Taking the plunge

LudAcris is easily one of hip-hop’s raunchiest artists. He’s made millions with his rapid-fire raps about his favorite subject -- sex -- and earned a fair share of “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics” stickers with such R-rated lyrics as, “I want a lady in the street but a freak in the bed.”

Not exactly the kind of artist you’d expect to see featured in the PG-rated “Shark Tale,” the new animated feature from DreamWorks that opens Friday and features an A-list cast topped by Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Renee Zellweger.

In addition to Ludacris, the soundtrack to “Shark Tale” also features Eminem’s foul-mouthed proteges, D12. Although hip-hop has long gained crossover status, its high-profile use in a family film represents the biggest splash yet in the effort to channel rap’s coarser elements into the cultural mainstream.

Ludacris insists that cleaning up his act for “Shark Tale” is not watering down hip-hop’s edginess. The rapper said the opportunity to alter his racy style into child-friendly fare is actually in keeping with hip-hop’s creative spirit.

“It wasn’t really a challenge at all,” said Ludacris, who contributed “Gold Digger,” the theme song for a femme fatale fish, seductively voiced by Angelina Jolie. “I’m very multifaceted. All I had to do was make a song without cursing. And it’s still staying true to my audience because I’m branching out, reinventing myself. I don’t have to do the same thing all the time.”

“Shark Tale” floats its story about fish living and playing in a true sub-urban community -- think New York City, underwater -- and could be easily subtitled “Fishz N Da Sea.” Smith is the voice of Oscar, a little fish who works the less-than-pleasant tongue duty at the local Whale Wash. Zellweger is Angel, an angelfish with a huge crush on the clueless Oscar. De Niro spoofs his many gangster roles as Don Lino, a great white shark who rules the reef with his mob crew. Other voices include Jack Black and Michael Imperioli of “The Sopranos.”

The plot revolves around Oscar, who gets caught between a fin and a hard place when he tells a lie in an effort to gain respect from his fellow fishes. By the end of the film, he has learned a valuable lesson about honesty, life and love, while promoting unity among the fishes.

Several rap experts have already hailed “Shark Tale” both as a validation of hip-hop culture as well as a welcome shift from the celebration of more high-profile aspects of a universe that focuses on profanity, the mistreatment of women and material wealth.

“This is just further proof that 25 years after ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by the Sugar Hill Gang that hip-hop culture has become American culture,” said Kevin Powell, a hip-hop historian who appears frequently on cable channel VH1. “What was once seen as just a trend has now become part of the American fabric.”

Added Yvonne Bynoe, head of the New York-based Urban Think Tank Institute: “When you see hip-hop on MTV, there’s all this swagger and cursing and bravado. But the roots of hip-hop have always been about family. That’s the whole concept of the crews and the posses. So it’s not entirely surprising to see it go in this direction.”

Casting “Shark Tale” in a hip-hop vein was a part of the film’s development from its inception three years ago.

“Hip-hop is now a part of our culture and our world and clothing and our music, and I felt it presented an amazing opportunity to show that,” said DreamWorks honcho and “Shark Tale” executive producer Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Producer Bill Damaschke said that he knew some of the references might not connect with all audiences but, he added, “That’s OK. There’s enough stuff for all to enjoy.”

Crucial to establishing the film’s hip credibility was Smith, who has evolved from his beginnings as a rapper to become one of Hollywood’s biggest box-office stars.

Said Katzenberg: “He was also instrumental in convincing many of the artists that this would be a hip and a cool movie to do.”

Wanting to establish authenticity and credibility, the film’s music supervisors, Darren Higman and Laura Wasserman, said they contacted several harder-edged rap artists about contributing to the soundtrack.

“We knew that we needed the appropriate sound, and we found out that a lot of these artists were excited about stepping out from what they usually do,” Wasserman said. “We let them know that lyrically, they had to stay within the parameters of a family film, and it was no problem for them. And the lyrics stayed true to who they are.”

D12, who usually raps about drugs and “ho’s,” was particularly pleased to be involved, Higman said. “They were really into it, saying, ‘Wow, we’ve never done anything like this before.’ A lot of these artists may be harder edged in their careers, but they are also pop artists.”

Several hard-core rap performers who have laced their music with profanity and violent images are turning from the thug life to the hug life, embracing new projects that do not require a parental advisory warning.

* Snoop Dogg, a rapper made infamous for his criminal past, brazen drug use and line of X-rated videos, is now a commercial pitchman for major products, a movie star (“Starsky and Hutch,” “Soul Plane”) and a talk-show favorite (“The View”).

* Ice Cube, who is behind such violence-laden recordings as “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted,” is the star and producer of the popular PG-rated “Barbershop” franchise.

* Method Man & Redman of the hard-core group Wu Tang Clan and Eve and Missy Elliott have already starred in current or upcoming network prime-time comedy and unscripted shows.

* L’il Romeo will start his second season as the star of Nickelodeon’s “Romeo!,” which is the network’s most popular series among African American children. His father, Master P, who created a gangsta rap empire with his independent No Limit label, costars and is an executive producer.

* “Dance 360,” a new syndicated show from Paramount Domestic Television aimed at the after-school crowd, pits teens against each other in hip-hop dance battles. The show is co-hosted by Fredo Starr, formerly of the group Onyx, which developed a more punk-rock approach to rap.

* Eminem scored as an actor in his semiautobiographical film “8 Mile,” which also earned him an Oscar for best song. And rapper 50 Cent was recently signed to an autobiographic film about his life in and out of prison. It will be scripted by Terence Winter, who just won an Emmy for outstanding drama writing for “The Sopranos.”

While “Shark Tale” may represent the most expensive and high-profile animated project to have a hip-hop setting, it is not the first.

“The PJs,” a TV series that aired from 1999 to 2001 and featured the voice of Eddie Murphy, was set in a housing project. And in 1992, Paramount Pictures released “Bebe’s Kids,” an animated comedy about rowdy children. The movie was written by Reginald Hudlin, who broke ground with the first hip-hop teen comedy, 1990’s “House Party.”

Historian Powell pointed out that while “Bebe’s Kids” was targeted primarily at black audiences, “Shark Tale” is an all-access urban ‘toon: “It shows how much things have changed in 14 years.”

Despite the film’s decidedly urban bent, DreamWorks is not heavily promoting that aspect.

“I’m always nervous about shining a spotlight on the film,” said the studio’s head of marketing, Terry Press. “People can react negatively. We never focused on Antonio Banderas being a Latino character in ‘Shrek 2,’ but that audience knew he was in it. And Latino theaters were the highest-grossing theaters that opening weekend.”

Poet and activist Tonya Maria Matthews said she was proud that DreamWorks was embracing the hip-hop culture with “Shark Tale”: “The folks who helped form the culture should be really ecstatic that it has become universally accepted. Now it’s up to us to make sure that people use it right.”