NEW YORK -- The parents don't want to know, but the young hip-

hoppers understand.

That about sums up the reaction to Jay-Z's new, documentary-style film "Streets

Is Watching," which premiered at the Screening Room here Monday night

before a crowd made up mostly of curious rap fans, friends and industry folks.

"Yo, this shit's gonna get like four stars from the thugs and two from the

parents ... Yo, it needs to have like five or six warning labels on it,"

a fan -- who preferred to remain anonymous -- proclaimed of Roc-A-Fella

Records artist Jay-Z's movie premiere.

Packed with graphic nudity, point-blank executions and high-stakes

robberies, the documentary-styled film tries to paint a picture of subject matter

that would be considered unsuitable in the more mainstream formats of

commercial rap radio and video. In an introduction to the mostly entertainment

industry crowd, Roc-A-Fella CEO Damon Dash explained that the video was

about sidestepping censorship and including an important element of realism to

the stories that Jay-Z tells.

"[Jay-Z] and I got together and decided to put something out that portrayed his

most graphic stories," Dash said of the hour-long film that details the hip-

hopper's struggle to find his place in the world of hip-hop. "There is so much

censorship in the rap game so, as a storyteller, this provided Jay-Z with an

avenue to put out all the stuff that we couldn't get on the air."

While this portrayal of life as a drug-running player in the Brooklyn

projects was applauded by some for its realistic images, others saw it as

another example of how society pushes negative stereotypes on

impressionable youth. The women and men in attendance gasped at some of

the more graphic material in the film, such as one scene in which one of Jay-Z's

marked foes is conned into receiving oral pleasure by a spruced-up dancer and

then is repeatedly shot, execution style, by the rapper and one of his boys.

Completed in just seven days last October, the documentary-style production

features tracks from Jay-Z's most recent album, In My Lifetime, as well as

the now classic track "Dead Presidents" and excerpts from hard-to-find earlier

releases. The video is also being released with a soundtrack that includes

tunes by rappers Noreaga, DMX, Sauce Money, M.O.P. and Roc-A-Fella artists

Christion, Memphis Bleek and Diamonds In The Ruff.

Shot primarily in Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well as in New Jersey, the video,

which hit stores Tuesday along with the soundtrack, was the directorial debut for

Abdul Abbott and is largely made up of a collection of music videos from both of

the artist's albums. However, the second half of the video features a narrative by

Jay-Z, who takes the time to explain how Roc-A-Fella Records flourished from

the trunk of his car to being one of the strongest independent hip-hop labels in

the urban music landscape.

Following the lead of many other rap artists before him, Jay-Z also spends plenty of time in the flick partaking in

sex and drugs and proudly displaying his collection of gold chains and emblems.

Due to the graphic content, the project almost never saw the light of day. The

idea was initially shot down by a larger company when approached for

distribution and funding, explained label publicist Sherri Fultz. "At first, Def Jam

said no to the whole thing because it was too raw, so Damon and Jay-Z had to

come up with the money themselves," she said. "When Def Jam saw that they

were serious about putting it out, then they finally chipped in on a distribution

deal."

Still, many found humor in the production, laughing during some of the most

blatantly violent and misogynistic incidences. A particularly loud uproar

followed a scene in which Jay-Z confronted a skinny, Jherri-curled hoodlum

escaping his flea-bag hotel in a late-model mini-van before shooting him in the

stomach as he was sleeping.

People also broke out in laughter during a scene in which spandex-clad vixens

flaunted their way up to Jay-Z, violating a couple of jealous females' turf. The

overprotective women proceeded to pistol-whip and slap the intruders until they

scurried from the premises and began to sprint back for safety.

Some argued that it was a misrepresentation of life on the streets and in the

projects.

"It pisses me off," said one onlooker, who preferred to remain anonymous. "I

grew up in the [projects] and it's not all like this. Now you're gonna have kids

watchin' this movie, smokin' weed and wantin' to play cops and thugs out in the

streets ... give it three weeks 'till we start seein' a bunch of shit goin' down in the

streets. It's bad that you know a video like this just confirms in people's minds

what a lot of them already believe: that rappers and black men, to an extent, are

just out there always getting into trouble."

Others who attended the show said that while the film accurately and

courageously portrayed some important aspects of street life, it failed to offer up

any moral or positive message.

"I thought Jay-Z coulda switched it up at the end and shown a more positive

message about how he ended up runnin' his record label after comin' up in

the projects," said one attendee, who did not want to give a name. "He entered

corporate America after being raised in the projects and dealin' drugs. I think

that there is a message there that he didn't show."