‘MTV’s Ultrasound’ Revisits the Golden Age of Hip-Hop

Balloon fights and water guns. On the road and talking all night. Verbal battles and “answer” records. “Mad fun.” “Exhilarating.”

These impressions of rap and hip-hop in the 1980s, which are delivered during the hourlong MTV documentary “Back in the Day,” make the suspicion and controversy that dogged the scene at the time seem all the more unwarranted. And the innocence and exuberance of that period are so removed from the anger of more recent rap that it’s hard to believe that they are the same species.

“Back in the Day,” which airs Sunday and launches a documentary series called “MTV’s Ultrasound,” never alludes to the exaggerated fears that restricted rap tours in the ‘80s (and have all but stopped them today), and it isn’t much interested in larger social and entertainment-business contexts--the Beastie Boys, who played a key role in expanding the rap audience, for instance, are barely mentioned.

But this account of hip-hop’s golden age is as direct and extroverted as its subject. Straightforward and thorough within its limited aims, built on entertaining performance clips and warm, articulate reminiscences from anyone who was anyone in ‘80s rap, “Back in the Day” captures the energy of a culture that flowered as a means of expression for urban kids with no other outlets.

The show covers the genre’s roots in inner-city children’s games and house parties, and explores the technology, the personalities, the fashions and the affiliated art forms that defined hip-hop. In a word, mad fun.

* “MTV’s Ultrasound: Back in the Day” airs at 10 p.m. Sunday on MTV.