THE GET DOWN SERIES BY NETFLIX

Intriguing, edgy and exciting, The Get Down series is a recent musical drama created by Baz Luhrmann (think Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby) and Stephen Adly Guirgis on Netflix. Set in 1977 in the New York City, at a time when the Big Apple was riddled by the threat of gangs, violence and decline, the healing power of music drives Ezekiel “Books” Figueroa, the series’ protagonist who strives to survive in a turbulent, corrupted and dangerously criminal environment through his wild passion and talent for music. Shots of disco beats that slowly blend into the fast-rising popularity of hip hop and rap, interpreted with passion, rage, innuendo and excess. Not to mention the razzle-dazzle costumes in all their sequined glory and dance floor regalia. The first part of the Sony Pictures Television-produced series are thick with news footage and archival video, heightened by a cast that includes Jaden Smith, Will Smith’s son, who plays a graffiti writer.