahem Golan pitched a rap cash-in he wanted to rush out before the trend faded. Both times, Simmons said no. Columbia Pictures then agreed to fund the project and dropped it weeks before shooting. Warner Brothers stepped in mostly because Sheila E. was already signed to their label. The entire film was shot in just 26 days. Blair Underwood was the only trained actor in the whole cast. Everyone else, Run-DMC, the Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, Rick Rubin, LL Cool J, and Simmons himself, played versions of themselves. Simmons had originally wanted Fab Five Freddy for the lead. The producers overruled him. Spike Lee tried to get hired as assistant director to fund She's Gotta Have It. He got rejected, and one year later became one of the most important filmmakers of his generation. Prince secretly played almost every instrument on A Love Bizarre, credited to Sheila E. A physical fight broke out on set between Black and Latino extras over who invented hip-hop. Simmons stopped it with a megaphone. Chris Rock hid in a background nightclub scene at 20 years old, completely uncredited. And the wholesome Fat Boys naming story shown on screen is pure fiction. The real reason involved a $350 hotel breakfast bill. The legendary Disco Fever nightclub got permanently shut down on the last day of filming, cited for operating without a cabaret license. Reverend Daniel Simmons, the actual father of Run and Russell, played the preacher father on screen. And Kevin Smith's Dogma turned this film into a punchline in 1999, betting it would out-earn E.T. And the bonus: LL Cool J wasn't cast in this movie. He was 17, uninvited, and kept showing up at filming locations with a boombox, freestyling until the production finally put him in. His 45 second scene became his screen debut and launched one of the biggest careers in hip-hop history. ⏱ Timestamps in the chapters below 👇 Which fact surprised you most? Drop it in the comments