A-Town Boyz review (2023)

A-Town Boyz is a fascinating look at three Asian youth in Atlanta and their efforts to escape from a silent, but prevailing destructive gang culture lifestyle.

From the opening scene, director Eunice Lau brings a realness and rawness to viewers. Would-be hip-hop stars Harrison “Vickz” Kim and Jamy “Bizzy” Long pose and posture in front of the cameras with crew members toting and aiming guns in a menacing manner. For better or worse, Vickz and Bizzy sound similar to every other mainstream star currently atop the hip hop charts.

Lau quickly contrasts this raw introduction to Vickz and Bizzy by having them chat in a more relaxed environment as they discuss what led them to hip hop and a gang lifestyle. For both, it was their hard-working parents who’d immigrated to America in pursuit of the American dream now having to work twice as hard to provide for their families.

With their parents largely absent for trying to provide for them, the lure and appeal of Asian gangsters was appealing. Bizzy and Vickz both have welcome self-awareness of their choices being their decisions instead of making their parents the scapegoats. This was important information for Lau to capture as it makes Bizzy and Vickz’s journey far more captivating as opposed to listening to the two blaming everyone else for their choices.

Rapping about their lifestyles became a side product until they started to believe in their own vision of the American dream — one in which becoming successful rappers could take them out of their own squalor and enjoy a carefree wealthy life. The path to success in the genre is harder for Asians, both note. People who love their songs sight unseen might not give them a chance to hear them upon seeing Asian guys about to rap.

Lau does an excellent job of showing a glimpse of that dream lifestyle for the duo with quick clips of jam-packed crowds, women in skintight or barely-there clothes gyrating on the club floor and audience members hanging on their every word

A-Town Boyz is set days before the duo is about to perform at a venue that could propel them to the next big step in their careers. Vickz and Bizzy are charismatic and likable. While they sound naive at times about their lives if they remain in the midst of gang activity, it’s easy to root for them to escape from that going nowhere lifestyle in order to give themselves a real future.

Vickz shares a heartbreaking story about his family that makes him even more sympathetic. Lau gets impressive access to the duo with interviews with girlfriends and parents who are refreshingly candid in their takes on Bizzy and Vickz. Again, no one makes any sweeping excuses just explanations for what led the A-Town Boyz along this path.

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The third subject is Eugene Chung, a gang leader of some renown who grew up in New York with little clue of his identity. Eugene mentions at one point that he thought he was Italian as he was so engrossed in that culture until his peers started mocking his Asian features. Unlike Bizzy and Vickz, Eugene had made something of himself in his formative years as he climbed the ranks of local gangs until he was the head of a sizable faction.

Lau doesn’t mix up much of the storytelling format, but in one inspired section, she has Eugene’s tale of fighting children at school done in an animated format. It’s done in a tasteful style that doesn’t clash with the serious nature of A-Town Boyz.

Eugene is still embroiled in the gang lifestyle but has also expanded his reach into music production. Of the three, Eugene is easily the least sympathetic but again, his own accountability for his actions allows for the hope for some measure of redemption.

There’s a point in A-Town Boyz when it seems apparent that a happy ending is not imminent. Lau and co-writer Yasu Inoue don’t have to force some narrative. It’s just a matter of watching the inevitable play out. Vickz makes the interesting analogy of how blacks and Latinos are placed in prison for ridiculous charges for lengthy prison terms, but there’s few Asians behind bars.

With a brisk run time of 72-minutes, A-Town Boyz is a quick watch. For this kind of documentary, it’s all about the post-script. What lessons were learned? Who fell back into the same traps as before? And who, if any, has made a change for the better.  For one subject, trying to reclaim past glories proves a sad reality of a dream that won’t be fulfilled while others seem to be on the path to be more than just A-Town Boyz.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Photo Credit: Delphin Films

A-Town Boyz is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.

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