I'm Bout It is a 1997 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Master P and Moon Jones. A semi-autobiographical account of Master P's youth in New Orleans, the film stars Master P, Jones, Anthony Boswell, Silkk the Shocker, Mack 10, C-Murder, Mia X, and Mr. Serv-On. The film was released directly to video in June 1997 after major distributors expressed doubts about its marketability.
Plot Perry McKnight (Master P) is a small-time drug dealer living in New Orleans who hopes to make enough money to escape his surroundings and build a better life. As he becomes more involved in the local drug trade, he encounters rival dealers, corrupt police officers and friends whose loyalties become increasingly uncertain.
Perry's younger brother Kevin (Anthony Boswell) is drawn into the same environment. The film follows the brothers alongside scenes of everyday life in their neighborhood, including basketball games and community gatherings, as violence and drug dealing increasingly affect those around them. Kevin is eventually murdered by a drug-addicted friend, leaving Perry to confront the consequences of the life he has been pursuing.
Cast The cast includes:
Master P as Perry McKnight Anthony Boswell as Kevin McKnight Cassandra Cheatam as Sonya Tracy Philpott as Kevin's girlfriend Moon Jones as Friendly Helen Martin as Mrs. Alberta C-Murder as Q Mack 10 as Perry's cousin Mia X as Kasey Silkk the Shocker as Silkk Mr. Serv-On as Pac Man Kane & Abel (group) as Themselves
Production I'm Bout It was No Limit Records' first feature film and formed part of Master P's effort to expand the label beyond music. He financed, produced, co-directed and starred in the film, which he developed as a dramatized version of his own life. Before filming had begun, No Limit promoted the project in the booklets of its albums, using its existing record-buying audience to build interest in the film.
The film was shot on location in New Orleans and incorporated settings and incidents drawn from Master P's upbringing, including a fictionalized version of the killing of his younger brother Kevin. The Washington Post described the film's low-budget visual style as having a home-movie quality that at times approached cinéma vérité.
Release I'm Bout It was released directly to video in June 1997 after major film distributors expressed doubts about its marketability. Contemporary Billboard coverage reported that the film was scheduled to ship on June 3. Master P promoted the release with the slogan "banned in theaters across America" and added anti-gun shorts by the Hughes brothers, along with No Limit music videos and behind-the-scenes footage, to the video release. Priority Records shipped more than 200,000 copies of the video within five weeks, and by September 1997 the film had reached No. 26 on the video sales charts.
Reception Critical responses to I'm Bout It were mixed to negative. Writing in The Washington Post in 1997, Richard Harrington described the film as "hardly a great film" but noted that it was clearly a commercial success. In a 2002 review for The A.V. Club, Nathan Rabin praised the film's do-it-yourself spirit and raw energy, but criticized it as derivative, amateurish and incoherent.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album, I'm Bout It, was released in May 1997 by No Limit Records and Priority Records. The album featured artists from the No Limit roster alongside performers including E-40, B-Legit, Brotha Lynch Hung, Mystikal and JT the Bigga Figga, with Master P serving as executive producer. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and reached number one on the Top R&B Albums Chart. Richard Harrington of The Washington Post described the soundtrack as combining gritty street narratives with songs addressing crime, punishment, community and conscience.
Legacy Later writers have emphasized I'm Bout It's influence on independently produced hip-hop films. In a 2017 retrospective, Camilo Hannibal Smith of the Houston Press described the film as a blueprint for later low-budget, direct-to-video hood films and argued that Master P's approach to production and distribution helped create an alternative route outside the conventional Hollywood system. Writing for Stereogum in 2021, Tom Breihan similarly described the film as a successful early example of the rapper-made direct-to-video film, crediting its success with contributing to No Limit Records' commercial rise and inspiring similar projects by other rap labels and artists.
Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club later characterized the film as having unofficially launched what he termed the "rapsploitation" genre of low-budget films made by rappers, which subsequently became a staple of the direct-to-video market.
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