documentary
Page: 7
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Kevin C. Cox / Getty
Ice Cube and his BIG3 basketball league will be the subject of a newly announced documentary series produced by him and a veteran awards producer.
According to reports, the veteran rapper will be producing the not-yet-named documentary series through his Cube Vision production company along with Jesse Collins Entertainment. Described as “Welcome to Wrexham and Cheer meets basketball”, the series will follow one of the teams from the three-on-three basketball league in addition to giving viewers a look at Cube’s path in creating and running a sports league from the ground up.
Related Stories
Dionne Harmon and Madison Merritt also will serve as executive producers on the project with Cube, Kwatinetz, and Collins. Collins is best known for his company’s work in producing awards shows and television specials which include the BET Awards and Black Girls Rock! Jesse Collins Entertainment has a multi-year agreement with ViacomCBS Cable Networks and a first-look film agreement with Paramount Players and Viacom’s other film entities.
The BIG3 first launched in the summer of 2017 after it was first announced by Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz in January of that year. The league would captivate audiences with innovations like the 4-point shot and the inclusion of former NBA stars and legends such as Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Julius “Dr. J” Erving, George “The Iceman” Gervin, Gary Payton, Stephen Jackson, Allen Iverson, and Clyde Drexler as players and coaches. The league also featured women greats such as Lisa Leslie and Nancy Lieberman as coaches. Drexler now serves as the league’s commissioner.
The series also promises to take a look at the league’s $1.2 billion lawsuit against Qatari investors that was filed in 2018. The suit turned into a rollercoaster situation that would see then-CEO Roger Mason Jr. fired and accused of bringing the aforementioned investors in to pay him and other executives while shortchanging the league. Mason would allege he was fired in retaliation for his own lawsuit against BIG3 claiming that Kwatinetz made racial remarks. Another wrinkle occurred when Ice Cube and the BIG3 took out a full-page ad in the New York Times asking then-President Donald Trump and his administration to side with them in their lawsuit. One investor, Ahmed al-Rumaihi, would eventually be given full diplomatic immunity that December.
Wynonna Judd is headed to Paramount+. On Tuesday (April 18), the streamer announced the country legend’s upcoming documentary Wynonna Judd: Between Hell and Hallelujah.
The feature, which premieres April 26, promises to give fans a vulnerable behind-the-scenes look at Judd’s life as she picks up the pieces, rebuilds her life’s work and embarks on cross-country tour to continue the legacy of The Judds after the tragic passing of her mother Naomi Judd last year. Along the way, country royalty and rising stars alike will make appearances, including Ashley McBryde, Brandi Carlile, Faith Hill, Little Big Town, Kelsea Ballerini, Martina McBride and Trisha Yearwood.
“It’s real and it’s raw. It’s celebration and sadness,” Judd said in a statement. “It’s all of the people who I leaned on during one of the toughest seasons of my life. I wanted the opportunity to tell my story in my voice. If doing so helps one person out there choose life, then I am grateful.”
Just days after its premiere on Paramount+, the documentary will be followed by CMT Presents The Judds: Love Is Alive – The Final Concert, which is set to air April 29 on CMT in the tradition of the mother-daughter duo’s classic farewell tour from the early ’90s.
Jason Owen, the CEO of Sandbox Productions who produced both Judd-centric specials, added, “The Judds will forever be one of country music’s most iconic and storied duos. Their original 1991 farewell concert was entertainment at its finest and being able to recreate that concert with Wynonna and so many talented artists is something I will cherish forever. Watching Wynonna fully embrace this tour to honor The Judds’ legacy was beyond inspiring, and I can’t wait for others to witness her strength in Between Hell and Hallelujah.”
Get a first look at the artwork for Wynonna Judd: Between Hell and Hallelujah below.
Wynonna Judd: Between Hell and Hallelujah
Paramount +
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Freaknik, one of the premier gathering events of the 1990s, will be examined in grand detail via an upcoming documentary on Hulu. Since the announcement of the Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told doc, folks from Generation X realize that there may be some explaining to do after this never-before-seen footage arrives on the airways.
Freaknik began in 1983 as an annual spring break party primarily for HBCU students in the Atlanta area. It occurred every third week of April each year after, growing in size and infamy after each gathering. In the mid-1990s, the event became less about celebrating Black college life and was a reported scene of sex, booze, drugs, and even assaults.
The actions that occurred at Freaknik were so out of control that elected officials, law enforcement, and business owners who frowned upon what the event morphed into collaborated on getting heavy police presence at the gathering. By 1999, the annual event was no more although attempts in recent times to revive Freaknik have occurred.
Past Freaknik participant and special guest Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell of 2 Live Crew fame serves as an executive producer for the documentary along with Jermaine Dupri.
A date for the airing of the documentary has not yet been revealed by Hulu.
Check out the reactions below.
—
Photo: Prince Williams / Getty
Netflix unveiled the trailer for its new Lewis Capaldi documentary, Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now, on Thursday (March 16).
The film promises a behind-the-scenes look at the Divinely Inspired to a Hellish Extent singer’s meteoric rise to fame with his No. 1 hit “Someone You Loved,” as well as the impact the success as taken on his mental health.
“I think I’ve never been more insecure in my life than I am now,” he admits in the supercut. “And I think that’s got worse the more successful I’ve got.”
Later, the singer confesses he felt a remarkable amount of “tension all the time” to deliver a worthy follow-up to his 2019 breakout album. (“You get your whole life to write your first album, and a year or six months to write your second … The clock’s ticking,” he points out.)
The rest of the trailer follows Capaldi on the journey to improve his mental health, all as he feels the weight of everyone depending on him to continue his career. “You can only be the next best thing for, like, a year,” he says. “Of course there’s pressure … I’ll probably f–k up, but we’ll have a good time while we do it.”
Earlier this month, the Scottish crooner was forced to postpone a pair of shows in Zurich and Milan due to a doctor’s orders that he take at least three days rest to recover from a case of bronchitis.
Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now is slated to premiere on Netflix on April 5. Watch the full trailer below.
Louis Tomlinson is opening up more than ever on his upcoming documentary, All of Those Voices, and in a first look released on Tuesday (March 14), the “Two of Us” singer discussed how he insisted on writing songs as a member of One Direction.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“It had always been in my mind that it’d be cool if we weren’t just the standard boy band who just got given songs and sang them. Like, maybe we should be writing our own songs,” he shared in the one-minute clip. “Once I got to feel stuff bubbling for us and I could see that we got people’s attention, I realized that we might be able to make a few of our own decisions.”
Tomlinson added that being a songwriter in the group was the first time he “felt ownership” in his career. “All of a sudden, I felt in control again. The first two and a half years, I just felt like I wasn’t in control of myself or certainly had an influence on the band,” he continued. “When I think about how proud I am of One Direction, I think of us as a collective. When I think about what makes me most proud as me as an individual in that band, is definitely having the most writing credits. That makes me feel important to the band, and that’s all I ever wanted when I was a lad.”
The now-31-year-old has writing credits on a number of One Direction hits, including “No Control,” “Night Changes,” “Perfect,” “Last First Kiss” and “History.”
The Charlie Lightening-directed All of Those Voices, out in theaters on March 22, will delve into Tomlinson’s life and musical journey, complete with never-before-seen home video footage and behind-the-scenes access to the star’s 2022 world tour.
Watch the first look below.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Run-D.M.C. earned their place as one of Hip-Hop’s greatest groups but it appears that the surviving pair is calling it quits this year. D.M.C. shared in an interview that he and Run are in the midst of recording a documentary capturing their final moments as a group, which will conclude with a concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Run-D.M.C. began as a trio with Joseph “Run” Simmons, Daryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell. After the tragic shooting death of Jam Master Jay in 2002, the group disbanded with several reunion moments dispersed throughout.
In an interview with Rock The Bells, D.M.C. explains that while he maintains a friendship with Run, it’s time to move on beyond the Run-D.M.C. moniker and perhaps move into other arenas as separate entities.
From Rock The Bells:
In a recent interview with ROCK THE BELLS, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels emphatically stated: “Run-D.M.C. is over. The only way Run-D.M.C. gets back together is if The Beatles get back together. Can that happen?”
…
“The final show that we are ever going to do is going to be at Madison Square Garden in April,” McDaniels reveals. “It’s going to be the last episode of the documentary we’re doing. Run-D.M.C.’s last show ever. ‘Cause it’s time for Run to go be Paul McCartney and me to be John Lennon. We done did what we could do.”
Later in the chat, D.M.C. emphatically states that the group can’t continue on as a group without Jam Master Jay. Run didn’t offer any additional commentary in the interview.
Details regarding the last show for Run-D.M.C. are certainly forthcoming.
—
Photo: Bob Berg / Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
French Montana is currently promoting the latest release of his Coke Boys 6 mixtape series and making the interview rounds in the process. In a recent appearance, the Moroccan-American rapper shared that an autobiographical documentary produced by Drake is currently in the works.
French Montana was a recent guest on Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson and spoke with the former boxing champion and his co-host Angie Martinez about a number of topics, most especially his early upbringing in Morrocco and his rise in Hip-Hop.
Related Stories
Early in the interview, Montana shared that he returned to New York to complete his documentary, and dedicated the project to this mother.
“It’s called For Khadija, that’s for my mother,” Montana shared. “You know she came out here and sacrificed for us. My father had left and she stayed, and she helped me become who I became, so I dedicated it to her. Drake is executive producing it. It’s a real immigrant story.”
Montana shared with Tyson and Martinez that he experienced culture shock after arriving in the United States at 13. At the time, Montana didn’t speak English but he soon acclimated to life in New York and the rest is history. During the chat, Montana celebrates his track “Unforgettable” going diamond, his charity work in Uganda and across Africa, representing Morrocco and much more.
Check out the full French Montana video by clicking here.
—
Photo: Craig Barritt / Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Dionne Warwick is currently best known as a hilarious public figure on Twitter but before that, she dominated the charts dating back to the 1950s and just before the turn of the century. In a new documentary, fans learn that the “Walk On By” star checked Snoop Dogg and his Death Row crew for their language back in the 1990s.
As reported by CNN, a new documentary, Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, features clips from some of the many stars and celebrities who’ve encountered the legendary Ms. Warwick along her musical journey, her influential vocal style, and other tidbits. Snoop Dogg appears in the documentary and shared a tale of how Warwick gathered him, Death Row Records president Suge Knight, and others at her home for an early morning discussion.
“We were kind of like scared and shook up,” Snoop Dogg said. “We’re powerful right now, but she’s been powerful forever. Thirty-some years in the game, in the big home with a lot of money and success.”
Snoop says Warwick wasn’t trying to get them to change their creative energy but did warn against the use of derogatory language against women and decrying violence. It was, as expected, a superstar trying to impart wisdom to rising stars in their own right.
“She was checking me at a time when I thought we couldn’t be checked,” Snoop shared. “We were the most gangsta as you could be but that day at Dionne Warwick’s house, I believe we got out-gangstered that day.”
Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over was developed by CNN and premiered on Jan. 1 via the network.
[embedded content]
—
Photo: Getty
MTV Entertainment Studios is teaming up with Glass Entertainment Group for the brand-new docuseries MTV’s Family Legacy, which will dive into MTV’s most celebrated events and iconic artists through the eyes of their children.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The intimate docuseries will capture musicians through the lens of their kids, with exclusive footage and brand-new interviews with the children of beloved music stars, including Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar, Backstreet Boys’ Brian Littrell, *NSYNC’s Joey Fatone, Boyz II Men’s Nathan Morris, TLC’s Chili, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Brandy and Melissa Etheridge. The kids of late legends The Notorious B.I.G. and Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington are also featured in the series, which will be narrated by actor and musician Quincy Brown, the son of Al B. Sure and Diddy’s late ex Kim Porter.
While the MTV’s Family Legacy docuseries doesn’t arrive until 2023, a special around the series is set to premiere as part of the monthlong “We Speak Music” programming on MTV starting Dec. 19.
In other big news for MTV, RuPaul’s Drag Race announced a “global expansion” of its brand, which includes a new deal that will see the flagship show move over from VH1 (its home for the last six years) to MTV for its long-awaited 15th season.
In alphabetical order, season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race will see Amethyst, Anetra, Aura Mayari, Irene Dubois, Jax, Loosey LaDuca, Luxx Noir London, Malaysia Babydoll Foxx, Marcia Marcia Marcia, Mistress Isabelle Brooks, Princess Poppy, Robin Fierce, Salina EsTitties, Sugar and Spice all compete for the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar — as well as a newly increased cash prize of $200,000.
The new year will bring a bounty of BTS material for ARMY. In the midst of the group’s ongoing hiatus and flurry of solo activity, Disney+ has announced that it will air a documentary series about the K-pop icons in 2023 that promises to feature plenty of unseen footage from throughout their rise to global stardom.
BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star is described as a “music docu-series” focusing on the seven-member group that will stream exclusively on Disney+ that will “chart the incredible journey of 21st century pop icons BTS,” according to NME. Promising “unprecedented access,” the series will feature music and video footage shot over the band’s nine-year career, as well as a look at their daily lives and thoughts as they plan for their “second chapter.”
In a preview video unveiled on Wednesday (Nov. 30) on the Disney+ Singapore Twitter feed, the band promise that the series will feature the timeline of their growth and music from the beginning through today via “candid stories that have never been told.” Spokespeople for BTS and Disney+ could not be reached for comment at press time about the air date of the show in the United States.
Disney+ hasn’t yet announced when the shows will air in the U.S. “I hope you find new sides of us that are previously unseen,” Jungkook says at the end of the clip. BTS announced in July that they were going on hiatus, later promising to reunite at some point. In the meantime, they are all working on solo projects and the members are expected to begin signing up for their mandatory military service.
In the meantime, Jungkook recently performed at the opening ceremony for the World Cup in Qatar and RM is preparing the release of his debut solo album, Indigo, due out on Friday (Dec. 2).
Check out a preview of Beyond the Star below.