Top Overall Picks

• The Sixth Borough – This vibrant documentary explores Long Island’s indelible yet often overlooked impact on hip-hop’s evolution, presented through the voices of the pioneering artists who shaped the genre’s expansion beyond its urban roots. The film reveals how the suburban landscape of Long Island — characterized by single-family homes, expansive greenery and diverse schools — provides a striking contrast to city life, inspiring a unique sound that broadened hip-hop’s boundaries and appeal. While Black families could relocate to what seemed like a suburban utopia, they were not immune to the persistent challenges of racism, drugs and violence, resulting in art that both celebrated and critiqued their surroundings. Get Tickets 
• Move Ya Body: The Birth of House – House music has become big business, as pop superstars like Lady Gaga and Beyoncé incorporate the euphoric intensity and driving beats of the style into mainstream hits. But house didn’t begin on the beaches of Ibiza or at a stadium show. It was born in Chicago, where the backlash against disco led to the creation of a musical subculture centering Black and queer people. Move Ya Body: The Birth of House gives credit where it’s long overdue, shining light on the basement parties and DIY visionaries who changed the way the world dances. And it isn’t afraid to call out the phonies and parasites, either.  Get Tickets 
• Slick Rick – “Victory” (with Idris Elba and Nas) – Slick Rick’s “Victory” is a thrilling visual album that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Set in the heart of London, this gripping 25-minute film stars Idris Elba and Nas, bringing a cinematic twist to Slick Rick’s iconic storytelling. With stunning visuals and an intense, suspenseful plot, Victory blends rap and film in a way you’ve never seen before. Don’t miss this electrifying experience, where music, drama, and star power collide in one unforgettable ride through the streets of London.  Get Tickets 
• Empire Skate – This doc chronicles the colorful rise and enduring influence of New York’s skateboarding culture in the 1990s, examining the global phenomenon of the brand SUPREME and the skaters who breathed life into this vibrant world. Tribeca alum Josh Swade takes viewers on a journey filled with both style and substance through a pivotal moment when multiple cultural trends — skating, graffiti, hip-hop and fashion — converged to create something timeless. From the exhilarating heights of breakout success to the personal lows of fractured families and lost friends, the documentary offers rare archival footage and intimate portraits of the individuals who shaped a countercultural movement that ultimately transformed mainstream fashion and art.  Get Tickets 
• Boy George and Culture Club – With humor, heart and a lot of glitz and glam, Boy George & Culture Club is an endlessly charming documentary that dives headfirst into the chaos, charisma and enduring bond of one of the most iconic bands of the ‘80s. Straight from the mouths of its four legendary members, Boy George & Culture Club is a love story about the undeniable fondness that flowed beneath the surface of these musical legends — and the drama and heartbreak in between. Get Tickets 
• “Rock the Bells” – L.L. Cool J – After 40 years, LL COOL J’s “Rock the Bells” finally gets an official video—a black and white celebration of New Yorkers performing verses across hip-hop’s birthplace.  Get Tickets [Shorts: Playlist] 
• Billy Joel: And So It Goes – Billy Joel: And So It Goes launches Tribeca with an electrifying, deeply personal portrait of one of New York’s greatest legends. Directors Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin weave rare, never-before-seen archival footage with candid, soul-baring interviews to chart Billy Joel’s meteoric rise—from humble Long Island roots to international superstardom. In Part 1, the film pulls back the curtain on Joel’s private world with unreleased performances, intimate home movies, and behind-the-scenes moments that have remained locked away until now.  Get Tickets 
• When You’re Strange: the 60th Anniversary Celebration of The Doors – Celebrate 60 years of The Doors with an unforgettable afternoon featuring a screening of the critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated documentary narrated by Johnny Depp. Directed by Tom DiCillo, the film takes you on an intimate journey through the band’s rise, featuring rare archival footage of Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore. Said Depp: “It simply doesn’t get any better than this.”  Get Tickets 
• Mark Ronson – Mark Ronson is a globally celebrated DJ and a 9-time Grammy, Academy Award, and Golden Globe-winning producer and songwriter known for his genre-blending sound across pop, soul, funk, and hip-hop. Get Tickets 

Top Overall Picks – By Category  

• Documentaries
  • The Sixth Borough – This vibrant documentary explores Long Island’s indelible yet often overlooked impact on hip-hop’s evolution, presented through the voices of the pioneering artists who shaped the genre’s expansion beyond its urban roots. The film reveals how the suburban landscape of Long Island — characterized by single-family homes, expansive greenery and diverse schools — provides a striking contrast to city life, inspiring a unique sound that broadened hip-hop’s boundaries and appeal. While Black families could relocate to what seemed like a suburban utopia, they were not immune to the persistent challenges of racism, drugs and violence, resulting in art that both celebrated and critiqued their surroundings. Get Tickets 
  • Move Ya Body: The Birth of House – House music has become big business, as pop superstars like Lady Gaga and Beyoncé incorporate the euphoric intensity and driving beats of the style into mainstream hits. But house didn’t begin on the beaches of Ibiza or at a stadium show. It was born in Chicago, where the backlash against disco led to the creation of a musical subculture centering Black and queer people. Move Ya Body: The Birth of House gives credit where it’s long overdue, shining light on the basement parties and DIY visionaries who changed the way the world dances. And it isn’t afraid to call out the phonies and parasites, either.  Get Tickets 
  • Empire Skate – This doc chronicles the colorful rise and enduring influence of New York’s skateboarding culture in the 1990s, examining the global phenomenon of the brand SUPREME and the skaters who breathed life into this vibrant world. Tribeca alum Josh Swade takes viewers on a journey filled with both style and substance through a pivotal moment when multiple cultural trends — skating, graffiti, hip-hop and fashion — converged to create something timeless. From the exhilarating heights of breakout success to the personal lows of fractured families and lost friends, the documentary offers rare archival footage and intimate portraits of the individuals who shaped a countercultural movement that ultimately transformed mainstream fashion and art.  Get Tickets 
  • Boy George and Culture Club – With humor, heart and a lot of glitz and glam, Boy George & Culture Club is an endlessly charming documentary that dives headfirst into the chaos, charisma and enduring bond of one of the most iconic bands of the ‘80s. Straight from the mouths of its four legendary members, Boy George & Culture Club is a love story about the undeniable fondness that flowed beneath the surface of these musical legends — and the drama and heartbreak in between.  Get Tickets
  • Billy Joel: And So It Goes – Billy Joel: And So It Goes launches Tribeca with an electrifying, deeply personal portrait of one of New York’s greatest legends. Directors Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin weave rare, never-before-seen archival footage with candid, soul-baring interviews to chart Billy Joel’s meteoric rise—from humble Long Island roots to international superstardom. In Part 1, the film pulls back the curtain on Joel’s private world with unreleased performances, intimate home movies, and behind-the-scenes moments that have remained locked away until now.  Get Tickets 
  • Metallica Saved My Life – Directed by Grammy-winning filmmaker Jonas Åkerlund, Metallica Saved My Life dives into the powerful, life-changing impact of foundational heavy metal band Metallica on their fans. Through heartfelt testimonies from dedicated followers across the globe, along with exclusive insights from the band, this film tells the intertwined stories of the group and the individuals whose lives have been changed by their music. With an intimate look at how their music has helped individuals overcome personal challenges, this documentary celebrates the enduring bond between Metallica and their devoted fanbase. Don’t miss the chance to experience the powerful connection between music and personal transformation.  Get Tickets  
  • Billy Idol Should Be Dead – Billy Idol Should Be Dead takes audiences on a raw, riveting ride through one of rock’s most iconic rebels. Grammy Award-winner Jonas Åkerlund returns to feature-length documentary filmmaking, pulling back the leather-clad curtain on Billy Idol’s meteoric rise from sneering punk provocateur to MTV-era pop superstar. Using never-before-seen archival footage and intimate interviews, the film dives deep into Idol’s formative years and the personal chaos that nearly ended it all.  
  • Depeche Mode: M – Rock ‘n’ roll and death have endured a relationship in a variety of ways over the past 70 years, perhaps in a way no more unique than demonstrated in Depeche Mode: M. Mexican director Fernando Frías (I’m No Longer Here, TF ‘20) explores his country’s cultural obsession with mortality through the spectacle of Depeche Mode’s three nights of triumphant, sold out 2023 concerts in Mexico City.  Get Tickets  
  • I Was Born This Way – Surviving childhood abuse during his upbringing in Baltimore, Archbishop Carl Bean forged a path to New York and Hollywood to do the one thing he knew he was put on earth to do: sing. Making his mark first as a gospel singer, Bean got the break of his life when Motown tapped him in 1977 to record the disco song “I Was Born This Way,” which quickly became the first gay anthem at a time when it was uncommon to be out and proud.  Get Tickets  
  • K-Pops! – Musician BJ (Anderson .Paak) dreams of superstardom, but first he needs a new job. After his friend Cash (Jonnie “Dumbfoundead” Park) calls in a favor, BJ is on a one-way flight to South Korea to play drums for the popular singing competition show Wildcard. Armed with a few words of Korean and unshakeable charisma, BJ sets out on a mission to impress presumed frontrunner Kang (Kevin Woo) in order to revive his career. But when he learns that his long-lost son (Soul Rasheed) is a fellow contestant, will BJ choose family over fame?  Get Tickets 
  • Matter of Time – In October 2023, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder took to the stage at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall to perform two sold out solo shows with all proceeds going towards funding critical research in finding a cure for Epidermolysis Bullosa. EB is a rare and often fatal genetic disease that affects the skin’s connective tissue, leaving it as fragile as a butterfly wings. Reaching beyond the realm of a traditional “rock doc,” Matter of Time weaves together Vedder’s riveting, intimate musical performance with personal stories from researchers, doctors, funders, parents and young people living with EB. Together, they form a formidable community to help support each other and find a cure as quickly as possible.  Get Tickets  
  • Wizkid: Long Live Lagos – Following the Grammy-award winning Nigerian musician Wizkid from Lagos to Tottenham Stadium in London, Wizkid: Long Live Lagos is a raw look at the life of a boundary-pushing musician and the power of international music and art to shift perception and reclaim a sense of identity for its people. Motivated and inspired by his family and his home, Wizkid’s sound has a modern flair but draws from deep roots. While his journey to the stage has its challenges, his determination and artistry ensure a mind-blowing show for all to see.  Get Tickets
  • Still Free TC – As filming began, Ty Dolla $ign was working on a new album while his brother Gabriel continued to serve a 67-year murder sentence with little hope for release. Over two years, filmmakers gained unprecedented access to the influential producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist’s creative process and personal life, creating an intimate portrait that goes far beyond the typical music documentary. The film follows Ty through the creation of his album, capturing behind-the-scenes moments and rare glimpses into his creative approach while simultaneously exploring the profound bond between two brothers whose lives took dramatically different paths.  Get Tickets 
  • Rebecca – She’s a global powerhouse with billions of streams, chart-topping hits, and fans around the world — but Rebbeca reveals the woman behind the phenomenon. This intimate yet electrifying documentary pulls back the curtain on Becky G, one of Latin music’s most influential and fearless stars, as she embarks on her most personal project to date: her debut Mexican regional album.  Get Tickets 
  • Counting Crows – Diving deep into the legacy of Counting Crows, this intimate portrait of the band and their frontman Adam Duritz is not a nostalgic trip through the 90s, but rather a reckoning with identity, mental health and the cost of living in the public eye at the crossroads of fame. Told with rare access, the film traces Duritz and the band’s journey from accidental icons to artists reckoning with the mythos and machine built around them.  Get Tickets  
  • On A String – Has life after college always been such a drag? Isabel (Isabel Hagen) is a young, Juilliard-trained violist still living at home with her parents in the heart of New York City. She’s trying to make a living playing gigs with her friends in the homes of strangers. But when her toxic ex- boyfriend reappears, who also happens to be the Philharmonic’s “newest, hottest cellist,” he informs her of a viola opening in the prestigious orchestra. Nothing can go wrong, right? Get Ticket 
  • Room to Move – Choreographer and performer Jenn Freeman has always possessed the gift of movement. From a very early age, she simply had to dance… all the time. But with that ever-present need to jump, leap, shake and squirm came a struggle to exist harmoniously in a world that seemed to assault her senses and sense of equilibrium at every turn. Pushing through these personal barriers, she became a successful and sought-after teacher in the contemporary dance community. Now, in collaboration with Tony-award winning choreographer Sonya Tayeh, she readies her first solo, evening length work, ‘Is It Thursday Yet?’ that confronts a later in life diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Get Tickets  
  • The Rose: Come Back To Me – The Rose: Come Back to Me is an intimate documentary chronicling the remarkable journey of The Rose— from their humble beginnings as a South Korean indie band to their emergence as a global sensation. Through heartfelt moments and honest reflection, the documentary captures how each member fell in love with music, as well as the challenges of navigating the K-pop system.  Get Tickets 
  • Sun Ra: Do The Impossible – Poet, Egyptolotist, cosmologist, historian, activist, bandleader, musician… jazz pioneer Sun Ra was all of these. In this illuminating biography, Christine Turner takes us on a complex journey through the life of a complex man who either was born in Birmingham, Alabama, sent from Saturn, or both. With his band the Arkestra he extended the boundaries of free-form jazz, put his own mark on the standards, pursued forays into electronic music, yet could be just as inspired to riff on “Over the Rainbow.” His musical mission also was rooted as an agent toward advancing Afrofuturism, mixing interstellar metaphors (“space is the place”) and his own scientific explanations (“transmolecularization”) with the state of Black life in America.  Get Tickets 
• Features
  • When You’re Strange: the 60th Anniversary Celebration of The Doors – Celebrate 60 years of The Doors with an unforgettable afternoon featuring a screening of the critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated documentary narrated by Johnny Depp. Directed by Tom DiCillo, the film takes you on an intimate journey through the band’s rise, featuring rare archival footage of Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore. Said Depp: “It simply doesn’t get any better than this.”  Get Tickets 
  • One Spoon of Chocolate  – After serving his country in the Army, Unique (Shameik Moore) was falsely accused of assault and sent to prison. Now that his sentence is over, Unique sets up shop in Ohio to restart his life, linking up with his only surviving relative Ramsey (RJ Cyler). There’s something insidious happening in this town, though, via its racist sheriff and his crew of similarly bigoted acolytes, all of whom have a knack for violence and share a gruesome secret pertaining to missing young Black men. When they set their sights on Unique and turn his life upside down, the former soldier has no choice but to bring the ruckus down on the sheriff and his goons. Hell hath no fury like a veteran scorned (and armed with a sword).  Get Tickets 
  • Paradise Records – Cooper, a well-meaning record store owner, is trying to keep the doors of Paradise Records open. He’s facing foreclosure, the bank won’t give him a loan, someone keeps offering to buy the property — and then the robbery. He’s not having a great day. Thankfully, he’s got his motley crew of entertaining employees and a lot of weed to help him figure out how to get himself out of this mess.  Get Tickets 
  • Charliebird – Al (Samantha Smart) works as a music therapist at a children’s hospital, taking things day by day and trying to make ends meet. Charlie (Gabriela Ochoa Perez) comes into her life as a patient, an ever immovable and unmotivated teenager. As their worlds collide following the revelation of a secret passion project, Al and the pessimistic young Charlie become a source of strength and love for each other whilst they chart a course through an unknown future.  Get Tickets 
  • The Trainer – Maverick director Tony Kaye (American History X) presents a raucous, adrenaline-fueled comedy that follows Jack Flex (Vito Schnabel), a penniless, muscle-bound “creative genius” who maniacally pursues his dream of appearing on his mother’s favorite home shopping channel to sell the Heavy Hat — an obviously dangerous fitness gadget that supposedly “increases the flow of Hope Molecules to the brain.” When Jack convinces a desperate network staffer to give him his big break, there’s just one problem: his pitch is filled with lies about being a Hollywood trainer who has celebrity endorsements. With only one week to fulfill his promises before his chance at success vanishes, Jack careens through Los Angeles in an increasingly frantic quest to prove himself.  Get Tickets 
  • After This Death – While hiking alone in the woods, Isabel (Mía Maestro) encounters the enigmatic and alluring Elliott (Lee Pace), a mysterious musician whose sudden presence transforms a remote cave into the stage for a dangerous attraction. What begins as a fleeting affair soon spirals into something deeper, until Elliott abruptly disappears, leaving Isabel to navigate the haunting aftershocks of their bond. As she struggles with obsession, toxic fandom, and fractured ideals, Isabel is forced to confront her hidden desires and the shifting boundaries of her own identity.  Get Tickets 
• Shorts
  • Narrative
    • Heart Trouble – Country radio DJ Sid Wood died of a sudden heart attack in July of 1987 as he was about to go on air. Years later, his daughter Katelyn accidentally stumbles upon his unfamiliar voice in a box of old cassette tapes. The sound of Sid’s ghost spurs Katelyn on a cross-country journey: through the Midwest and American South, from small-town honky tonk bars to the Grand Ole Opry. Speaking with musicians, country music historians, and Sid’s former colleagues, Katelyn explores the meaning of culture, family, and loss. In her audio-fueled quest, she asks big questions like: How can sound connect us across space and time? Where do we find home and belonging? And what’s so great about country music?  Get Tickets  
    • The Hicks Happy Hour – In 1972, the ever-smiling mother of a family band struggles to keep the family’s TV variety show and wholesome image going when Dad doesn’t turn up to the taping.  Get Tickets  
    • My Dad, The Rockstar – A divorced Dad attempts to impress her daughter as a rockstar over a weekend full of mixed emotions.  Get Tickets 
    • Chasing the Party – Melissa and Stephanie fantasize about becoming downtown “IT” girls , but their dreams come crashing down on them when the photographer they idolize is the one to lift the veil.  Get Tickets  
  • Documentary
    • Shorts: Embrace The Music – Get into the groove with these music documentaries.  Get Tickets
      • Oh Yeah! – The story of the iconic electronic music group Yello and the phenomenon of their 1980’s hit song, exploring the song’s cultural impact and its enduring place in the American psyche.  Get Tickets 
      • Pavilhau – Set in Rio de Janeiro, Aleksia wanders on a journey through time, unveiling the origins of samba and its emergence from resilience, joy, spirituality and resistance of her Afro-Brazilian community.  Get Tickets [Shorts: Embrace The Music]
      • If I Can Dream – Andreas Waldem, a Korean-Swedish Elvis impersonator, enters a tribute competition in South Wales, confronting identity, dreams, and inner conflict in a town seemingly frozen in time.  Get Tickets
      • Freeman Vines – Freeman Vines built his first guitar when he was a teenager. Now 82-years-old and battling multiple myeloma, he’s desperately trying to make a guitar that can reproduce an elusive sound the instrument made decades ago. The search and his artwork took on even more significance a few years ago when Freeman acquired a stack of lumber from a tree used in the lynching of a young Black man named Oliver Moore. In a sprawling storefront shop in Fountain, a town of 130 souls in eastern North Carolina, Vines lives and hand-carves guitars (as well as other objects) that speak to his lifelong conflict with racism in this region. A portrait of a true fine artist, Freeman Vines has found a way to create while surviving in a complex world.  Get Tickets 
      • Songs of Black Folk – Songs of Black Folk unites top Black musical talent on one Pacific Northwest stage, launching a powerful new tradition and era for Black artists against the meaningful backdrop of Juneteenth.  Get Tickets 
    • Shorts: Playlist – Come along on a Music Video road trip with creative styles and stories, including a world premiere, extended Q&A and a surprise or two.  Get Tickets
      • “Rock the Bells” – L.L. Cool J – After 40 years, LL COOL J’s “Rock the Bells” finally gets an official video—a black and white celebration of New Yorkers performing verses across hip-hop’s birthplace.  Get Tickets  [Shorts: Playlist] Also before 6th Borough
      • “Carpinteria” – Rae Khalil ft. Freddie Gibbs – Rae Khalil hosts a live show with her band at “Andy’s”. We open on the band performing without Rae and move in a single motion to the kitchen where we find Rae hooking up with Duckwrth. A nosy passerby sees them and walks outside and hops in the car with Freddie Gibbs. Her and Freddie drive off, cruising around LA when they land at the front of the club where Rae is performing. We enter the club with Rae and track her to the stage, seeing all of her friends and fans enjoying the live performance.  Get Tickets   
      • “That’s How I’m Feeling” – Jack White – The video is a compilation of footage from recent live performances while on tour for Jack White’s song, “That’s How I’m Feeling” from his new album “No Name.” The album was made in Third Man Studios, pressed at Third Man Pressing, and released on Third Man records. Fully independent!  Get Tickets 
      • “Even Better” – Grass –  K-Pop star GRASS has a day of sour interactions whilst exploring urban landscapes of Melbourne, in her first Australian music video ‘Even Better’.  Get Tickets  
      • “Neverland” (Kid Kudi – composer) – A 200 year old vampire takes his newly initiated love on her first feed. This film is starring Scott Mescudi, Kiernan Shipka, Brittany Snow, Haley Joel Osment, Cary Elwes & Brandon Scott.  Get Tickets 
      • “Forever 21” – Bonnie McKee – Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, Bonnie attends her bestie’s wedding with disastrous results.  Get Tickets  
      • “Madame President” – Grace Bowers – Grace Bowers’ Madame President music video embodies the notion that the power of community can foster positive change. As the video weaves between vignettes of Grace and hardworking folks from all walks of life, Madame President shines a light on several beloved Nashville-based small businesses, including Percy’s Shine Service, Alva’s Automotive & Tire, Bagelshop, and Roy’s Meat Service. These narratives lead to a convergence upon a block party scene which features a street performance from Grace, The Hodge Podge, and Maggie Rose, a cowriter of the track.   Get Tickets
      • “Qué Más Quieres” – The Warning – Dany, Pau and Ale dive into their roles in this campy take on a “Mexican Las Vegas Mobster Wedding.” The haunting refrain of “Qué Más Quieres (What else do you want?)” echoes as Dany and her sisters conspire to murder her soon-to-be husband, who holds the key to a mysterious briefcase—and to their future. Together, they stage the murder as a suicide, securing the key. The video ends with them unlocking the briefcase, revealing a blinding light, leaving the contents and the band’s fate open to the viewer’s imagination.  Get Tickets 
    • Shorts: Showtime! 
      • The Singers – An impromptu sing-off will decide the best singer in the bar tonight.  Get Tickets 
    • Shorts: Pick and Mix
      • Sorry I’m Late (But I Brought a Choir) – Nina isn’t exactly thrilled when Stian shows up late to her housewarming party – with an entire choir he picked up on the tram.  Get Tickets 
  • Animated
    • The Piano – One night, a young girl discovers her father bent over the keys at the piano, sparking a lifelong bond that resonates far beyond their final note.  Get Tickets 
• Music Videos
  • “Neverland” (Kid Kudi – composer) – A 200 year old vampire takes his newly initiated love on her first feed. This film is starring Scott Mescudi, Kiernan Shipka, Brittany Snow, Haley Joel Osment, Cary Elwes & Brandon Scott.  Get Tickets 
  • “Fast Eddie” – Zebedee – Edee tries to correct his old ways and start a new life with his daughter. Sadly his past catches up with him for one last job before he’s out. Get Tickets  
  • “Forever 21” – Bonnie McKee – Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, Bonnie attends her bestie’s wedding with disastrous results.  Get Tickets 
  • “Call Me a Liar” – Dola – A divine being observing all of humanity from afar, subjected to the dark corners of the world below, gives life to a ballerina.  Get Tickets 
• Talks
  • Mark Ronson – Mark Ronson is a globally celebrated DJ and a 9-time Grammy, Academy Award, and Golden Globe-winning producer and songwriter known for his genre-blending sound across pop, soul, funk, and hip-hop. Get Tickets 
• Visual Albums
  • Slick Rick – “Victory” (with Idris Elba and Nas) – Slick Rick’s “Victory” is a thrilling visual album that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Set in the heart of London, this gripping 25-minute film stars Idris Elba and Nas, bringing a cinematic twist to Slick Rick’s iconic storytelling. With stunning visuals and an intense, suspenseful plot, Victory blends rap and film in a way you’ve never seen before. Don’t miss this electrifying experience, where music, drama, and star power collide in one unforgettable ride through the streets of London.  Get Tickets 
  • Miley Cyrus – ‘Something Beautiful” –  Fueled by fantasy, “Something Beautiful” is a one-of-a-kind pop opera featuring thirteen original new songs from the Something Beautiful album.  Get TIckets 
  • Turnstile’s – “Never Enough” – “Never Enough” is Turnstile’s debut visual album, and it’s a wild 50-minute ride you won’t want to miss. Directed by frontman Brendan Yates and guitarist Pat McCrory, the film blends their signature experimental hardcore sound with powerful, cinematic visuals that capture the band’s raw energy. The Baltimore-based band pushes boundaries with a truly unforgettable experience. Whether you’re a fan or new to their music, “Never Enough” is a must-see.  Get Tickets 
• Immersive
  • New Maqam City – New Maqam City invites you to remix, manipulate, and vibe to music from across North Africa and the Middle East. Incorporating everything from Gnawa beats to synthpop, Macrou, and 808 drum patterns, this interactive installation catalyzes a transcendental state inspired by Sufi mysticism and communion through music.  Get Tickets  
• Games
  • Mixtape – On their final night of high school, three friends embark on a nostalgic adventure through dreamlike reenactments of pivotal memories, set to a curated 90s soundtrack. Mixtape blends vibrant visuals, heartfelt storytelling, and diverse gameplay, from skateboarding to rhythm challenges, exploring themes of friendship, growth, and music’s role in life’s defining moments. Get Tickets
• Tribeca Studios and the Miranda Family Fund Announce Colectivo: A Miranda Family Fellowship & Tribeca Studios Filmmaker Program
  • Villa Encanto – After her mother’s death, a precocious teenager is uprooted from 1960s Spanish Harlem when her musician father takes a gig at a Puerto Rican summer resort in upstate New York. Through music and community, she learns to redefine the meaning of home. Get Tickets 

The post soulhead TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL MUSIC LOVERS GUIDE 2025 appeared first on soulhead.

All Up In The Biz Shines a Special Light on a Hip-Hop Legend at #Tribeca2023

by Michael A. Gonzales

This year hip-hop celebrates the big 5-0 and it’s a great time to turn back the clock and peep into the past. While most of the “kids” on the scene don’t have the same respect for old school rap history the way young jazzbos dig into the legacies of Duke Ellington or John Coltrane, there are those who would like to know about those years before Drake and Kanye West became main representatives of the culture. Certainly, documentaries have become the perfect 101 introductions to “back in the day” fashions, music and aesthetics, and filmmaker Sacha Jenkins has led the pack with his “jammies” Fresh Dressed (2015) and Word Is Bond (2018). 

Jenkins’ latest All Up in the Biz, which premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, is a terrific remembrance of oddball rapper Biz Markie. One of the funniest dudes who ever picked-up a microphone, Biz kicked off his professional career in 1986 with the hypnotic “Make The Music With Your Mouth Biz” (1986), produced by the beat king of 1980s NYC rap records Marley Marl. However, it wasn’t until the following year that the bugged rapper released the riotous “Pickin’ Boogers” that many began to pay attention. 

Though its obviously Biz’s disgusting, but funny, story, the lyrics were written by his homeboy Big Daddy Kane, who the jovial rapper helped get signed to Cold Chillin’ Records, the influential label whose roster also included Roxanne Shanté, MC Shan and Craig G. “Where would I be right now if it wasn’t for him (Biz),” Kane ponders in the doc. Other guests hashing out history include Shanté, Rakim, Erick Sermon, Prince Paul, Nick Cannon and Biz’s wife Tara Hall. 

Taking us “way, way back to the early days,” Jenkins even has vintage footage of Biz showing an interviewer his old apartment in Harlem’s Colonial Park Houses, where he lived with his mother and father. In them days Biz was still going by his government name Marcel Theo Hall, he was ten years old when they moved to Long Island. Shortly after relocating his mother died, his dad had a breakdown and soon they were homeless living in a tent. 

Thankfully, a foster family from Brentwood, LI, who also are featured prominently in All Up in the Biz, took him in and gave him a solid foundation. Biz went to church, where he sang “We Are Soldiers in the Army” badly in the choir; hearing that reminded me of his recording years later of “Bennie and the Jets” that he did as a flexi-disc for the Beastie Boys’ magazine Grand Royal. 

One day in 1978 heard a rap battle cassette featuring the L Brothers and Busy Bee; it was a play on the latter’s name that Biz got his moniker. There were various crews in Long Island including Grooveline and New York Employers, but none really put Biz on the way he wanted to be on, so he went for self. Though another rapper might’ve revealed the pain of life in their lyrics, Biz, according to his foster brother, “Didn’t like talking about bad things.” Instead he choose to be comical; while other MCs were reading Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim, brother Biz was practicing “the dozens” as though he was auditioning for Laff Records.   

Biz travelled throughout Long Island beat-boxing and rapping in various high school lunchrooms where he met future icons Rakim and Prince Paul. “He was the goofy big guy, and nobody thought he looked like a rapper,” Paul says. Of course, they couldn’t have been more wrong. Showing no fear, the young rapper also journeyed to the Bronx and Harlem to absorb knowledge and compete; he even took a young Rakim with him to test their skills. Harlem and the Bronx thought that Long Island didn’t know jack about rap, but Biz was determined to prove them wrong.

Director Jenkins, a once upon a time hip-hop journalist who once wrote and edited for Vibe while also co-founding the often brilliant Ego Trip magazine, has long had a love for all things Queensbridge Projects that included writing a brilliant essay about the buildings in the ‘90s. Unafraid of digging deep Jenkins spent much time with Masta Ace, Shante and Kane. All were members of the Juice Crew, a unit of rappers conceived and produced by Marley Marl, who is also in the film. 

“Marley was Dre before Dre,” DJ Jazzy Jeff says of the man who man who constructed some of the best rap records released in the 1980s and early ‘90s. Marley laced Biz with more than a few booming beats including the laidback revenge track “The Vapors,” the now classic joint from Biz’s album debut Goin’ Off (1988). However, when it came to his follow-up The Biz Never Sleeps (1989), Biz and his cousin DJ Cool V were behind the boards and the duo were responsible for Biz’s biggest hit “Just a Friend.” Many of the people that Biz played the song for thought he was wasting his time, but quickly changed their minds when the single began climbing the charts. As Biz’s former manager observed, the rapper went from “rap star to pop star” very quickly. 

Two years later it all came crashing down when Biz released his third album I Need a Haircut, and was quickly sued for sampling Gilbert O’Sullivan’s pop hit “Alone Again (Naturally)” on “Alone Again.” That lawsuit changed the world of sampling and, though he’d release two other albums (All Samples Cleared!/1993 and Weekend Warrior/2003, soured Biz on making records. 

Instead, Biz became a DJ who spun at various events and celebrity parties. He married the love of his life Tara Davis in 2018, and became a stepfather in the process. After years of battling diabetes and weight problems, Biz was hospitalized in 2020 and died the following year at the age of 57. Today Biz Markie’s influence can be heard in the music of Tyler the Creator, the comedy of Tracy Morgan (who is also in the doc) and the absurdist visions of Donald Glover and Boots Riley. All Up in the Biz uses animation, puppetry (I could’ve used less of that), vintage flyers, videos and in-depth interviews to tell the story of the complex man behind those funny ass rhymes. Biz spent his career as though he was a wacky cartoon character, but Sacha Jenkins triumphantly reveals a very real man.   

<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft"><img src="https://www.soulhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Michael_Gonzales-dream.jpg" alt="Michael_Gonzales-dream" class="wp-image-36067"/></figure></div>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/gonzomike">Michael A. Gonzales</a> has been writing about music and culture since the 1980s. He has written for Vibe, Essence, The Source and Spin. Currently he writes true-crime features for CrimeReads, a book column (The Blacklist) for Catapult, essays for LongReads and music features for Wax Poetics. Forthcoming essay subjects include Octavia E. Butler, The Wire and Isaac Hayes. Gonzales blogs at Blackadelicpop.blogspot.com. <a href="https://www.soulhead.com/?s=michael+gonzales">Check out some of his work for soulhead</a>.</p>

The post All Up In The Biz Shines a Special Light on a Hip-Hop Legend at #Tribeca2023 by Michael A. Gonzales [FILM REVIEW] appeared first on soulhead.

by Ron Worthy

We are so happy to return for our 7th year of coverage of the Tribeca Film Festival. As in other years, we are highlighting our top picks of the festival for music lovers. Each year, we painstakingly review all of the features, documentaries, shorts, events and other immersive experiences and pull together our recommendations for our community. We look for music related themes, strong soundtracks and other related factors such as subjects and subject matter to narrow down our picks. Our goal is to help our readers navigate the festival to have a more pleasurable experience. We do the work and you have the fun.

As in other years, we will be reviewing several films including the much anticipated “All Up In The Biz”, which documents the life and career of legendary hip-hop artist Biz Markie. Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for our daily picks as well throughout the festival.  Check out our top picks below and download a copy of the full guide with a complete day by day list of recommendations.

Top Overall Picks

Film

• All Up in the Biz – New York native Biz Markie remains a hip-hop icon despite his untimely death in 2021. Best known for his 1989 Top 40 hit “Just a Friend”, Markie was a rapper, beatboxer, songwriter, and producer who was fondly referred to as the clown prince of hip-hop. Markie performed all over the world and made cameo appearances in TV shows like SpongeBob SquarePants, In Living Color, and The Tonight Show, and films including Men in Black II and Sharknado 2.  Tickets
• Carlos – The lively and intimately-crafted documentary Carlos immerses us in rock icon Carlos Santana’s life and musical trajectory. Filmmaker Rudy Valdez bolsters this personal narrative with pulsating, never-before-seen footage — guided by Santana himself, in his own words. Tickets
• Cinnamon – Aspiring singer Jodi Jackson (Tony nominee Hailey Kilgore) has a big voice and dreams to match but struggles to make ends meet as a gas station attendant whose boss (Damon Wayans) may not be on the up and up. Enter charming small-time crook Eddie (David Iacono). He would do anything to make her dreams come true. The two lovers hatch a plan to change their lives, but as the old proverb goes, “We plan, God laughs.” What follows is a journey in which they both must use their wits to survive.  Tickets
• Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor forever cemented her place in popular culture with the disco classic “I Will Survive”. In the four decades since, her career has been stalled by health issues, as well as abuse and mismanagement from her now ex-husband. Yet in keeping with the title of her most famous song, Gaynor struggles onward as she works to release a new gospel album in her seventies. Tickets
• Kiss the Future – A stirring testament to art’s enduring ability to cast light even in the darkest of circumstances, Kiss the Future follows an underground community that worked and created throughout the nearly four-year-long Siege of Sarajevo. Sensing that a larger voice is needed, an American aid worker makes a longshot pitch to U2 to help raise awareness about the Bosnian capital’s plight. The band immediately agrees and begins a series of live satellite interviews with local Sarajaevans during their 1993 ZOO TV Tour in an effort to highlight the direness of the situation on the ground. After those mid-concert interviews end, the band pledges to play a concert in the city once the conflict comes to a close. And when U2 arrives to perform a long-promised concert, the show becomes a monument to the strength and resilience of the people of Sarajevo, and art’s capacity to inspire and unite. Tickets
• Let the Canary Sing – Cyndi Lauper anxiously rides in the backseat of a car stuck in New York City traffic. In her distinctively thick New York accent, she reflects on her career, saying “I didn’t want anyone to tell me what I could and couldn’t do.” On her longevity and unique ability to adapt to shifting social trends, she says “I never think of it as reinvention. I want to learn.” Tickets
• Milli Vanilli – Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan became fast friends during their youth in Germany. With Rob coming from a broken home and Fabrice having left an abusive household, they shared a similar upbringing, as well as a future goal: to become famous superstars. In a few short years, their dreams came true. Their first album went platinum six times in 1989, and their hit “Girl You Know It’s True” sold over 30 million singles worldwide. Rob and Fab, better known as Milli Vanilli, became the most popular pop duo in the late 1980s. However, their ascension to success came with a devastating price that ultimately brought their undoing. Tickets
• Uncharted – Filmmaker Beth Aala takes us behind the scenes of Alicia Keys’ She Is The Music songwriting camp in this revealing look at the music business that focuses on the lack of access and opportunity granted to young black and brown women. The camp’s participants take center stage as they try to break through the industry with the next big hit song. Ayoni is from Barbados, following Rihanna’s footsteps while reaching for the same stars. Atlanta’s DaVionne got a break collaborating with known artists and now works on her writing and recording. Chicago-born Jean Deaux does it all on her own — writing, recording, and producing while touring with successful acts. Tickets
• Waitress, The Musical – Live on Broadway – Waitress, the Musical – Live on Broadway! is a heartwarming story that follows the life of Jenna Hunterson (Sara Bareilles), a pie-maker and waitress stuck in an unfulfilling marriage in a small town. Jenna finds solace in baking and dreams of winning a baking contest in a nearby city to escape her mundane life. When Jenna becomes pregnant, she decides to take control of her life with the help of her co-workers and a new town doctor. She confronts her past, faces her fears, and makes life-changing choices.  Tickets
• Lost Soulz – Sol (Sauve Sidle) is an aspiring young rapper living with his best friend Wesley (Siyanda Stillwell), whose family has embraced him as a brother. After a raucous night causes Wesley to overdose, Sol abandons him at a house party, and eventually chooses to leave home for good and join a touring group of hip-hop artists. As they travel across Texas creating and performing, he discovers who he is as an artist and person. Tickets
• Cypher – Tierra Whack first gained recognition at the age of 15 when she stunned viewers with her slick poetry while rapping for a YouTube channel on a Philadelphia street. The video rapidly drew thousands of views and marked the first of Tierra’s many performances for the camera. Years later, director Chris Moukarbel begins documenting her astronomical rise, going behind the scenes of concerts and music videos as she navigates fame and receives exalted praise from stars like Erykah Badu and Billie Eilish. One night, after a particularly tiring set, a seemingly innocuous fan interaction begins a series of increasingly unsettling events that swirl around Tierra and her team — even following them to Dubai. They soon start questioning who is filming whom and whether being seen (or watched) is a desirable and unavoidable part of fame. Tickets
• Ron Delsener Presents – Documentaries about figures of music history tend to focus on artists, but here, the subject is influential concert promoter Ron Delsener who worked with some of the biggest names in music over his decades-long career. Featuring a bevy of legends from Cher to Gene Simmons, Roger Daltrey,and Simon and Garfunkel, Ron Delsener Presents is a career retrospective stuffed with star power. Tickets
• It’s Only Life After All – A revealing exploration and much-anticipated love letter to the massively beloved folk-rock duo Indigo Girls. From their serendipitous meeting at Emory University, where their innate musical styles collided, to their hardscrabble days as a popular bar band, to their explosion on the worldwide music scene with their eponymous album — this is the deep dive into their story that their intensely devoted fans have craved.  Tickets 
• Songs About Fucking – Marc Rebillet is a lot of things. He’s a musician, a comedian, an artist, and some even say an innovator. Known for his improvised shows and signature tight boxers, he’s certainly someone you can’t put into a neat label. However, as this documentary, Songs About Fucking, proves, he wouldn’t have it any other way. Tickets

Shorts

• Flower – World-renowned ballerina Misty Copeland stars in her first independently produced short art film, an immersive experience in movement storytelling that highlights intergenerational equity in the community of Oakland, California, featuring new, original music from Grammy-winning recording artist Raphael Saadiq. Tickets

Reunions

• New Jack City – Wesley Snipes stars in this hard-edged film based on a frightening true world as Nino Brown, an American success story – with a twist. He’s young, handsome, smart, rich, successful, and prominent in his community. But Nino Brown is a big-time drug baron. Determined to end the remorseless evil of Nino’s drug empire, two street-smart policemen will stop at nothing to destroy his organization. Directed by Mario Van Peebles. Written by Thomas Lee Wright, Barry Michael Cooper. Produced by George Jackson, Doug McHenry. With Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Mario Van Peebles, Judd Nelson. A Warner Brothers release.  Tickets
• Wild Style – Universally hailed as the classic hip hop movie, Wild Style tells the story of Zoro, played by the graffiti legend Lee Quiñones, in his subway art romance with the graffiti queen Sandra “Lady Pink” Fabara. Fab Five Freddy, who helped Charlie Ahearn create Wild Style from its inception, stars as the smooth impresario Phade. Following the outlaw artists through the train yards to the clubs, Wild Style climaxes at a massive outdoor jam, definitely the most famous hip hop party in history! Directed, written and produced by Charlie Ahearn. With Lee Quiñones, Lady Pink, Fab 5 Freddy, Patti Astor, Andrew Witten, Busy Bee, Grand Wizzard Theodore.  Tickets

Games

• Goodbye Volcano High – Just Fang’s luck: they finally figure out what they want out of life, and now the world’s about to explode. In this story-driven, choice-based cinematic adventure game about personal growth, acceptance, and the power of community, what will you do at the end of an era? Goodbye Volcano High is a cinematic adventure game, a coming-of-age rhythm game, a hand-animated interactive cartoon, and a choice-based, narrative-driven, interactive movie experience. Tickets

Talks

• Storytellers:  Paul McCartney with Conan OBrien – Born in Liverpool in 1942, Paul McCartney was raised in the city and educated at the Liverpool Institute. Since writing his first song at 14, McCartney has dreamed and dared to be different. He will be joined in conversation by Conan O’Brien. The pair will discuss McCartney’s new book 1964: Eyes of the Storm, which is being published on June 13. The book showcases 275 of McCartney’s rediscovered photos from his archive from the end of 1963 and beginning of 1964 when Beatlemania erupted. The conversation will be recorded for a future episode of O’Brien’s podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.” Tickets
• Storytellers:  Billy Porter with Idina Menzell – Billy Porter is an Emmy, Tony and Grammy award-winning actor, singer, director, producer, composer, and playwright, best known for FX’s Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated drama “Pose” and Broadway’s Kinky Boots. Tickets
• Storytellers: John Mellencamp with David Letterman – John Mellencamp is one of the most highly respected singer/songwriters of a generation. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, recipient of the John Steinbeck Award, ASCAP Foundation’s Champion Award, The Woody Guthrie Award and Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Founders Award, and a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He will be joined in conversation by David Letterman who can currently be seen hosting My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, a four-time Emmy-nominated interview show streaming on Netflix. Tickets
• Storytellers: Lin-Manuel Miranda with Rosie Perez – Lin-Manuel Miranda is a Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy and Tony award-winning songwriter, actor, director and producer. He is the creator and original star of Broadway’s Tony-winning HAMILTON and In the Heights. Miranda is the recipient of the 2015 MacArthur Foundation Award, the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors and the 2019 Portrait of a Nation Prize. He has received stars on both the Puerto Rico Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He will be joined in conversation by Academy Award-nominated actress Rosie Perez.  Tickets
• Storytellers: Diplo with A-Trak – Born in Mississippi and raised in Florida, Diplo’s 20-year career began with his now-legendary Philly club night Hollertronix. The three-time Grammy nominee is also a member of the iconic Major Lazer, one third of LSD (with Sia and Labrinth), and half of Silk City with Mark Ronson.  Tickets
• Storytellers: Chance the Rapper with Thelma Golden – Multi-Grammy award winner Chance the Rapper has built a multi-faceted career across music, film, television, and art. His new body of work, Star Line Gallery, has premiered at art institutions around the world including Art Basel and Los Angeles’ Museum Of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Tickets

TV

• Honeycomb – After a has-been musician (Baron Vaughn)  live-streams his suicide attempt, his band’s single goes viral. For the first time in their life, they have a chance at fame and fortune — as long as the world continues to believe he’s dead. Tickets

Music

• Special – In Lizzo’s music video, visuals, empowering lyrics, and energetic performances celebrate self-love, body positivity, and individuality. Bold, colorful, and full of positive energy. Tickets

The post soulhead Tribeca Film Festival Music Lovers Guide 2023 appeared first on soulhead.

Mr. Nelson on the North Side [MOVIE REVIEW]

by Miles Marshall Lewis

The life and times of Prince Rogers Nelson arguably contain one of the most compelling arcs in pop history. His career fractions into a foundational R&B phase, a punk-funk rebel stage, an international rock superstar moment, a return to black roots he never really left, the “love symbol” years railing against his own record company, a chapter as the music industry’s biggest cult-figure indie icon and more. Whatever comes of Netflix’s eventual Prince documentary, a life this sprawling already demands a prequel project. As a recent screening at the Apollo Music Café proved, Mr. Nelson and the North Side (directed last year by Daniel D’Or and Eric Wiegand) is that prequel.

For completist Prince historians who consume books like official Prince podcast host Andrea Swensson’s Got to Be Something Here: The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound with an eye towards understanding his mystique even more, Mr. Nelson and the North Side constitutes a must-see film. Featuring commentary from Swensson, Chaka Khan, Macy Gray, Chuck D, former Prince keyboardist Gayle Chapman and others, Mr. Nelson pulls some of its best insights from local Twin Cities figures like longtime activist Spike Moss and early mentor Pepé Willie. Moderated by former Prince bodyguard Nass Metcalfe, a post-screening discussion between Spike Moss and director Daniel D’Or—with side stories from Doug E. Fresh—delved deeper into the 1960s Minneapolis milieu that formed His Royal Badness back when everyone called him Skipper.

Though Prince’s relationship to hiphop was often maligned, rap legend Doug E. Fresh formed a close relationship with him and often performed live with Prince’s band at venues like NYC’s City Winery. After viewing Mr. Nelson, Doug E. stood and related a story about chanting “the roof is on fire” onstage at a Prince show and getting fined for encouraging the audience to finish the profane phrase. (Prince famously refrained from cursing at concerts after his conversion to the Jehovah’s Witness faith in 2001.) Before taking his seat, he spun another anecdote about receiving a call from Prince at four in the morning to rock at an aftershow, discovering after the fact that Prince stuffed his pocket with thousands of dollars in appreciation.

Prince fams should discover the revelations divulged in Mr. Nelson and the North Side on their own while enjoying the film, rather than from spoiler-heavy reviews. Introduced at the Apollo Music Café by Moikgantsi Kgama and Gregory Gates of the ImageNation cinema foundation, Mr. Nelson currently tours the country on an independent film circuit but can also be streamed online exclusively at OnTheNorthSide.com. “Whenever he played a solo, you could find me at the side of the stage like a fucking groupie,” Chaka Khan said with a laugh. For everyone who felt the same, Mr. Nelson and the North Side is worth the watch.

Check out the trailer below:

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Miles Marshall Lewis has written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Ebony, Essence and many other publications. His work has appeared in Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness, Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey, The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers, and elsewhere.  He’s also the author of There’s a Riot Goin’ On and Scars of the Soul Are Why Kids Wear Bandages When They Don’t Have Bruises. Follow MML on Twitter and Instagram. Check out some of his work for soulhead.

The post Mr. Nelson on the North Side [MOVIE REVIEW] by Miles Marshall Lewis appeared first on soulhead.

Inside Prince: Is the Prince Immersive Experience Worth a Trip?

by Tonya Pendleton

Immersive experiences, a relatively new way to experience the lives and works of iconic figures, have become popular around the world. The multimedia installations dedicated to a person or theme provide an interactive experience as opposed to the more passive one of a museum show or concert. Tupac Shakur,Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Van Gogh have been the subjects of recent experiences in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia respectively.

Prince is latest legendary artist to receive the immersive treatment and his prolific career lends itself to the format.

Running through December 31, 2022 in Chicago, the Prince Immersive Experience proves he wasn’t just a genius musician, but a cultural phenomenon who put his imprint on fashion, technology, photography, film, and design.

Upon entering the Experience, you’ll see blown-up photos of Prince reflecting the various eras of his 37-year career. In that time, he released 42 studio albums and recorded countless more he stored in his legendary vault at Paisley Park, where he lived and worked until his death in 2016 at the age of 57.

From the entrance, you head into the “Purple Rain” room, more specifically the “When Doves Cry” tableaux, which is where your immersion truly begins. The tub where Prince bathes in a room full of flowers and flying doves is more or less faithfully recreated, though you can imagine the notoriously perfectionist Prince finding fault in the plastic flowers or even the bathtub’s size. But given today’s Instagram world, the scene provides the first of several photo ops, as well as the idea that you could be anywhere as cool as Prince was in the now iconic video.

In a mix of multimedia that is consistent throughout, the dramatic opening of the doors to the “When Doves Cry” room is preceded by a video that does a meticulous job of setting up Prince’s career and explaining why his legacy is important. The curators of The Prince Experience understood that despite the predominantly white male rock critics that covered most of Prince’s career, his legacy demands a more thorough take that centers him as an African American icon who wasn’t just connected to his community, but an advocate for it.

The white male critic who does get his just due here is Minneapolis Star Tribune music critic Jon Bream, who holds the distinction as the longest-tenured music critic at a newspaper in the country. Bream covered Prince over his entire career, and the indefatigable journalist’s take on Prince’s first concert at Minneapolis’ Capri Theater on Jan. 5, 1979, is one of the newspaper articles displayed to highlight Prince’s early roots in the city. In his review, Bream wrote that Prince was “cool, he was cocky, and he was sexy. Prince’s performance indicated he has extraordinary talent.” (Yes, that take aged well.) 

Perhaps the most impressive room in the Prince Immersive Experience is one that documents all 42 of his studio releases. The album art, release dates and track listing for each project is painstakingly detailed, museum style. But it would have been nice to have headphones attached to each display to play an album or two on demand. 

Still, seeing all the albums in one space gives visitors a visual of how vast Prince’s catalog really is. Though his 80s work with the Revolution is considered his most fertile artistic and commercial period, in the 90s, Prince released an extraordinary run of projects including “Diamonds and Pearls,” and the three-CD sets “Emancipation” and“Crystal Ball.”

Speaking of “Diamonds and Pearls,” Prince’s double-platinum 1991 release has its own room in the Experience. Dripping in faux versions of both, the set is another chance to take a solo or group shot. 

A recreation of Prince’s Studio B at Paisley Park follows. Though the song wasn’t recorded there, “Let’s Go Crazy” is broken down into individual tracks, i.e., Prince’s vocal, Wendy’s guitar, etc. so that visitors can listen to each one through attached headphones. Though the room was dressed with such specific details as the 5-Hour Energy drinks Prince favored, if you’ve been to Paisley Park, you know it’s not quite an accurate rendition. 

But if you haven’t been, it does approximate Prince’s recording process. The 2022 Celebration at Paisley Park included a similar experience where members of 3rdeyegirl and the NPG played over pre recorded studio rehearsal tracks that included Prince giving vocal cues to the bands. 

A room dedicated to Prince’s fashion showcasing two of his performance outfits leads into a simulated “Glam Slam” club room with a live DJ spinning Prince tunes. When I was there, a woman was taking full advantage to get her own personal party on – a tribute to the out-of-body energy Prince’s music can generate. 

Another “Purple Rain” room — and photo op — is the recreation of the alley at First Avenue where Prince parked his motorcycle in the film, complete with the venue’s Hall of Fame wall, a mocked-up story about a fictional “Battle of the Bands” and other clever Prince fam easter eggs. 

Artifacts including Prince’s signature Cloud and Hohner guitars and a keytar, the keyboard/guitar that Prince received a patent for, are on display as well. By virtue of a clever Bose collaboration, at the Experience’s end, you can generate your personal Prince playlist by using a kiosk with their headphones attached. 

To my surprise, the song it pulled up as the lead for my playlist was the deep cut “Purple Music,” from the “1999” special deluxe edition, which I admit sent me into somewhat of a purple trance for a sec, or more accurately, for as long as the song played. While Prince may have frowned on such canny commercialism, Bose missed an opportunity to sell its limited edition purple ‘pill’ speaker to a captive fanbase, although you could sign up onsite to win one. 

The Experience then returns visitors to the entrance where you could move on to the merchandise store. Though this year’s Paisley Park Celebration was deficient in new and creative merch options, the Immersive Experience had a nice mix of Experience-specific wear and fun stuff like a “Raspberry Beret” clouds sweatsuit, a “Let’s Go Crazy” flowered T and shorts, and other tchotchkes ranging from relatively cheap to break the bank expensive. The store is open to the public, whether you do the Experience or not. 

The Prince Immersive Experience can’t replace seeing Prince live or enjoying his creative force in real-time, nor give you as thorough an immersion as if you went to Paisley Park. But what it does extremely well is translate an iconic, yet mysterious, artist to a general audience. 

It also pleased the group of Prince scholars I attended with, and they’re a tough crew. My main quibble was the lack of Prince’s live performances, a centerpiece of his career and legacy. It may be that the Netflix embargo on footage due to the upcoming documentary precluded it, but it still felt like a glaring omission. Video of Prince’s iconic Super Bowl XLI halftime show performance would have helped, since it’s owned by the NFL and readily available on YouTube, but given the often thorny landscape of rights and clearances, it could have been too expensive or difficult to include. 

The Prince Immersive Experience is worth even a casual fan’s time and money, and is a great way to show a younger generation why Prince was so significant. In addition, it’s conveniently located on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, which means immediately adjacent opportunities to sight-see and spend even more of your money. 

Chicago is a great town, with a lot going on (I squeezed in a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago, and the WNBA All-Star Game, which conveniently took place the same weekend I was there) so it’s always worth a visit. Chi-town loved Prince when he was alive and now that he’s joined the ancestral realms, the Immersive Experience reflects the city’s appreciation for the very significant legacy he left behind. As we don’t know what programming and experiences the new Estate supervisors will put in place, this is a good chance to see something that has been vetted by Prince superfans/scholars. 

The Prince Immersive Experience, put on by Superfly and The Prince Estate, is up through December 31, 2022. Tickets range from $29.50 to $65 for General Admission to Gold Experience, which includes an “Around the World in a Day” poster and skip the line access. No word yet on any new cities or attendance numbers but if the enthusiasm we saw from fans young and old is any indication, hopefully, Chicago won’t be the last stop.  

<hr>
<p><img class="wp-image-36067 alignleft" src="https://www.soulhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Tonya-Pendleton-Bio-Photo.jpg" alt="Tonya Pendleton" width="120" height="120"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://twitter.com/tonyapendleton" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tonya Pendleton</a>  is a veteran multimedia journalist in news, sports, lifestyle and entertainment reporting. She’s written for Essence, Ebony, 
BET.com, The Source, XXL, Jordan Magazine, the Philadelphia Daily News, The Washington Post and more. In her current incarnation as a writer/editor with TheGrio.com and as “Things To Do” curator for NPR affiliate WHYY, she crafts content for a local and global audience. The  Philadelphia resident was born and raised in New York City and is a graduate of The New School.  Follow Tonya Pendleton on <a href="https://twitter.com/tonyapendleton" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/iamtonyapendleton" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Instagram</a>.</span></p>

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Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues Reveals the Complex Life of a Music Pioneer [MOVIE REVIEW]

by Miles Marshall Lewis

No one musician invented jazz, just as blues, gospel, R&B, rock or hiphop can’t be attributed to a single, solitary person. Documentaries like Ken Burns’s Jazz give their proper respect due to King Oliver and Buddy Bolden as key figures in the invention of the genre. But no one looms larger in the mythology of jazz’s invention and evolution than Louis Armstrong. Maybe most famous for his 1967 single “What a Wonderful World,” the original lodestar of jazz had already influenced several schools of the genre up until that point—inventing the scat, revolutionizing vocal delivery and pioneering the jazz solo. Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, a new Apple TV+ documentary by director Sacha Jenkins, puts a unique spin on Satchmo’s personal history.

Onstage after a recent preview screening at Manhattan’s annual Urbanworld film festival, Jenkins mentioned Louis Armstrong’s arrest on a gun charge at age 12, as well as his lifelong love of marijuana—commonalities between Armstrong’s story and any given 21st century rap artist. At different points in the film, Nas provides voice over, solidifying the link between jazz and hip hop as expressions of African-American genius. Nas vocalizing the profuse profanity from Armstrong’s various letters definitely elicited laughter in the audience. These little details take Satchmo out of the grandfatherly mold he’s been cast in for too long and into a more modern context.

Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues includes the legendary trumpeter’s own voice through copious reel-to-reel recordings he created at his Queens home, a de facto audio diary created over his lifetime. Rather than resort to subtitles for various inscrutable passages (difficult to understand because of Armstrong’s rasp and the tapes’ lo-fi audio quality), animated graphics take over, solving the problem by transcribing his words as if stripped from archival newspaper clippings.

Ossie Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Amiri Baraka and others all speak to Armstrong’s brilliant innovations; Davis and Baraka in particular discuss unjust perceptions of Louis Armstrong as somewhat of an Uncle Tom lacking racial politics of his own. Though jazz legend Miles Davis went on record that he “always hated the way [Armstrong] used to laugh and grin to the audiences,” in Black & Blues, Davis is quoted defending Armstrong against accusations of minstrelsy. The documentary refutes this image, citing Satchmo’s insistence to be accommodated at the segregated hotels that booked him, as well as his monetary contributions to the civil rights movement.

Having helmed previous documentary projects dedicated to Rick James and Wu-Tang Clan, director Sacha Jenkins brings a hipper perspective to the jazz pioneer by framing his life, times and achievements almost as if he were an MC: his weed, his four-letter words, his brushes with the law. His approach modernizes Satchmo’s legend anew, making Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues feel as contemporary as recent docs dedicated to Lil Baby or XXXTentacion. What a wonderful world indeed. 

Miles Marshall Lewis has written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Ebony, Essence and many other publications. His work has appeared in Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness, Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey, The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers, and elsewhere.  He’s also the author of Promise That You Will Sing About Me: The Power and Poetry of Kendrick Lamar.. Follow MML on Twitter and Instagram. Check out some of his work for soulhead.

The post Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues Reveals the Complex Life of a Music Pioneer [MOVIE REVIEW] appeared first on soulhead.

Celebrating Prince: What’s Next for Paisley Park, His Legacy, and The Estate

by Tonya Pendleton

Now that the 2022 Prince Celebration – delayed two years by the COVID-19 pandemic – is history, the question remains what is the way forward for the annual event as well as Prince’s legacy?  

It was a long wait, but 800-plus fans converged on Paisley Park for the fourth Celebration since Prince’s untimely passing in 2016. In those two years, the world, and Minneapolis, were profoundly changed by COVID and the murder of George Floyd, which happened not far from where Prince grew up. 

The 2022 Celebration, June 2-5, was scaled down from four days to two. The town of Chanhassen, Minnesota, finally agreed to extend the time events could take place at the site, so that nights at Paisley could better reflect the experience when Prince hosted parties and performances into the wee hours. 

The unofficial Celebration kickoff was the ‘unveiling’ of the Prince mural in downtown Minneapolis, a much-needed boost to the area. Located at Ramp A, adjacent to the First Avenue nightclub which Prince put on the map in “Purple Rain” the once-bustling area is now a shadow of what it was pre-pandemic.

Restaurants and bars are either closed or have reduced hours. As many Minneapolis businesses are still either on WFM status or hybrid schedules, the city’s downtown has become sketchy, sparsely populated with folks that appear to be struggling with various issues from homelessness to addiction. Crime is up.

So the block party and mural unveiling billed as the ‘Crown our Prince’ event was a welcome one for Minneapolis residents who came out in all manner of Prince regalia to see the 100-foot-tall mural seven years in the making. It was spray-painted by artist Hiero Viega, who was chosen by a 16-member committee made up of Prince’s family and others close to him. 

Heirs Sharon Nelson and Tyka Nelson spoke on behalf of the family. Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey turned out for the event along with one-time Prince collaborator Pepe Willie, Minnesota Lynx coach Rebekkah Brunson, and a good portion of Minnesotans who partied to Dr. Mambo’s Combo, a popular city band, and a deejay. 

At the Celebration’s official opening event at the W Hotel, DJ Lenka Paris kept the VIP party going until 1 a.m., but the night kicked off with a Q&A from Robert Whitman, one of Prince’s early photographers, who took the iconic black and white pics of Prince in front of Schmitt Music in 1977. Also in attendance were former Prince bandmembers Bobby Z., Sonny T and Jill Jones, and Prince bloggers Kanisa Williams of the Darling Nisi blog and podcast (h/t to Nisi for the party info) and Kim Camilia and Casey Rain of The Violet Reality. 

On to Paisley for day one on Friday, where the truncated schedule meant everything was crammed into a 9 a.m. – 2 a.m. timeline with a break for lunch on-campus and dinner off-campus before returning for the evening concert. Minneapolis broadcast icon Robyne Robinson, who was also on the mural selection team, emceed both days of Celebration. 

Over the two days, Jones, Prince’s first ex-wife and collaborator, Mayte Garcia, photographer Randee St. Nicholas, three engineers, Prince’s shoe makers, a performance from Brown Mark and ‘The Bad Boyz of Paisley,’ a self-guided museum tour, and the screening of an unreleased Prince concert are on the agenda.

VIP attendees received additional perks which included a scarf, a studio ‘session’ and a VIP brunch at The Dakota with The Steeles. 

In previous years, Prince collaborators including Jesse Johnson, Sheila E., The Revolution, Afshin Shahidi, Steve Parke, George Clinton, and various incarnations of the NPG have come to Paisley to share their stories. Panels included personal testimonies from fashion designers to photographers to dancers, accounts from members of the NPG and the NPG Hornz, the creation of Paisley Park and what it was like working with, arranging for, and rehearsing and touring with Prince and his bands.

Though the cottage industry of blogs, podcasts, books, websites, Facebook and Instagram accounts, and affinity/event groups that existed before and after his passing have covered his career in painstaking detail, Paisley Park has the advantage of being the location where Prince spent most of his time creating. 

Engineers Chris James and Tom Garneau, who were interviewed by author Duane Tudahl, shared more about Prince’s famously exacting recording process by playing some unreleased tracks with Prince’s directives intact. James played portions of a “Purple Rain” tour soundcheck where Prince jokingly berated an audio tech for missing show cues: “Them’s money cues,” Prince told him.

Joshua Welton, who worked on Prince’s penultimate album “Hit and Run, Pt. 1,” talked animatedly about working with Prince and his ability to hear even the most subtle musical distinctions while his wife Hannah participated in the inaugural studio ‘sessions.’ Taken from actual sessions, the recordings replicated Prince taking the musicians through their paces. 

Through headphones attached to the seats, approximately 50 people in Studio A were able to ‘listen in’ while NPG members including Kirk Johnson, Tony M., Levi Seacer, Jr. and Morris Hayes held a session as well. They played a live version of “Son of Sexy MF” with Prince’s original vocal directions. It proved to be one of the weekend’s most popular moments, though it was only available for VIP ticketholders. The 3rdeyegirl version included Liv Warfield and Donna Grantis, playing their cover of the Nichole Nordeman song “What If” with Prince and Ida Nielsen’s voice on the prerecorded track.  

Unfortunately, Brownmark’s first-night performance was met with less than enthusiastic reviews. But a highlight was a guest appearance by singer Grace Gibson, the daughter of actress Lynn Whitfield (“Greenleaf”). Gibson understood the assignment, singing credible versions of “The Beautiful Ones,” and “Soft and Wet” dressed in a purple one-piece with flowing sleeves and purple boots. On her Instagram, she deemed performing at Paisley Park “a dream come true.” 

On day 2, St. Nicholas’ stories about working with Prince anchored the new photography exhibit of her work at Paisley. The exhibit focused on photos she took during their 25-year creative collaboration, that she says often included her inviting women to “entertain” Prince. (Her words, not ours, but apparently it worked, as the black and white photos illustrate some of the compelling work they created together.) In particular, a photo of Prince sitting at a piano in the midst of what looks like ruins was inspired by building in Los Angeles St. Nicholas came across spontaneously while it was in the midst of being demolished. Prince loved the idea of shooting in the desolate space and a grand piano was brought in to set the scene. 

Jill Jones, one of Prince’s most talented and outspoken collaborators, played an unreleased version of “77 Bleeker St” with Prince on vocals from her woefully underrated self-titled Paisley Park debut album (now out of print). Former Current personality and author Andrea Swensson did the interviewing honors for Jones, St. Nicholas, and Mayte. Jones also talked about working on the widely derided “Graffiti Bridge” movie. She said she believes it was derailed by shooting solely on the Paisley Park soundstage and the deteriorating relationships among the principals. Jones, who identifies as African American, also said that throughout his career, Prince amplified the African American community through his work and philanthropy. 

“He did that,” she said. “He brought us all together for a reason.” 

Mayte, who joined St. Nicholas to discuss photos taken of her and Prince together, was often visibly emotional during her panel. Although portions of her memoir “The Beautiful: My Life with Prince” are critical of their relationship, it falls short of being a salacious tell-all. Mayte said she’d never say anything bad about her husband and father of her child, Amiir, who died soon after his birth in 1996. Although she played some tracks from collaborations with Prince, including selections from her “Child of the Sun” and “Scorpio” albums, she readily admitted that she isn’t a singer. She also revealed that the concert to be shown later that evening was her first time on stage with Prince. 

The last event of Celebration was a concert originally performed at Prince’s Glam Slam Minneapolis nightclub in 1992. It seemed much like a dress rehearsal for the Diamonds and Pearls tour that did a 50-show swing overseas between April and July of 1992. In previous years at Celebration, the pivotal concert screening has been held at the Target Center and The Armory and both times, were compilations of the same two shows from later in Prince’s career. 

For this one, at the height of Prince’s funky 90s, Prince’s vocal and guitar tracks, along with Rosie Gaines’ vocals, were retained. The show was synced to NPG bandmembers including Tony, Seacer Jr., Hayes and Tommy Barbarella, playing along live, while Damon Dickson and Mayte added their dance routines as well. While that sometimes made it complicated to follow along between the live musicians and the recorded ones, the show played fairly seamlessly from both ends. 

Prince sang, dance, gyrated, played keys and guitar, changed outfits and du-rags multiple times and put on the kind of show that answers the question ‘Why is Prince the greatest performer of all time?’ Watching his chemistry with Gaines makes you wonder why their time together didn’t last longer. And, as the engineers aptly described during Celebration sessions and bandmembers have attested to, Prince’s legendary rehearsals made for a crack band at their peak executing on his vision of perfection. 

And therein lies the challenge of extending Prince’s legacy to those who weren’t around during his heyday. The 2022 Celebration generated mixed reviews from a fanbase used to a high bar. But without Prince to sell it, how do future generations learn of his genius? One of those entrusted to his legacy, Prince’s former lawyer, Londell McMillan, says that the fans will have more say in the future. 

McMillan, director/producer Charles Spicer, heirs Norrine and Sharon Nelson, and John Nelson, Jr.’s three children will likely take over the Estate in late July once the court finalizes the agreement to remove Comerica Bank from overseeing it. Through Prince Legacy, LLC, they will share decision-making with Primary Wave, a music company that has raised money to purchase rights to several legacy estates including those of James Brown, Bob Marley, Sly and the Family Stone, Ray Charles, and Whitney Houston. Paisley Park, currently run by Mitch Maguire, will continue to be a part of the Estate holdings. 

“I thought there were some good things and I thought there were some things that could be improved significantly,” McMillan said of the Celebration. “I didn’t think the talent was at the bar of what we did with Prince and what we produced with him.”

McMillan says attracting top-tier talent to Paisley is challenging because of the size of the venue, which limits the amount of money a performer can make. But he believes his industry relationships will help draw in the quality of musicians Prince was able to attract during the three Celebrations he put together while he was alive.  Also, according to McMillan and Paisley Park engineer Duff Eisenschenk, Paisley Park has been upgraded over the last 2 years and is expected to become a full-service working studio again.

According to Rodney Fitzgerald of Prince 365, an affinity and activity group that produces Prince-related events and has worked with Paisley Park on programming, those initial Celebrations were akin to comprehensive gatherings like the annual Essence Fest. Fitzgerald remembers seeing musicians like a young Alicia Keys, Sheila E., Rachelle Ferrell, and Norah Jones there along with scholars like Dr. Cornel West and journalists like Tavis Smiley who were brought to Paisley Park to share their expertise in various disciplines. 

“It was my Woodstock,” Fitzgerald remembers. Like McMillan, he says there needs to be a formula to include more fan feedback and to bring in younger fans. “The future of Celebration is the estate allowing the fans to interact more and to participate more — not turning it in to a Comic-Con— but to get together and fellowship and to bring new generations forward because our window is closing.” 

There is some precedent in the way other legacy estates have kept fan interest going. Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home, has become a multi-generational concert venue and artistic space as well as a historical attraction in the Memphis area since it opened to the public in 1982, five years after Presley’s death. Graceland worked with Paisley Park in its first years as a museum, but that partnership ended in 2019. 

As Graceland has successfully expanded its offerings over the years, it remains a blueprint for the possibilities of the future of Paisley Park. This year’s “Elvis” biopic with Tom Hanks and Austin Butler as Presley will only generate more interest in his legacy. That’s something the Prince Estate hopes will happen when the multi-part Prince documentary directed by Oscar-winner Ezra Edelman (“O.J. Made in America”) drops in 2023. The Michael Jackson estate is currently celebrating the success of “MJ The Musical,” on Broadway, which just earned an Tony for its star Myles Frost. 

In 2021, Prince leapfrogged Jackson to become Forbes’s second-highest earning dead celebrity, likely due to the $120M valuation for his estate. “Prince: The Immersive Experience” opened this year in Chicago after another exhibit did well in the U.K., and the Estate has cranked out several well received box sets, including this year’s “Prince and the Revolution: Live” a remastered version of the Syracuse show from the “Purple Rain” tour. As the Estate turns over and new leadership assumes control, renewed efforts to preserve Prince’s legacy should make for compelling content not just for Celebration, but for future projects overall. 

“I’d like to see us relieve Comerica of their duties, have Prince’s estate close and create a magnificent purple legacy that excites the fans forevermore,” McMillan says. “He was really that special. I expect everything to work out. What makes the most sense is to make the fans happy and create music lovers who didn’t even know Prince. We have to figure out the plans to make sure Prince stays current and I’m very much so looking forward to that.” 

Tonya Pendleton is a veteran multimedia journalist in news, sports, lifestyle and entertainment reporting. She’s written for Essence, Ebony, BET.com, The Source, XXL, Jordan Magazine, the Philadelphia Daily News, The Washington Post and more. In her current incarnation as a writer/editor with TheGrio.com and as “Things To Do” curator for NPR affiliate WHYY, she crafts content for a local and global audience. The Philadelphia resident was born and raised in New York City and is a graduate of The New School. Follow Tonya Pendleton on Twitter and Instagram.

The post Celebrating Prince: What’s Next for Paisley Park, His Legacy, and The Estate by Tonya Pendleton appeared first on soulhead.

Shall We Begin?: Wendy & Lisa Speak on Their Own Musical Revolution

by Miles Marshall Lewis

In the late ’80s era of women in pop-rock (think the Bangles, Tina Turner, Heart, Joan Jett), guitarist Wendy Melvoin and keyboardist Lisa Coleman signed with Columbia Records to release their first solo music outside of Prince & the Revolution. A trio of major label releases—Wendy & Lisa (1987), Fruit at the Bottom (1989) and Eroica (1990)—went commercially unnoticed, despite the splendor of gems like “The Life,” “I Think It Was December,” “Don’t Try to Tell Me” and more. Tiffany and Debbie Gibson ruled supreme while albums from Prince’s most famous musical muses (who shared the cover of Rolling Stone with him in 1986) went woefully unknown outside the gates of purple famdom.

Queer, feminist icons of pop music from an era when neither of those things was highly celebrated, Wendy & Lisa’s story hardly ended there. Since their bandleader passed away in 2016, they’ve appeared on tour with the Revolution, in magazine interviews and on podcasts speaking about posthumous releases like this month’s Prince & the Revolution: Live box set. But they’re also Emmy-winning composers who’ve scored for television (i.e., Heroes, Nurse Jackie, Crossing Jordan), dropping another fam-favorite album, Girl Bros. (1998), and its follow-up, 2008’s White Flags of Winter Chimneys. The ladies of the Revolution speak with soulhead about their solo career, record label shenanigans, Joni Mitchell and, of course, the late, great Prince Rogers Nelson.

Miles Marshall Lewis: Recording Wendy & Lisa and Fruit at the Bottom, did you miss Prince’s presence?

Lisa Coleman: Definitely. He still to this day lives in our heads when we play music. We imagine what he would like or how he would respond to what we were playing. Even with our composing for film and TV, he came to the studio a couple of times, saw some cues we were doing and thought they were really great. He was like, “Wow, you make that guy look so cool.” He was really supportive. He definitely was like the elephant in the room. We didn’t want to make [our albums] like another Prince 2.0. That wasn’t our intention at all. And in fact, that probably hurt us a little bit. But it was Prince 2.0 emotionally, because it was how we were growing and what we felt like the next step for us was, how we thought he might respond to it and all that kind of stuff. 

Miles Marshall Lewis: When did you two start coming around Paisley Park again after Prince disbanded the Revolution?

Wendy Melvoin: The summer of ’87. We went back to be with him. He extended the olive branch and we took it and we kind of mended. A silent mend with each other. It’s a sad thing.

Miles Marshall Lewis: “Waterfall,” peaked at #56. But it sounds stronger than Squeeze’s “Hourglass,” Wa Wa Nee’s “Sugar Free” and a lot more that charted higher that month. What forces failed “Waterfall”?

Wendy Melvoin: Jesus. Y’know, it’s a really fair question and I think Lisa and I spent a long time ruminating and handwringing about it. They didn’t know ultimately where to place us. Back in those days, the promotion [departments] of these record labels would have to figure out where to place you on radio, where to put you in the record bins. And they didn’t know whether Lisa and I were R&B, pop or alternative. I think we were all of those things. So, I think they got really frustrated.

And Lisa and I really don’t chase the pop star thing very well. We’re not good at that. That’s not where we’re strong. We’re kind of geeky musicians. And so that kind of fell by the wayside. Prince took care of all that stuff for us. By the time Lisa and I were on our own, we were back to being music eggheads. Well, we were then too. But I think they lost the plot with us. The labels just lost the plot.

Lisa Coleman: Yeah. “Waterfall” didn’t really sound like a Prince song, so people were confused by it.

Miles Marshall Lewis: “Waterfall” was beloved. You were robbed.

Wendy Melvoin: We agree! I thought it was a smash. If I had been in any of those scenes where you pay a promotion guy a certain amount of money to get your record spun, I don’t know, maybe I woulda done it. But it wasn’t even an option offered to us. That was the story of our life throughout our entire [solo] career.

Miles Marshall Lewis: Tell us about the unreleased Wendy & Lisa album produced by the legendary Trevor Horn.

Lisa Coleman: It started actually because we met Seal at a basketball game here in Los Angeles. We went to a Clippers game. And Seal was there and—

Wendy Melvoin: He came up to us and gave us a cassette of his single [“Crazy”]. We went back to the house and listened to it and said, “Holy shit! That’s a smash.” That’s how we met Trevor. They were still making the record and they asked Lisa and I to come in and play on some tracks. A relationship started with Trevor, and we had been fans since his record that he did with Stephen Lipson for Grace Jones, Slave to the Rhythm. It’s like one of our all-time favorite records ever made. We thought that hooking up with Trevor, we would get another beautiful project out of the combination of the three of us working together. Especially since we had such a great relationship on the Seal project. We thought that that would transfer over to our projects.

For me, it was a little bit more difficult to listen to Prince (post-Revolution).

Lisa Coleman

We struck up a relationship and Trevor said, “I would love to do your record. But I’d prefer you guys to be on my label, ZTT.” And we said, “Well, we’re signed with Virgin.” He goes, “Well, if you can get out of your deal with Virgin, then I’d be happy to do the Wendy & Lisa record when it was on my label,” which was a subsidiary of Sire.

We recorded a record that took about a year and a half, two years. And the relationship just sort of fell apart. He was way too busy and overextended. The songs are really great but there are so many ideas in these individual pieces of music. Again, like I said earlier, it kind of lost the plot.

Lisa Coleman: Creatively, it was so different than the way that we are used to working. With Prince, you do things so quickly and you do things one time and that’s the take and you move on to the next thing. With Trevor, he’d like to re-record everything over and over again. Faster tempo, slower tempo, different key, different section, change the verse, make the chorus longer. And so our songs turned into these Frankenstein monsters. The whole relationship fell apart. The timing was bad, the creativity was all over the place. There are bootlegs of the album out there and there are all these different versions of songs. 

Miles Marshall Lewis: How did your reunion with Prince on 2007’s Planet Earth come about?

Wendy Melvoin: Prince called and said, “I’ve got some songs. You wanna collaborate?” And we were just, “Yeah, sure!” And so, as we had done in the past, he sent us some stuff and said, “Do some stuff.” 

Miles Marshall Lewis: What’s your favorite post-Revolution Prince album? 

Lisa Coleman: For me, it was a little bit more difficult to listen to Prince [post-Revolution]. I felt a little almost like it was none of my business in a way. I felt so removed from it, like looking at another family’s photo album. It’s interesting and some of them are really beautiful. But I had nothing to do with it and it was hard for me emotionally. I wanted the connection I once had, and it wasn’t there. Like, “What do I do now? Am I just gonna be a fan and listen to him every once in a while? Put his record on at a party or something?” [laughter] It just felt so weird! So, I kinda clocked out.

Miles Marshall Lewis: Could you take me through your relationship with Columbia Records, and then Virgin?

Wendy Melvoin: Well, Columbia only had us for the American territories. When Columbia kind of dropped the ball on us on our first record, Virgin was still very excited about us. They had all the U.K. and Europe territories, the rest of the world. Virgin said, “We’d like to represent you guys worldwide.” So, Columbia sort of let us go. Well, actually, they dropped us. Me and Lisa and Neil Diamond in the trades, that’s how we found out we got dropped. [laughter] But there’s no hard feelings. It was the times, you know? They just dropped the ball on us and it just happened. But we went to Virgin worldwide. Then right after that, they dropped us. 

Miles Marshall Lewis: Did you feel that was a better situation, with Virgin releasing your third album, Eroica?

Wendy Melvoin: Yeah. We had a much better relationship with the U.K. team, and at that time it was Jeff Ayeroff here in the United States with his partner, Jordan Harris. Jeff and Jordan were the heads of Virgin at the time, and we really loved them. So yeah, it was a much better relationship.

Miles Marshall Lewis: Why did you choose the album title Eroica?

Wendy Melvoin: Because it’s a beautiful word, and its translation: heroic. It’s just beautiful and Lisa and I felt as if we had obstacles in front of us that we had to overcome to be who we are and to be as free as we are and to express ourselves musically. And that record really went into a deeper place for us musically and we felt that way. It’s an iconic-looking word. That’s my reasoning. 

Miles Marshall Lewis: What was it like working with Joni Mitchell on 1988’s Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm?

Wendy Melvoin: Me and Lisa have a thing with each other where I insistently say, “I love her more” and then she says, “No, I love her more,” and then I say, “No, you don’t. I love her more.” [laughter] So how was it for us to work with Joni? It was a dream come true. And we’ve continued this relationship with her, even up to this past month. We just did a big tribute to her with the Grammy Foundation and Music Cares. It was a dream come true. And she’s an incredible human being. I’ll never forget the session: singing for her and her being in the control room watching me and Lisa sing our parts. It was just beautiful. I remember we were late for the session. We did get in trouble.  

Lisa Coleman: Yeah. She thought we didn’t take her seriously. It was so weird. I kind of blanked it out because it was JONI MITCHELL. She was mad at us for a minute there.

Miles Marshall Lewis: According to Questlove, the Prince Estate verified there was a lot of “Baby I’m a Star” edited out of Prince & the Revolution: Live because of VHS space limitations. Can you tell there’s a section missing?

Lisa Coleman: No. It’s all a blur. [laughter] 

Miles Marshall Lewis: Is there a memoir coming from you guys to follow the books from Brown Mark, Morris Day, Sheila E., etc.?

Wendy Melvoin: You know, Lisa and I have talked about that. We just celebrated 40 years as Wendy & Lisa, and our history together is incredible in that we’ve still gone strong. We talked about doing something. We just haven’t gotten to it. I think we should probably pay a little bit more attention to that, because we’re getting up in our beautiful ages and we wanna make sure that we pass on something to our children.

Miles Marshall Lewis: According to research from writer Dan Charnas in Dilla Time, the handclaps recorded for Prince’s beloved Linn Drum were recorded by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Did you know?

Wendy Melvoin: I’ve heard rumblings of that, I just didn’t know if it was actually facts or not. That’s funny! I should actually ask. I know [Heartbreakers keyboardist] Benmont, so I could call him and ask him if he recalls that. That’d be interesting.

Miles Marshall Lewis has written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Ebony, Essence and many other publications. His work has appeared in Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness, Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey, The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers, and elsewhere.  He’s also the author of Promise That You Will Sing About Me: The Power and Poetry of Kendrick Lamar.. Follow MML on Twitter and Instagram. Check out some of his work for soulhead.

The post Shall We Begin?: Wendy & Lisa Speak on Their Own Musical Revolution by Miles Marshall Lewis appeared first on soulhead.

God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines: Movie Review

by Michael A. Gonzales

Back in the mid-1980s, I lived in Harlem and dated a Detroit woman who had come to New York City to be an actress. A soul sister whose daddy was a former 1960s radical, she also had a southern cooking grandma who banked numbers and mother who was a doctor. Girlfriend had diverse music taste that ranged from Iggy & the Stooges to Nancy Wilson to Prince, and never tired of calling out her friends, including me, whose musical taste she thought was lacking. 

While a part of me thought her Detroit pride bordered on arrogance, there was another side that believed that she was simply dropping science. Certainly, on both sides of the colorline, Detroit has always been about musical innovation. Although, by the 1980s many declared the city dead, a victim of the 1967 riots and industrial collapse, there were others who believed that the Black metropolis still had some life left.

As we learn from director Kristan R. Hill’s masterful documentary God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines, in the 1980s, that life came out of the imagination of the young sound seekers who created Techno, a music made solely with electronic instruments. As inspired by Kraftwerk and David Bowie as they were by Motown and George Clinton’s funk posses (as well Star Trek episodes and Future Shock by Alvin Toffler), D-boys Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and amongst others, were the roots, the damn foundation, of what would morph into EDM. 

Nevertheless, in a story that’s as old as Little Richard, Ike Turner and Chuck Berry being swiped by white artists appropriating their sound, white-washing it down and making a mint, none of the originators ever became as well-known or rich as their paleface spiritual protégés.  Still, God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines isn’t used as a soapbox to be bitter, but simply as a vehicle to celebrate the futuristic Motor City music, the city and the men behind the machines. 

“We wanted to be part of the next thing,” says Derrick May, whose 1987 track “Strings of Life,” a collaboration with Michael James, was the first Techno record I bought after reading about it in the English music weekly Melody Maker. May went to high school with Atkins and Saunderson, and the trio formed a soul sonic coalition that released music under several names and labels. It’s was the Atkins 1981 track “Alley of Your Mind,” a song he made with mentor Rik Davis under the name Cybotron, getting played by radio DJ Electrifying Mojo, that helped propel Techno productions beyond the underground.

By the time I got turned on to the sound six years later the music was already being played in clubs in the States and abroad. The machines used included the Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer, which we see at the beginning of the film, and a TR-808. Around the same time Techno was beginning to take off so was hip-hop/rap, Brit synthesizer pop and Minneapolis/Prince grooves. 

Noting that no new musical movement is created in a vacuum, production legend Eddie Holland is brought in to discuss the usage of drum & bass in Motown productions and cultural critic Greg Tate to rap about heady stuff including the Great Migration and the various musical genres from the our southern past went into creating the sound of the future. 

Towards the end of the doc the filmmakers bring to light the sexual assault charges leveled at Derrick May in 2020 as reported in Resident Advisor, but note that no criminal charges have been filed. The articles and allegations were disturbing and remain so today. 

God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines is the best documentary I’ve seen on the subject of Detroit Techno. Director Kristian Hill put his foot in it, as my grandma used to say, and his film should appeal to both aural aficionados and Black noise novices unafraid of stepping into the future.    

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Michael A. Gonzales has been writing about music and culture since the 1980s. He has written for Vibe, Essence, The Source and Spin. Currently he writes true-crime features for CrimeReads, a book column (The Blacklist) for Catapult, essays for LongReads and music features for Wax Poetics. Forthcoming essay subjects include Octavia E. Butler, The Wire and Isaac Hayes. Gonzales blogs at Blackadelicpop.blogspot.com. Check out some of his work for soulhead.

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The DOC: A Movie Review

by Michael A. Gonzales

In 1988 The Village Voice featured a long article by Los Angeles Times music critic Robert Hilburn, where the writer basically broke down the verbal and sonic anger that he’d heard on the Niggaz Wit Attitude, better known as N.W.A, debut album Straight Outta Compton. Featuring a cast of hard rock poets, who talked about gang banging, dealing drugs and life in some faraway land called Compton, they would soon become the new voices of young America. The group was led by nasal-voiced Eazy-E, who, along with his manager, Jerry Heller, owned their label Ruthless Records. While Ice-T had opened the door for West Coast gangster rap, N.W.A took the “Gangsta Gangsta” persona to the next level.

Producer Dr. Dre, who was the label’s in-house music man, also provided funky beats to Ruthless’ other artists, which included Michel’le’s self-titled soul album and The D.O.C.’s debut masterwork No One Can Do It Better (1989). However, as we learn from director Dave Caplan’s documentary The D.O.C., the brother, whose government name is Tracy Lynn Curry, was more than a rapper, he was also a guiding light/lyrical mentor for N.W.A rappers Ice Cube, Yella and MC Ren as well as future superstar Snoop Dogg.

Originally from Dallas, Texas, he was a member of three-man rap crew Fila Fresh Crew and was discovered by Dre. The group contributed three tracks to Ruthless’ 1987 compilation album N.W.A and the Posse. The following year he was in Cali with the West Coast bad boys. It was on the West Coast where he changed his name to D.O.C., which stood for Dick On Call. “He came to L.A. with a basketball and a suitcase,” Dre says. Yella remembers that the D.O.C.’s writing style was special. “He was different; he was a spark.” 

The D.O.C. helped N.W.A craft songs for their debut and performed with them in concert while also writing lyrics for his own Dre produced joint. Of course, there were a few contracts signed and those were done without D.O.C. having proper legal representation. When the paperwork for No One Can Do It Better was being done, Jerry Heller instilled a lawyer he chose to come to the meeting and supposedly represent the rapper’s interests.      

Meanwhile, Heller assured then-19-year-old that the contracts were standard, paid him $25,000 at the signing and little else afterwards. It’s a rip-off story we’ve heard many times before when it comes to young, Black artists being exploited by those shady sharks who keep insisting they’re like family. Released on August 1, 1989, No One Can Do It Better was one of best albums of the year as well critically acclaimed with hot singles “It’s Funky Enough” “The D.O.C. & The Doctor” and “The Formula.” 

However, a few months after the album’s release, D.O.C. was in a horrible car accident that sent him flying through the rear window and slammed into a tree; a few of his teeth were left behind in the woods. A few days before he’d been shooting “The Formula” video and having sex with groupies, but after falling asleep while driving, he was fighting for his life. To make matters worse, a tube was inserted in his throat incorrectly that damaged his vocal chords, which turned his energetic flow into a gravelly growl. 

For most people, that would’ve been the end of their journey, but for the D.O.C. it was the beginning of a new chapter that included co-founding Death Row Records with his friends Suge Knight and Dr. Dre, having a child with former childhood friend Erykah Badu and, for the last thirty-three years, trying to regain his voice’s original power. The film opens with him talking to a doctor about an experimental operation that’s never been done before, just hoping for a miracle. 

Though there are a few dramatizations of The D.O.C.’s wild life before and after the accident, director Dave Caplan doesn’t sway from the standard talking head style of documentary making. Still, the story of this man’s life is so strong that I never minded, especially when those heads include Snoop Dogg talking about how much he learned from him, Eminem geeking out over his style and ex-girl Erykah Badu giving him props as a man, a father and a proud Dallas native who was once one of the best rappers in the world.

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Michael A. Gonzales has been writing about music and culture since the 1980s. He has written for Vibe, Essence, The Source and Spin. Currently he writes true-crime features for CrimeReads, a book column (The Blacklist) for Catapult, essays for LongReads and music features for Wax Poetics. Forthcoming essay subjects include Octavia E. Butler, The Wire and Isaac Hayes. Gonzales blogs at Blackadelicpop.blogspot.com. Check out some of his work for soulhead.

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