On the one year anniversary of Mike Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri, a benefit concert in commemoration of his life was organized by Hip-Hop and civil rights activists Common, Talib Kweli, Immortal Technique, Renita Lamkin, Cornell West, Rosa Clemente, Jasiri Smith, Bree Newsome, and Rahiel Tesfamariam. The concert was abruptly interrupted when the activists find out that a Black teen had been shot by Ferguson police officers that same night. To address the shooting, the performers gave more than their talent when they come face to face with the justice system in Ferguson, Missouri.


Directed By:
Queen Muhammad Ali & Hakeem Khaaliq

Produced by:
Nation19 Magazine (a Mobile Regime brand)

Co-Produced by:
Ronald Sims
Steven Powell

Cinematography by:
Hakeem Khaaliq

Edited by:
Hakeem Khaaliq & Queen Muhammad Ali

Re-Recording Mixers:
Michael A. Muhammad
Steve Harrison (Audio Suite)

Music Supervision by:
Radio Bums

AFRO-PUNK explores race identity within the punk scene. This film tackles hard questions, such as issues of loneliness, exile, inter-racial dating and black power. We follow the lives of four people who have dedicated themselves to the punk rock lifestyle. They find themselves in conflicting situations, living the dual life of a person of color in a mostly white community. Afro-Punk features performances by Bad Brains, Tamar Kali, Cipher, and Ten Grand. It also contains exclusive interviews by members of Fishbone, 247- spyz, Dead Kennedys, Candiria, Orange 9mm and TV on the Radio to name a few.

Veteran b-girl Ana "Rokafella" Garcia's first documentary film ALL THE LADIES SAY features the work of female breakdancers in the United States, including Aiko, Baby Love, Beta, Lady Champ, Severe and Vendetta. This film raises awareness of the female presence in Hip-hop and promotes the growth of this dance community in the United States and internationally. Discussions about femininity, motherhood and the representation of women in popular culture are a few of the themes explored by the dancers.

A physically demanding dance form and originally performed in the streets, breakdancing has been associated with male dancers, or b-boys. ALL THE LADIES SAY convincingly challenges this assumption with a wealth of archival and contemporary audiovisual materials including an exclusive interview with Baby Love, a B-girl pioneer and previous tour member of the Rock Steady Crew dance group. Despite the obstacles, professional b-girls have carved a niche in the male-dominated world of Hip-Hop and continue to pursue their dreams.

An inspiring look at the world of female breakdancers, ALL THE LADIES SAY documents the 2006 tour "The B Girl Sitdowns" and features dance performances from veteran and upcoming b-girls in San Francisco, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Minneapolis. The B Girl Sitdowns was funded by the Ford Foundation and organized by Full Circle Productions, a non-profit organization that presents uplifting Hip Hop dance performances and provide educational Hip Hop dance programming in New York City.

ALL THE LADIES SAY is available for educational purchase and public screenings. Purchase of the DVD & Digital File combo includes a discussion guide and a short video tutorial of the following breakin' moves: kick out, kick out turn, 2-step and roll back shoulder freeze. Ana "Rokafella" Garcia is available for speaking engagements and workshops.

In Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, an isolated community of 1500 mainly Inuit residents, Hip-Hop has been popular for many years. But it’s the glamourized gangsta lifestyle on display in music videos that many of the local kids choose to emulate.

Capitalizing on the popularity of Hip-Hop, social worker and longtime B-boy Stephen Leafloor has been bringing positive Hip Hop workshops to Northern Canada. In 2007 Leafloor and his crew of Hip Hop instructors flew to Cambridge Bay for a five-day intensive workshop. For five days they taught breakin’, beatboxing and even graffiti to over 100 Inuit teenagers. Sensitive to the community’s rich cultural heritage, Leafloor took advantage of Hip-Hop’s adaptable nature and encouraged the youth to incorporate Inuit traditions. The results were a mesmerizing mix of throat singing with beatbox and Inuit symbolism and dancing with Hip-Hop moves.

While dancing to the beat, Inuit kids are encouraged to blend their rich, ancient culture with Hip-Hop culture. Between backspins and body-waves, they discuss bullying, body image and suicide. Five days later they emerge not only better dancers, but more confident kids, who have a clearer idea of how to balance their cultural identity with popular culture.

In this film, artists, singers, emcees, activists, poets and writers come together in an explosive exploration of feminine creation. Each lady brings to the screen her innermost struggles in an attempt to outline the obstacles that face the female artist. "The Art of Love and Struggle" navigates the challenges of poverty, politics and personal sacrifice and explores love, identity and urban culture.

The Hip-Hop Christian movement has been uplifting youth by delivering positive religious messages that are not about drugs, sex, or hate but of hope and peace.

In a society where artists are glorified for being gunned down, women are admired for wearing fewer clothes, and children are quoting lyrics to songs that should be deemed Rated X, how do you spell relief? B- L- A- Z- E!

At the heart of this film is a desire to expose the "Other Side of Hip Hop". Candid interviews, music video clips, and concert performances, all blend to create this smoothie of acidic relief.

The images are everywhere: young black women shaking their assets in music videos featuring the biggest names in hip-hop. The dancers appear to be pretty props, gyrating to songs with misogynistic lyrics sung by mostly male rappers?images that appear to be exploitative and stereotypical. Yet auditions are highly sought after. This edgy documentary goes behind the scenes to follow Linda, Michelle and Tracy, three young women competing for roles in music videos. What drives these women to risk everything for a chance at fame? What role do these images play in shaping young women’s goals and identities? Through their personal accounts, we see how this world has impacted their personal values, career ambitions and concepts of beauty and self-image. A National Film Board of Canada production.

"Democracy in Dakar" explores the transformative role of Hip-Hop in politics in Senegal, West Africa during the 2007 presidential election campaign. This documentary mixes interviews, freestyles, and commentary from journalists, artists and politicians. Senegalese society is seen on the brink of democratic change, where Hip-Hop artists are one of the few groups unafraid of speaking out.

From the ashes of four decades of war, AIDS and corruption in Uganda, The Bataka Squad artists, Babaluku and Saba Saba, rise to forge a revolutionary path using music. They are on a mission to empower the forgotten youth of Africa from within, while spreading their message of hope around the globe. Narrated by Spearhead singer Michael Franti, follow the Bataka movement to amplify the spirit of the next generation in this musical journey.

Diamonds in the Rough offers a raw glimpse of urban Africa through the eyes of four emerging Hip Hop artists in the Ugandan capitol of Kampala. They teach us how to struggle with a smile, how to make the best of life against insufferable odds, how to create our own opportunities and flourish through positivity, presenting a refreshing contrast to the commercialized bling bling gangster rap here in America. These artists are the voice of the new generation, the heroes of their community and a group of active, enthusiastic and energetic young people more concerned with global change then how much change they have in their pockets.

This documentary tells the little known story of Sakia Gunn, a 15 year old student who was fatally stabbed in a gay hate crime in Newark, New Jersey. Sakia was an Aggressive, according to GLAAD, a homosexual woman of color who dresses in masculine attire but does not necessarily identify as female-to-male transgender. Sakia held promise as a basketball player and was an "A" student, looking forward to becoming a senior at Newark's West Side High School. On the night Sakia was murdered, she and her friends were returning from socializing at New York City's Greenwich Village piers, at Christopher street, a popular spot for Lesbian, Gay and Transgendered youth. Two men targeted the group at a Newark bus stop station first flirting with and then propositioning them. The girls rebuffed the sexual advances of the much older assailants. Words were exchanged, a fight ensued, and Sakia was stabbed. "Sakia and her friends didn't mean anybody any harm that night. They were coming back from having fun at the Pier in New York, a place where they felt safe to be who they were." says Laquetta Nelson of the Newark Pride Alliance.

"Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project" depicts the homophobia that caused this murder and questions the lack of media coverage of the murder of a Black Gay teenager. "This 15 year old black lesbian was murdered, and I didn't know about it", says activist Swazzi Sowo of Black Rap in San Francisco. The documentary follows the reaction of the Newark community where several rallies and vigils were held, galvanizing the community and prompting several LGBT organizations to form, including the Newark Pride Alliance and Sakia Gunn Aggressives & Femmes, as well as a scholarship fund in her name. May 11, the day Sakia was murdered, was declared by the city of Newark's Mayor as "No Name Calling Day".

The story unfolds with the testimonies of Sakia's family and friends during the sentencing hearing of the murderer. The hearing is inter-cut with interviews of LGBT community leaders, opinions of people in the community, interviews of Sakia's best friend, Valencia, and exclusive footage of Sakia's vigil. "Dreams Deferred" pays homage to this young Aggressive and exposes the sensitive issues not often addressed regarding gender-identity, homophobia and racism.

Their music fueled a movement. His message fought a war.

FAVELA RISING documents a man and a movement, a city divided and a favela (Brazilian squatter settlement) united. Haunted by the murders of his family and many of his friends, Anderson Sá is a former drug-trafficker who turns social revolutionary in Rio de Janeiro’s most feared slum. Through hip-hop music, the rhythms of the street, and Afro-Brazilian dance he rallies his community to counteract the violent oppression enforced by teenage drug armies and sustained by corrupt police.

At the dawn of liberation, just as collective mobility is overcoming all odds and Anderson’s grassroots Afro Reggae movement is at the height of its success, a tragic accident threatens to silence the movement forever.

A revealing documentary on the work and life of successful and independent Chinese Hip-Hop artists and their cultural influence in a society rapidly changing from communism to consumerism. Clashing with both traditional Chinese values and new modern ones, these artists believe that Hip-Hop allows for the expression of freedom and being true to oneself. Furthermore, the film describes the high optimism and convictions of this new generation that will inherit a political and economic superpower. Part of the H2ONewsreel collection.

FREKUENSIA KOLOMBIANA profiles the grassroots Hip-Hop scene in Colombia, exploring the popularity of all the elements--MCing, breakdancing, graffiti, and DJing--and their relation to the political and class realities of Colombia. Told through interviews of Hip-Hop artists, as well as regular residents of communities in Medellin, Bogota, Cali, and Barranquilla, we see the ways in which Hip-Hop's musical form is shaped specifically by Vallenato--Colombian folk music, as well as the political corruption, poverty, and the suppressed voices of the Colombian masses.

In Colombia, Hip-Hop culture is truly underground with no established industry, no radio stations willing to play Colombian Hip-Hop, and the police actively targeting the outspoken artists. However, out of this exclusion comes the youth programs teaching young people the aesthetic skills of graffiti, breakdancing, and DJing and the crews of Colombian youth practicing rapping in cyphers and on their own recordings.

By exploring groups such as Por Razones de Estado, Camajan Club, Zona Marginal and others, we are able to view the social realities of life in the ghettos of Columbia and that impact on their cultural production. For this generation of young Colombians Hip-Hop is not only about creative expression or resistance, but a spiritual experience that gives them place and meaning in the world. FREKUENSIA KOLOMBIANA explores these different meanings and conveys the true power of Hip-Hop culture to the dispossessed.

An award-winning documentary that explores the eclectic world of Hip-Hop and the urban graffiti artist. GRAFFITI VERITE’ is the first up-close and personal expose’ into the graffiti art world as experienced by 24 artists whose medium is the spray can.

Conversations span the comparison of graffiti’s historical connection to hieroglyphics and cave writings to discussions of graffiti art as “street-level” propaganda and public art gallery. Part of the H2ONewsreel Collection.

Whether you call it breakin’, bboyin’, bgirlin’ or simply Hip-Hop dance, what we witness here is authentically funky and soulful. These dancers strive to be “in the moment.” When it’s good, what’s expressed in movement is spirit-filled, awe-inspiring and explosive!

In GV10, these incredibly talented dancers detail their journey and represent their personalized Hip-Hop dance art form by sharing their unique acrobatic, rhythmic and mind-blowing body-bending dance styles.

This documentary presents invaluable insights into the pathos, joy, discipline and history of this worldwide urban culture called Hip-Hop. Part of the H2ONewsreel Collection.

This documentary is an exploration of the creative expressions in contemporary American Hip-Hop. It focuses on the innovation, movement, and the raw and unfiltered personalized “truth” of some of the most prolific and innovative urban philosophers of our time.

GV11 shows the real voices of Hip-Hop, claiming that the “Real Hip-Hop” cannot be found on commercial TV or the radio. Part of the H2ONewsreel Collection.

Flying high above Los Angeles, GV2 looks down on the streets, introducing us to the artists who “tag” the walls of our cities with spraycans while we sleep.

GV2 features 19 graffiti artists and reveals how this artistic movement has become the most popular form of expression of the millennium.

The documentary includes more than 400 graffiti art images and the winners of the first International Graffiti Art Competition. Part of the H2ONewsreel Collection.

This experimental documentary probes the socio-political context that distracts the average person from appreciating the significance of graffiti’s historical and artistic impact.

In GV3, Bryan forgoes traditional storytelling and reinvents himself by using Hip-Hop, world, techno, metal, fusion, ballads, house and other music to challenge our preconceptions about underground graffiti art. Part of the H2ONewsreel Collection.

This documentary is the ultimate step-by-step program on spray can art. Outsiders get a rare glimpse into the outstanding art and eclectic personalities behind the controversial graffiti art movement.

In GV4, Cleveland artist SANO (two-time winner of The International Graffiti Art Competition) pulls you in by showing the concepts, aesthetics, techniques, and style needed to complete a “Wild Style” masterpiece on a legal wall and/or canvas. Part of the H2ONewsreel Collection.

GV5 is a portrait of the educational value and therapeutic aspect of the four elements of contemporary Hip-Hop: DJing, break-dancing, rappin’ and graffiti art.

“Hip-Hop, if used creatively, can give educators an invaluable tool to bridge the communications and learning dyslexia that exist between students and educators. It’s time to explore this type of multi-intelligence model and integrate its positive potential usefulness into the curriculum, as a method of connecting with today’s youth.” - Bob Bryan.

Part of the H2ONewsreel Collection.

GV6 features 31 multi-ethnic, award-winning, published and highly respected poets. Their creations are a seamlessly woven, uniquely honest, visual tapestry that synthesizes one-on-one poetry readings, graphic iconography, creative insights, and fascinating dramatic interviews.

GV6 is an honest and fascinating snapshot of the private and public world of the poet and their often times misunderstood and under-appreciated art form. Part of the H2ONewsreel Collection.

GV7 probes the reality of spoken word poets, or, poets that write for the stage. Spoke Word poetry, often flavored with Hip-Hop, connects with today’s youth because the poetics of this art form speak to their love for live performance, their suppressed passions, and the cultural attitudes concerning the world in which they live. Spoken word helps them to unravel, articulate, and document their experiences.

Bryan shares the perspectives of 15 uniquely talented spoken word poets. From grand-slam champions to open-mic veterans, GV7 crosses all philosophical, racial, and social lines.

Combining throat-based effects that create a “wall of sound,” the job of the human beat-boxer is to compose a flawless soundscape.

GV8 explores the history of beat-boxing and its claim as its own art form in the Hip-Hop movement. This documentary features several beat-boxers, who describe some of the challenges they have faced and share the techniques they have developed in order to master their art, such as: stamina, circular breathing, and producing different sounds at the same time.

Watching a great DJ spin is analogous to watching a professional musician perform. As composer and producer Glenn Towery says, “DJs have to understand the dynamics of music to understand the beat”.

In GV9, DJs, MCs, lyricists, composers and producers talk in detail about the skills and knowledge needed to convert raw sound into new music compositions with unique styles. The documentary offers advice on what kind of equipment you need and the different type of beats. It also explores the relationship between the DJ, the MC and the lyricist during the creative process.

Young Black members of Sao Paulo's hip hop movement depict their experience and views of Black Brazilian history through their music, dance and graffiti.

HIPHOPISTAN is a documentary film that examines the impact of Hip-Hop culture on Istanbul youth and reveals how young Turkish rappers, DJs, break-dancers, and graffiti artists creatively blend popular influences with their local cultural values and traditions. In a world that is becoming increasingly exposed to global media, much has been debated as to whether or not societies and individuals can adopt influences from music, television, cinema, internet and fashion in a positive and constructive way without losing their own cultural identities and heritage. The dichotomy terms of “East” and “West” have unfortunately regularly coincided with “tradition” and “modernity” and “local” and “global” making it seem as though they are polarized opposites.

While providing a glimpse into the lives of innovative youth in a predominantly Muslim and rapidly globalizing city, HIPHOPISTAN presents examples of how globalization can provide opportunities for creative changes rather than simply erasing local culture. Creative artists provide solutions that allow tradition and change to peacefully co-exist. By displaying how communities are created through the use of lyrics, beats, rhymes, dance, and graffiti art, HIPHOPISTAN emphasizes how the universality of music and expression blurs all cultural, ethnic, religious, and linguistic boundaries and barriers and thus raises awareness of the many similarities of youth culture worldwide.

This feature-length documentary follows the creation of Morocco's first-ever Hip-Hop festival, from inception all the way to the stage. Along the way we meet DJ Key, a self-taught turntable prodigy who is torn between his love for Hip-Hop and his
devotion to Islam; H-Kayne, a pioneer rap group on the verge of stardom; and Fati, a high school girl who's trying to make it as a female rapper in an Arab man's world. This film reflects the thoughts and dreams of the true future of the Arab world through the window of innovative and energizing music.

Nine months after the riot. Malcolm X Memorial Services held at I.S. 201 in New York, March 1968, and scenes from Newark, March 1968.

INVENTOS explores the burgeoning Hip-Hop scene in Cuba. In spite of the US trade embargo against Cuba, the Hip-Hop movement is flourishing with popular innovative groups such as EPG&B, Grandes Ligas, Anonimo Consejo, and Sexto Sentido offering creative energy and powerful social commentary on Cuban social issues and politics. Groups such as Orishas are profiled as one of the few Cuban Hip-Hop groups that live outside of Cuba and have a worldwide following. The film follows these artists to their homes, various performances, the Cuban Hip-Hop festival, and for many, their first time abroad to perform and record in New York. Though materially these artists do not have access to the same resources that American Hip-Hop artists have, as MC Kokino of Anonimo Consejo says, "out of little, we make a lot." Inventos truly shows us that the best art is made from pure creativity, inspiration, and drive. The film also features American hip-hop artists Dead Prez and Tony Touch.

From the mind of Brooklyn actor, performance artist and Hip-Hop activist Danny Hoch, this film spins out the stories of ten lives shocked by global Hip-Hop, the prison system and life in general. Moving masterfully in and out of the characters while the camera cuts from film narrative to live performances, Danny blows your mind and makes you look at cultural power in a new way that is hysterically funny, tragically sad and uplifting all at once.

Art, labor and family blend in this intimate documentary about performance artist Caridad De La Luz, better known as 'La Bruja'. Born and raised in the Bronx, this daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants takes the number 6 train to downtown Manhattan where she performs at popular New York City venues. She reads her poetry in Joe's Pub, stages her one-woman show in the Nuyorican Poets Café, and performs at Def Poetry Jam. But opportunities are scarce and she struggles to make ends meet in an industry where 'to keep it real' often means to work for free. But La Bruja is not alone in her struggle. Her husband, G-Bo, is a music producer and DJ that sacrifices his own artistic career to work full-time, take care of their two kids and help La Bruja with her music album. Her parents encourage her to continue developing her talents, while her Spanish-speaking grandmother happily baby-sits when La Bruja performs late at night. This documentary is a celebration of La Bruja's perseverance to gain visibility and recognition in the entertainment industry and her extended family's unconditional support.

This film is a musical portrait of street life in urban West Africa. It follows the birth of Hiplife music in Accra, Ghana, a mix of various African musical forms and American hip hop. Archival footage and hip hop music videos are remixed with interviews and the daily lives of rap artists. We follow Reggie Rockstone, the Godfather of Hiplife in the founding of the musical movement, as well as the Mobile Boys a group of aspiring rap artists as they try to make it in the music business. With humor and personality these characters move across the political and musical landscape of urban Ghana.

In 1973, New York State enacted the Rockefeller Drug Laws, which are the harshest drug control measures ever passed in any democratic nation. President Reagan declared the National “War on Drugs” in 1982 and cited The Rockefeller Laws as the model for new drug regulations. By 1983, 48 states had passed drug control measures based on the Rockefeller Drug Laws. These laws have resulted in the US prison population quadrupling and prisons becoming a thriving, profitable industry. There are currently over two million people behind bars in America. One out of every 38 Americans is currently in prison or on parole and or probation. The US now spends over $100,000,000 dollars a week building new prisons.

LOCKDOWN, USA is a feature documentary set on the front lines of the dramatic campaign to end the “War on Drugs” and repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The film follows Wanda Best, whose husband was sentenced 15 years to life, as a first time non-violent drug offender. She is now raising five children on her own. The documentary interweaves the story of the Best family with a behind the scenes look at Hip Hop Impresario, Russell Simmons’ colorful, unorthodox campaign to reform the Drug Laws.

In the fall of 2001, Darrell Best was convicted of possession of cocaine. Darrell had been doing handy work at his uncle’s house and signed for a Fed-Ex that was addressed to a neighbor. The package contained a pound of cocaine. The District Attorney offered Darrell Best a one-year plea bargain, if he admitted guilt. Darrell refused to take the plea, insisting on his innocence and claiming he wanted to set an example of integrity and honesty for his children. The Judge apologized as he read Darrell Best his sentence, 15 years to life; the minimum sentence he could give Darrell under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The film will bare witness to the devastating impact Darrell’s incarceration has had on his family and the noble fight his wife Wanda has launched, in an effort to bring him home. In the spring of 2003, the Best family got a glimmer of hope. An unusual Coalition, helmed by Russell Simmons, assembled to fight the “War on Drugs” and declared that the first battle would be to repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws.

The film follows Russell Simmons as he orchastrates a high profile campaign, to raise awareness around the Rockefeller Drug Laws, with the intention of creating tremendous public pressure, forcing the politicians to enact reform. Russell recruits high profile artists such as P Diddy, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey and Tim Robbins to join the campaign and speak out on the issue; he rallies tens of thousands of people and works throughout the night in heated behind the scenes negotiations with New York State Governor George Pataki and the State’s top politicians. The question remains, will they be able to make a deal? LOCKDOWN, USA captures the stranger than fiction, historic series of events as they have unfolded; where the political establishment has been forced to reconcile with the burgeoning power of hip-hop.

"Masizakhe, Building Each Other" explores the role of art, social activism and Hip-Hop in education and presents students, teachers, artists and principals working to support each other while re-establishing individual and cultural identities.This is an important and inspiring film that demonstrates that Hip-Hop is a global culture committed to peace and youth liberation. It has been a powerful means of initiating classroom and community discussions on these topics.

The film features South African spoken word artisits and hip hop groups like Ghetto Youth Uprising. Stunningly beautiful, Masizakhe: Let Us Build Together will stimulate discussions on art, education, language, race, and African studies.

"If a guy wants to be a DJ, he's already a dreamer." - DJ Max

Ten DJs from Sao Paulo's "periferia", or poor neighborhoods in the outskirts of Brazil's largest city, compete for the first prize at the Hip Hop DJ championship, one of the most important DJ competitions in Latin America.

Every year young, talented DJs from Sao Paulo dream of competing at Hip Hop DJ, a DJ tournament founded in 1997 by Hip Hop artist Xis and legendary DJ KL Jay from the Brazilian group Racionais MC's. Drawing inspiration from the most diverse musical genres, these passionate DJs mix samba with sertanejo, American funk with pop music, and even Brazilian music superstar Roberto Carlos' songs with yoga records.

Eager to launch a successful music career that would improve their living conditions, these young artists polish their skills at night and on weekends, practicing at home or mixing at local clubs and parties. However, their DJ skills are not in high demand and these young men must work during the day to support their families. A few lucky ones have a day job they like, but most of them struggle to find employment, working odd jobs or not working at all.

Winner of the Audience Award at the In-Edit Brazil Music Documentary Festival, ME, THE VINYL AND THE REST OF THE WORLD mixes footage of live DJ performances, interviews with DJ Basim, DJ Buiú, DJ Damente, DJ Davi, DJ Erick Jay, DJ Max, DJ Pow, DJ Pudim, DJ RM, and DJ Sleep, as well as short interviews with past champions DJ Hadji, DJ Tano, and DJ Cia and the founders of the tournament, Xis and KL Jay.

ME, THE VINYL AND THE REST OF THE WORLD is part of the H2ONewsreel series, a film series curated by NYU Hip-Hop Education Center's Founding Director Martha Diaz.

MR. DEVIOUS is an exploration of the life and impact of South African Hip-Hop artist Mr. Devious on the youth and community of Cape Flats in Cape Town, South Africa. The film traces Mr. Devious' introduction to Hip-Hop, his hardcore style of rapping about ghetto life in Cape Flats, his experiences being signed to a major record label and then returning to life as an independent artist, his international traveling and recording, his mentoring of youth in and outside of prison, and his untimely murder. Throughout the film we watch his evolution, from a teenager influenced by the street life of his peers, to a young man choosing to become a formal mentor and role model to youth, speaking to them about life skills, violence, HIV/AIDS, corrupt politicians and developing programs for them within schools and prisons. We also see the close relationship he has with his family and their role in continuing his legacy after his death.

Mr. Devious was much more than just a hip-hop artist but a community leader who worked to make a difference in the lives of young people in Cape Town. Truly this is a story about Hip-Hop's transformative power as a medium for artistic expression and social activism.

Twenty years after the release of Nas’s groundbreaking debut album ‘Illmatic,’ NAS: TIME IS ILLMATIC takes us into the heart of his creative process. Returning to his childhood home in Queensbridge, Nas shares stories of his upbringing, his influences — from the music of his jazz musician father Olu Dara to the burgeoning hip-hop scene in New York City — and the obstacles he faced before his major label signing at age 20. Featuring interviews with his ‘Illmatic’ producers (Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S., and DJ Premier) and musical peers (including Pharrell Williams and Alicia Keys), NAS: TIME IS ILLMATIC is a thrilling account of Nas’s evolution from a young street poet to a visionary MC.

First released in 1915, D.W. Griffith's BIRTH OF A NATION ignited worldwide controversy with its graphic depiction of racism and white supremacy in the post-Civil War south. Nearly 100 years later, conceptual artist/ musician/writer DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid creates a daring remix of Griffith's epic to expose the film's true meaning and relate it to the socio-political conflicts of America today.

In keeping with the doctrines of Wall Street and Madison Avenue, sex sells rap music. In this video, Black youth examine the ways women of African descent are frequently portrayed in rap lyrics and music videos. Hip-hop riffs and clips from rap videos illustrate interviews with young rap enthusiasts, art critics, activists and rapper "Sista Souljah". Excellent for discussions on sexism, gender roles, and sexuality.

Right from the beginning of the hip hop movement, Philadelphia's artists have made major contributions as emcees, grafitti artists, dancers, and especially as deejays. Native talents such as Will Smith, The Roots and Eve have made great strides domestically and internationally. But somehow Philly still doesn't get the kind of props that L.A. or even Atlanta does, despite its unique proliferation of women emcees, vocalists, poets and deejays. Scene Not Heard seeks to tell the story of these women--the legends and the ingenues--as they struggle to succeed in a male-dominated industry.

“Scene Not Heard” features interviews with pioneer hip hop artists Lady B, Schoolly D, Rennie Harris, Bahamadia and Ursula Rucker, as well as emerging talents such as Versus, Keen of Subliminal Orphans and Michele Byrd-McPhee of Montazh, intercut with scholars, critics and local promoters.

Toni Blackman and the FreeStyle Union are challenging the male dominated world of hip hop and empowering women to speak their minds in freestyle workshops. This music video/documentary hopes to promote a movement of female MCs. Part of the Call for Change Series.

See how the legendary Tony "Mr. Wave" Wesley went from a kid in the Bronx to an international B-Boy superstar to entrepreneur and activist. This film includes never before seen archival pictures and interviews with not only Mr. Wave, but with legendary New York City Breakers such as Lil Lep, Powerful Pexter, as well as hip hop legends Special K, MelleMel and a host of other hip hop icons. Mr. Wave also discusses his views on grassroots leadership, the new hip hop and how he struggled to become the man he is today.

WAVE is part of the H2ONewsreel Media Collection, a series of Hip-Hop documentaries curated by Martha Diaz.

A Wave Entertainment and Bundy Films, LLC production. Produced and Directed by Tony Wesley and Brian Bullock. Edited by Mario Lobo.