Here’s a dilemma for the budding comedy-maker: How do you parody something that’s become its own best parody? Is there a more successful caricature of Cribs than, say, the Mariah Carey episode of Cribs? Well, if you’re hiphop mogul Damon Dash and the target of your sendup is the already cartoonish hiphop industry, the answer is simple: Pull together a clever script, enlist a boatload of your A-list friends, and plug a hell of a lot of your own vodka in the process. Billed as a hiphop This Is Spin¬al Tap, Death of a Dynasty is a satirical take on the bling-bling set directed by one of its biggest stars, Dash himself. The story follows young Dave Katz, “just another white reporter on the hiphop beat trying to be down,” who’s improbably allowed a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of Roc-A-Fella Records, the real-life label until recently headed by Dash (played by real-life rapper Capone) and Jay-Z (real-life comedian Robert Stapleton). But the young reporter (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), drunk with the power that comes with access and probably a fair bit of that vodka, double-crosses his hosts by fueling rumors of a rift in the Dash/Z relationship, triggering the apparent demise of the label as well as the customary shoot-out (followed, of course, by soaring record sales). Smartly (if a little sloppily) written by State Property 2 scripter Adam “Mr. Blue” Moreno, Dynasty merrily pokes at the soft spots of just about every icon in hiphop, a crowd not exactly well-known for its ability to laugh at itself. Thanks to the ultimately disposable plot, the results aren’t quite up to Tap standards, but they’re pretty damn funny nonetheless. Run-DMC members DMC and Jam Master Jay (as themselves) are cane-carrying old-timers longing for the days when rappers wore jeans that fit. P. Diddy (Kevin Hart) is a clumsy pipsqueak tormented by children who still call him “Puff Daddy.” And Dash himself is portrayed as a wannabe Harlem thug accused of being a soft kid from—gasp!—Brooklyn. Adding a few live-or-Memorex moments are cameos by a slew of famous personalities, including Chloë Sevigny as a sexy groupie and Lorraine Bracco as an R&B singer intent on taking “bootylicious to the next level.” Oh, and Carson Daly appears as…Carson Daly. Because even in a good ol’ parody like Dynasty, sometimes the thing itself is the best joke. —Mario Correa