Sacha Jenkins Talks Hip-Hop's Legacy & Netflix's 'Rapture'

Hip-hop is continually changing and evolving. In his new Netflix docuseries Rapture, director and executive producer Sacha Jenkins examines hip-hop as we know it today through the eyes of some of the genres biggest artists. The eight-episode series follows Nas, T.I., 2 Chainz, Rapsody, Logic, G-Eazy, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, and Dave East -- lyricists with different legacies and at various stages of their careers. In his episode, Jenkins follows Illmatic legend Nas and his protégée Dave East. Fifteen years apart in age and from different boroughs in New York City, the two men speak about their respective come-ups and all they’ve encountered to get where they are today. Ahead of Rapture’s Netflix debut, Jenkins and I spoke about the series, how technology has transformed the music industry, and why artists must speak for themselves.

For Jenkins, Rapture was about looking at hip-hop from a new perspective. "I was a journalist writing about hip-hop for many years," he explained. "To see it first hand and to have the kind of intimate access that we had, I knew that was something that hip-hop could use right now. I know that hip-hop is the most streamed, most popular form of music in the world, and it's very easy for people to be into hip-hop just on the strength of the way it sounds, (and) the way it feels. But, I know as a native that there are so many things that get lost in translation, and I felt that a series like (Rapture) would give people a real window and therefore a deeper understanding of what hip-hop really means, (and) where it comes from."

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Salli Richardson-Whitfield On ‘Underground’s’ “Nok Aaut" & The Age Of The Black Female Director

The fourth episode of the second season of Underground, “Nok Aaut," directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield occurs at a crucial moment in history. Already embedded in the violate institution of slavery, 1858 sits two years before the South secedes from the Union, and one year prior to abolitionist John Brown’s infamous raid on Harper’s Ferry. Tensions among abolitionists and slaveholders are on the verge of bubbling over, and the characters of Underground are trying to determine where they fit in. We learn that Cato has returned to the States from Europe, where money afforded him the opportunity to live life as an aristocrat. However, we all know that money is no real balm for racism. It might soothe wounds, but it certainly does not heal.  As Cato attempts to pull Noah into his twisted circus, we discover just how much or how little, Noah is willing to give up for his freedom and a life with Rosalee.

“Nok Aaut" also focuses on Elizabeth who, while still grieving the loss of her husband John, is trying to determine where she now fits in the movement for abolition. An encounter with some of John Brown’s men leads her to begin reassessing what tactics she is willing to take up for the cause. Ahead of the episode’s premiere, ESSENCE sat down with director Salli Richardson-Whitfield to chat about these characters, the powerful performances that drive Underground, and the current climate for Black female directors.

ESSENCE: Were you a fan of Underground prior stepping into the role of director? It’s such an incredible historical drama.

Salli Richardson-Whitfield: Oh yes. I had gone to the premiere of the pilot, and when I was going, it was funny because originally I was like, “I don’t wanna go see no slave movie.” (Laughing) I had that attitude. But, by the end of the pilot, I was like “Uh oh! This is about to be good.” We’re not victims in this series, and that’s what you think of when you consider what a series like this might be.  It’s such a different way of telling this story. So, with that being said, yes, I had already seen all of the episodes. I just love everything about the show. I love the way they have the contemporary music mixed in because somehow it works. When you first hear about it you think, “How is this going to work? All of a sudden you have some hard hitting Kanye [West] and it works, and it rises, and it’s what makes it relevant for today and I think it’s what has pulled younger viewers in who maybe Underground would have been too period or dated for. It brings in a different audience. I just think everything about it works.

ESSENCE: Your most recent directorial credits have been on contemporary set shows like John Singleton’s BET series Rebel and Queen Sugar. Underground is really stepping back in time for you, so how did you prepare yourself to shed your twenty-first-century views and hone in on this nineteenth-century set project?

SRW: Well, I look at it as, the story is the story, and I just go with what that feeling is. I also do my research. It is important, especially on a show like this to have watched all the episodes. You really want to bathe yourself in that period, and what’s going on in that show, so you know the characters. So honestly, it’s more about knowing the characters, that’s really what it comes down to, that’s what people are watching. These actors are so good; it’s not like I need to come in there and tell them anything. They just need that third eye, someone to push them a little bit further and to know that they can. It was really wonderful working with Alano [Miller] who plays Cato. I know how good he is, but I was still able to sit there are go, “That’s not it yet, that’s not enough. Push it.” I know how far he can go because I watch the show. Sometimes you work with people, and they do a performance, and you go, “Well, we might as well go on, cuz it ain’t gonna get no better.” (Laughing) But, then you have these kind of actors where you go, “Oh that’s good, that would be good for somebody else, but we’re going to go further. You’re about to give me everything you’ve got in you, cuz I know it’s there.”

Continue reading at ESSENCE.

Interview: Seith Mann On VH1's 'The Breaks,' Revisiting The '90s & The Origins Of Hip-Hop

It’s so deeply embedded in our culture now, that it’s hard to remember a time when hip-hop was just a movement. It was once the ugly step-sister in the music industry desperate to shine, and it took some very ambitious and brazen people, to push the sound of a generation to the forefront of mainstream culture. Picking up where the two-hour television movie (which aired last year) left off, “The Breaks” television series is about being ambitious, embracing the grind and never settling for anything less than what you want. Set in the summer of 1990, “The Breaks” follows Nikki Jones (Afton Williamson), David Aaron (David Call) and DeeVee (Mack Wilds) as they claw their way up the ladder in the music industry during a time when hip-hop was seen as just a fad.

Director Seith Mann has fleshed out his characters and storylines, shining a light on the dedication and sacrifices that have long since been forgotten. Recently, I spoke with Mann about the series, what inspired him to tell this story, and how his characters have shocked him.

Seith Mann: Hi Aramide, how are you?

Aramide Tinubu: Hi Seith, I’m well how are you?

SM: I’m blessed and highly favored.

AT: Wonderful! First and foremost, congratulations on season one of “The Breaks.” I know we’re only about halfway in, but it’s already gotten such amazing reviews, and it’s so well done.

SM: Thank you very much, I appreciate that!

AT: No problem! So, I would love to chat about what inspired you to do this piece. I know that Dan Charnas’ book, “The Big Payback” was really instrumental in inspiring the idea for you, but did you know prior to reading the book that you wanted to work on a piece about hip-hop in the ‘90s?

SM: I was reading the book because I wanted to do a historical piece about hip-hop, and how hip-hop has become this thing; this world power. It was so much bigger than just music at a certain point, and I knew it didn’t start that way. So, I was doing a bunch of research because I was a kid who grew up listening to rap, but I wasn’t in the music business, I just listened to it all of the time. I didn’t know the history like that other than just being a fan. “The Big Payback” was one of the many books that I read. It was the one that really touched me because it was just so spot on. It was non-fiction written like fiction; it was a page-turner. It’s like a one thousand page book or something like that, and I couldn’t put it down. I read it really fast. At the same time, the author of the book, Dan Charnas had set it up at VH1 to do a movie. The research agent Chris Lawson, who had helped me find the book, flagged the project for me, and I started talking with Maggie Malina who is the Head of Scripted at VH1 and Dan about exactly what they had in mind. I went back and forth with Dan about the story, and before I knew it, it was mine to tell. So, that’s how I got involved with it.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

A Discussion With Amirah Vann & Robert Christopher Riley On Exploring The Horrors Of Domestic Violence On 'Underground'

NOTE: This includes very light spoilers from episode 202, “Things Unsaid,” which airs tonight on WGN America. This season of “Underground” is shaping up to be incredibly explosive, and only one episode has aired so far. One of the most enthralling aspects of this season has been the storyline around Amirah Vann’s character Ms. Ernestine and the domestic violence that she experiences. Separated from her entire family and enslaved on a rice plantation in South Carolina, Ernestine has found herself attached to an extremely volatile man.

Ahead of episode 202 “Things Unsaid,” I spoke with Amirah Vann and Robert Christopher Riley who plays Hicks, Ernestine’s lover and abuser on the series. We spoke about domestic violence within the institution of slavery, present-day advocacy, and their heartbreaking storyline.

Aramide Tinubu: Slavery was obviously a very brutal institution, but we don’t often consider the violence that occurred amongst enslaved people themselves. Did you know much about Hicks’ journey and trajectory before signing on to do this season of “Underground”?

Robert Christopher Riley: There was specific scene towards the end of the season which was the audition scene. It has a very long monologue, and if you pay attention, it’s all in there. At that moment, you learn who this guy is. I’m no stranger to any of our history, American or Caribbean. So, looking at Hicks’ story and what he’s gone through and obviously what he’s letting pass through him and the behavior that he’s mimicking; slavery was horrific for everyone.

AT: What about you Amirah? Did you have any idea that this would be Ms. Ernestine’s journey this season prior to reading the first few scripts?

Amirah Vann: I didn’t know prior to reading the first few scripts. The writers have such fantastic imaginations. They have an idea of where the journey is going, but they definitely keep things to themselves as they progress because they are always open to doing something else and taking things in a new direction. But once I read the first few scripts and I knew, I was thrilled because it’s another opportunity to speak and give voice to a really important crisis worldwide. I also knew that there was going to be a multitude of people who could identify and hopefully be helped in some way.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

SXSW Interview: Warren G & Director Karam Gill Talk 'G-Funk' Documentary, Legacy & The Rise Of West Coast Hip-Hop

In the early ‘90s, hip-hop was spreading across the globe, while hip-hop artists from Los Angeles were putting their own significant stamp on the musical genre. N.W.A. was putting gangsta rap on the map, and Warren G, Snoop Dogg, and Nate Dogg were using elements from Motown, Funk, and R&B to create a new style of hip-hop, a style that would be later termed G-Funk.

The childhood friends formed the group 213 and were soon discovered by Warren G’s stepbrother Dr.Dre. However, when Snoop and Nate Dogg were signed to Death Row Records without Warren, it was up to him to break through on his own. In his feature directorial debut ”G-Funk,” Karam Gill sets that stage for Warren G to tell his very personal story about his contribution to West Coast rap and his determination to persevere.

Ahead of the film’s debut at South By Southwest (SXSW) this weekend, I spoke with Warren G and Karam about “G-Funk’s” origins, looking back in time and where hip-hop is today.

Aramide Tinubu: Hi Warren and Karam, how are you are doing?

Karam Gill: Hey how’s it going?

Warren G: Hello sunshine! I’m good; I’m just chilling.

AT: Dope! Congratulations on “G-Funk” and your upcoming premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW). The documentary is amazing, and it really opened my eyes up to some of the history behind West Coast hip-hop that I did not know about previously. Warren, why was it important for you to tell your own story, and how long have you been working on this narrative?

WG: The story has been in my head for years. (Laughing) Back in the day, they had that show on VH1; I think it’s called “Behind the Music.” So this has been in my head for so many years because I wanted to tell my story. A lot of dudes have been telling their stories, and I wanted to let people know what it was that I contributed to West Coast hip-hop and hip-hop culture in general. I created what people now consider the genre, G-Funk.

AT: Karam, how did you come onboard this film as the director?

KG: I met Warren I want to say two or three years ago. I was like nineteen or twenty at the time. I was in college, and I was just shooting photos, and I met him backstage. We went on the road together, and I did a bunch of tour stuff for him; just media work and marketing and branding stuff, and after awhile he would always mention these little tidbits from his life. They were these stories about G-Funk and whatnot. We realized that this was something that needed to be told right now. It’s this incredible story that no one knows, and so we started developing it.

AT: Los Angeles in the ‘90s is such a particular type of environment and space. I think John Singleton really was able to grasp it in his films, and more recently Ezra Edelman really got the tone right in his docu-series “OJ: Made In America.” You guys also got the aesthetic perfectly in “G-Funk,” how did you do it? Did you go through old home videos together? What was it like to unearth these things that probably hadn’t been seen in twenty years?

WG: It was incredible, and it just brought back so many great memories, like the moment when I played “Regulate” for Nate [Dogg] the first time. That feeling where you get the goosebumps; just seeing that and looking at it on the big screen was just so incredible. Everything from the things that Snoop [Dogg] said to Ice-T, it was just so incredible for me.

AT: Karam, what was your role in digging up all of this archival footage for the film?

KG: Well, when we first started talking about the film, Warren sent me the contact for someone who had two big tapes of a bunch of stuff. There was this guy who used to follow Warren around in the ‘90s. So I went through it, and I pulled all of the selects, and I showed it to Warren. Right when he saw it for the first time he said, “Wow, this is incredible.” He hadn’t seen it in awhile because it was in storage somewhere. So those were the main two tapes and then there was a bunch of other archival sources that we pulled from. We just kind of fit it together. Warren took a look at a lot of it, I took a look at a lot of it, and we just slid everything in where it fit. One thing we didn’t want to do creatively was force any archival that didn’t cater to the film, which is why we went with reenactments for some parts of it. So yeah it was a joint process for sure.

AT: Warren, one of the things I loved most about the film was your persistence. You knew from day one that you, Nate and Snoop had something with 213. You knew despite all of the setbacks and obstacles that you guys were going to make it. What drove you despite being pushed off “The Chronic” tour and Snoop and Nate being signed to Death Row Records without you?

WG: That moment right there when I didn’t get a ticket to go on tour to be with my brother and my best friends, that moment right there is what changed my whole shit. But, I turned that negative into a positive and I drained all of my energy into just creating music and not letting it ruin me or have me stressed out. All of that just made me work harder because I knew that I was talented because I had contributed to a lot of the successes that were happening at that time. So, I just poured all of the energy that I had into creating and writing music. I came out with “Indo Smoke,” and I also got to produce some music for Tupac and MC Breed called, “Gotta Get Mine.” They caught me at the right time because they caught me when I was trying so hard.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Image: G-Funk

Sundance Interview: The Cast Of 'Burning Sands' Talk Pledging, Hazing & The Bonds Of Brotherhood

Fraternities and sororities at historically Black colleges and universes have had a significant impact not just on the students who are a part of them but on the Black community as a whole. In films like “Drumline” and “Stomp the Yard,” which are set on HBCU campuses, we often get a small glimpse into the sacred world of pledging, the focus of these film shining a light on other aspects of college life. Perhaps not since Spike Lee’s 1988 film “School Daze” has there been such a major focus on pledging Black frats and sororities and the hazing that often comes along with that.

In his feature directorial debut, “Burning Sands” director Gerard McMurray gives an emotionally honest and raw look into the world of 21st-century fraternity pledging. Told from the perspective of Zurich (Trevor Jackson “American Crime’) who is torn between honoring a code of silence and standing up against the intensifying violence of underground hazing, the film is a dark and gritty look at the bonds of Black brotherhood and rites of passage. Alfre Woodard, Steve Harris, Tosin Cole, DeRon Horton and Trevante Rhodes also star in the film. Ahead of the film’s Sundance debut, I got a chance to chat with Tosin Cole and DeRon Horton who play Frank and Square, respectively. We chatted about the history of pledging, getting into character and forming a brotherhood.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Interview: Producer Kimberly Brooks Revisits First Class Of Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy 10 Years Later In ‘O Girls’

Ten years ago, mogul and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey opened The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG), a school that would provide a once in a lifetime education and opportunities to South Africa’s most impoverished but intelligent girls. Winfrey said of her decision, “I wanted to help girls who really wanted it. They could see the possibility for themselves, if only. If only they had the means to do it.”

An assistant at “The Oprah Winfrey Show” at the time of the school’s unveiling, producer and co-host of “Nightline on Fusion” Kimberly Brooks was so struck by OWLAG that she penned a stunning letter to Winfrey asking to attend the school’s grand opening. The trip would change Brooks’ life forever, and she would form fast and life-long friendships with many of the OWLAG girls.

A decade later, Brooks caught up with five of these young women as they graduated from college and embarked on new opportunities in their communities. In the astonishing and emotional “O Girls,” OWLAG graduates Bongeka, Thando, Charmain, Debra, and Mpumi speak with Brooks about their life-altering experience at OWLAG, what’s next for them and survivor’s guilt. Recently, I sat down with Kimberly Brooks to discuss that infamous letter that would change her life, bonding with the “O Girls” and what she’s learned from Winfrey, the woman the O Girls refer to as, Mom O.

Aramide Tinubu: Hi Kimberly, how are you?

Kimberly Brooks: I’m good, how are you? How’s it going?

AT: I’m fantastic, thanks! Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with Shadow and Act about your fantastic documentary, “O Girls.”

KB: Oh, of course, thank you for taking the time.

AT: Wonderful. I found it so beautiful that this journey started with a letter that you wrote to Oprah Winfrey a decade ago. Did you ever think that the letter would lead you to where you are now as a producer and connecting with these young women?

KB: I knew I was going to be somewhere, but I definitely didn’t imagine in a million years that this would be the trajectory. I think even sitting right here talking to you; I’m still wrapping my mind around it because it’s just been so incredible how the dots have connected. I wrote that letter really feeling like I was going to get to go to South Africa. There was something inside telling me that I was going to be in Africa. Still, when Oprah said, “yes” and then keeping these bonds with the girls and everything that has happened after, it feels amazing to me how it all happened.

AT: What inspired you to commemorate the ten year anniversary of the girls starting their journey at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) through many of them finishing college and entering the real world?

KB: I actually didn’t have the idea in mind at all to do this documentary. What happened is one of the girls that I am really close with, who is not in the documentary, unfortunately; she came to visit me in Miami. While she was here on her spring break in 2015, I took her to work with me because she wanted to see where I work and what I do. I introduced her to my boss, and I told him that I knew her from my work at the Academy and that she had become like my little sister. He was really taken by the story and thought it was amazing. After she left, he suggested the idea of doing a special to see where some of the other girls had ended up after they graduated from OWLAG. It just so happened that the girls who had come to the States were getting ready to graduate college. The timing was just perfect.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

John Singleton Talks ‘Boyz N the Hood’ 25 Years Later, The State of Black Cinema and Tupac Shakur

On July 12, 1991, John Singleton’s “Boyz N the Hood” came roaring into theaters. The Black community was feeling the residual effects of the ‘80s crack epidemic. George H.W. Bush was in the White House, and the Los Angeles community was still reeling from the brutal beating of Rodney King by the LAPD four months prior.

Just twenty-three years old at the time of the film’s debut, John Singleton became the youngest and first Black director to be nominated for an Academy Award. The feature film debut of both Ice Cube and Morris Chestnut, “Boyz N the Hood” helped spawn an entire new genre of Black film including, Mario Van Peebles, “New Jack City”, Ernest Dickerson’s “Juice” and the Hughes Brothers “Menace II Society”. With continued attacks on our community, and in the midst of the Black Lives Matters Movement, films like “Boyz” remain exceedingly poignant. They give a voice not just to young Black men living in impoverished and crime riddled areas, but also to the community as a whole. As we continue to feel the immense devastation and trauma that stems from four hundred plus years of inequality, terror and unjust treatment these films remain painfully relatable. To commemorate the its 25th anniversary, I attended a special screening of “Boyz N the Hood” with John Singleton in NYC last month. After the credits rolled, he sat and chatted about making the film, the state of Black cinema, #BlackLivesMatter, and his friendship with the late and great Tupac Shakur.

“Boyz N the Hood” 25 Years Later

I look at the film as sort of a time capsule of what I was thinking and what I was feeling at the time. I wrote the script when I was twenty-years-old. I’d gone to see “Do The Right Thing” when it came out in the summer of ’89. I was so enamored with Spike [Lee]. Spike has always been like my big brother, and I met him two weeks before I started USC film school, when he came out with “She’s Gotta Have It”. I saw him in LA and he shook my hand. I told him, “I’m going to USC in two weeks, watch out for me.” So, I went to school for four years reppin’ Black cinema. I was one of the only Black filmmakers and Black students in a predominantly white film culture. Most people going to school back then, they knew people in the business. It was this continued marginalization. People were telling me, “There is only going to be one Spike Lee.” I told them, “I’m going to be the next John Singleton, I’m not going to be the next Spike Lee”. So my thing was, I’m going to get out of school and I’m going to be the first round draft pick just like in the NBA, but in film. My whole four years of school was trying to figure out how I was going to do that. Coming out of the theater after seeing “Do The Right Thing”, something clicked for me. It was about writing about you know. At a certain age, you only have a certain amount of life experience. I only knew about what I saw, and what I knew about growing up in the hood. So I said, “OK, I’m gonna go and hang out with my folks for a little while back down on Vermont and I’m going to figure out this story.” That’s where this came from. It was me trying to really make an identity for myself as a filmmaker reppin’ Los Angeles, or a certain part of LA as an identity. That’s how I came up with “Boyz N the Hood.”

On Making “Boyz N the Hood”

I can’t really say that it was a hard movie to make because I was coming out of school, and even though I didn’t know anything about making movies, I knew film theory. I’d watched a lot of films. I had my own ideology about what would make a good film, but I didn’t know how to make a movie, so I just acted like a director. When the dailies started coming out I thought, “Whoa, I guess I’m giving a good performance.” To make that type of film, you have to be very immersed in whatever culture you are trying to present. I like films that speak to a specific time and place. You can be from a certain culture and not know anything about where you’re from. That’s why a lot of Black filmmakers are making marginal films right now, because they’re not really astute as to what came before them. Like if you make a gumbo and the rue is bad, it ain’t gonna taste good. Even if everybody else is telling you, “This is nothing”, you have to believe that the story that you are telling is valid. It has to be valid to you and that’s what’s really important. It doesn’t matter if a few people see it, or a whole lot of people see it, it has to be valid to you first, before anyone has to believe that it’s something. The script for “Boyz N the Hood” got written because I was at USC, which is still adjacent to the neighborhood that I grew up in. I was having, I don’t want to say post-traumatic stress because I’m still in that environment, but I was having dreams about the stuff that I had seen during my childhood and my teenage years. But, I was on an island, because USC when you step off the campus, you’re in the mix and this was in the ‘80s still. So that’s where “Boyz” came from.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Image: Columbia Pictures