10 Most Underrated Comedy Films Of The 90s

If ever there was a genre in need of some ruthless roasting, it was the hardcore hip hop scene of the 90s. Coasting on the ideas laid forth by NWA in the 80s, gangsta rap was nearly becoming a parody of itself, so someone with an incisive wit might as well parody it properly.

Hot on the heels of his final year as an underutilized player on Saturday Night Live, Chris Rock decided to write himself the type of star-making part that no one else would. Unfortunately, not many people really considered his portrayal of suburban layabout-turned-streetwise "thug" MC Gusto to have much wattage.

And that's weird. Released just five years after the iconic Straight Outta Compton hit record store shelves, gangsta rap was enjoying its first taste of major crossover attention, thanks in large part to the unlikely radio success of "Nuthin' But a G Thang." Rock, along with fellow SNL alum Chris Elliott and Phil Hartman, had a thriving target to gut and skin. And they did so with absolute glee.

CB4 wasn't the first comedy to question musicians' realness - and at times it's almost just genre-swapping some of the better jokes from Spinal Tap - but the young and lively Rock swings so hard with his quips that you're positive Dr. Dre could feel it all the way from his lavish home studio.

Occasionally too goofy for its own good, CB4 is nevertheless garners kind of big laughs Chris Rock shouldn't have had to wait so many years to get from a mainstream audience.