Jonah Bromwich has seen it all, wide-frame.
Many rappers have switched their subject matter to the mundane. Rather than boasting about being a Rawsian fake gangster, they make up for a lack of subject matter with outsize boasts about the cars they drive and the clothes they rock. The key to Curren$y’s appeal is that, amidst the perfunctory allusions to the finest brands, dude actually takes the time to describe a wildly appealing lifestyle. Listening to his music is like watching the first two seasons of Entourage, if Turtle had played more than a supporting role: sure it’s fun to see the shiny things gleam, but the real enjoyment comes from the vicarious thrill of being along for the ride.
It’s no wonder then that Curren$y makes a good subject for a quick lifestyle documentary. There’s not much story in Jetflix: just a celebration of a luxe road lifestyle, complete with jokes about how realistic Call of Duty is, reminiscing over Crystal Pepsi commercials and, as you’d expect, waves and waves of weed smoke. There are a couple of notable cameos, including one from Freddie Gibbs, wearing a green sweatsuit, chilling at Rock the Bells 2013. The doc posits Curren$y as an artist well-suited to the age of transparency, with his tweets occasionally highlighting the action on screen. “Leave it open” he says, at a show in San Diego, referring to a curtain dividing him from his fans. It’s a request that’s emblematic of an artist who’s thrived by reflecting his fans lifestyle back at them, with only a bit of amplification for effect.
