Production

Kevin Fitzgerald, Director

Kevin was born to a West Indian mother and Irish-American father in New York in the early 1970's, and has been DJ'ing since the age of 14. He is Co-Founder with Carlos Ninos, of the popular radio show, "All @ One Point," on KPFK 90.7 FM, in Los Angels. He is also a founding organizer of The Center for Hip-Hop Education and responsible for creating and promoting (along with MC Hymnal of Dark Leaf) the open-mic The Breaks (the birthplace of the live hip-hop band Breakestra) and the original incarnation of the popular weekly LA club The Root Down.

Shortly after being awarded a scholarship to attend the University of California's film production program, Kevin started seriously studying, researching, and documenting hip-hop. Shooting for Freestyle began with equipment and supplies he gained access to through his classes, and when a DJ friend, Mix Master Wolf (Breakestra) introduced him to L.A.'s original hip-hop open mike at the popular South Central community health food café, The Good Life.

A long time student of natural medicine, Kevin's philosophy is to tell stories that reveal and bravely explore the nature of community: both its lines of fracture and its prospects for healing.

Henry Alex Rubin, Producer

In 1997, Henry and Jeremy Workman (Claire Makes it Big) co-directed the award-winning feature doc WHO IS HENRY JAGLOM? (w/Candice Bergen, Dennis Hopper and Orson Welles). From 1998-2000 Henry was the Second Unit director for films including COP LAND and GIRL INTERRUPTED.

Henry and Dana Shapiro are currently co-directing a feature theatrical doc produced by Jeffrey Mandel for Thinkfilms (Spellbound) about rival quadriplegics who compete at rugby in tricked out Mad-Max wheelchairs. He is also currently directing a short comedy with Winona Ryder.

This is Henry's first film as a producer. He would not have been able to do it without the help of Co-Producer Michel Costes.

Paul Devlin, Producing Editor

As a freelance editor, Paul has won two Emmy Awards for his work with NBC. He produced and directed the award-winning non-fiction narrative feature SLAM NATION (with Saul Williams and Beau Sia) which screened theatrically in over 30 markets and has aired on HBO/Cinemax and Encore/Starz. The film chronicles the life of poets involved in the national poetry slam competition. His new film, POWER TRIP, explores the corruption and electricity crisis in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.

Tiare White, Executive Producer

Tiare is a graduate of the A.F.I. Center for Advanced Film and Television Studies, and co-founder of Industrial Media Arts, a content development company in Santa Monica, California. She is the author, with Camille Landau, of the best selling What They Don't Teach You at Film School, published by Hyperion Books.

Youree Henley, Line Producer

Youree is a music video and commercial producer based in Los Angeles. He began collaborating with Kevin on Freestyle as a result of his brother Raffi's history as a performer at the Good Life open mike. His most recent project was a music video he produced for the Stone Temple Pilots.

Todd Hickey, Cinematographer

Hailing from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Todd Hickey is a graduate of Temple University Film School, and a former DJ. Shortly after moving to L.A. he landed a job as filmmaker Spike Jonze's assistant and began his camera work on a video for The Pharcyde. He was Director of Photography on the NEA funded documentary, CAUGHT NAPPING. His feature film credits include STAR MAPS, THE KINGS and You Ant Gotta Lie Ta Kick It. Past music credits include cinematography on projects for: Jude, Mystic Journeymen, Aceyalone, Abstract Tribe Unique, The Coup, and Marci Hull Trio, as well as 311, live performances. Todd is currently making a documentary film about the ultra-indie hip hop crew The Living Legends.

Daniel Kozman, Cinematographer

Dan Kozman is a dedicated independent filmmaker with an eye for detail. His background includes extensive work in music videos, documentaries such as, "The March" and "The Coachella Music and Arts Festival," and features such as, Atomic Blue Mexican Wrestler and Soul Mates. He has long been active in social and political issues, but his first love still remains shooting in the only universal high-definition medium: film.

Charles Raggio, Producer/Music Supervisor

President and founder of Kick Snare Hat Coordination, Charles has produced, coordinated, and cleared music rights for numerous independent feature film scores and soundtracks. His list of credits includes: Dream With The Fishes (Sony Pictures Classics), Around The Fire (Unapix),Scrapple, and Burning Sensation, A Journey to Burning Man. Charles was the creator/executive producer of "The Funky Precedent," SPIN magazine's #1 pick for the best underground hip-hop album of 1999.

Brooke M.Wentz for The Rights Workshop

Brooke M. Wentz is a seasoned music and intellectual property rights executive who has more than twenty years experience working in the television, cable, film and recording industries. Ms. Wentz represents issues relating to licensing, publishing, performing rights societies and the Internet. She supervises music for film and television, and has produced soundtracks for Warner Bros. and Rounder. Ms. Wentz formerly headed up the music department for the ESPN networks worldwide. She has been Manager A&R Administration for Arista Records where she oversaw recording budgets of over $3M. She ran her own record label, Juna, distributed by Koch International and gives frequent seminars on the entertainment business and copyright issues.

Ms. Wentz is also critically acclaimed for her creative work as a producer of over twenty-five recordings of world music, including the Billboard award-winning "Global Meditation," "Global Celebration," "Voices of Forgotten Worlds," and "Africa: Never Stand Still." The three-CD set "Global Divas? produced for the 1996 Third World Conference on Women in Beijing. She was music producer for "Times Square 2000,? and was an on-air radio host of new music for ten years on NPR and related stations where she interviewed hundreds of artists, composers and musicians, many which have been transcribed for publication.

A native San Franciscan, Ms. Wentz sits on the board of the Stern Grove Festival, Other Minds Inc. and the Governors board of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and received her B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Barnard College.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS IN THE FILM

MC Supernatural

Widely considered to be the grand master of freestyle MC-ing, Supernatural began freestyling in 1981, battling local emcees in the school yards of his hometown Marion, Indiana. In '89 he moved to NYC and, affiliated himself with Brooklyn's Alien Nation and soon became a New York club regular, frequenting spots like the Unspoken Heard, Boom Poetics, and the Lyricist Lounge. Only true heads can still recall how Supernatural crashed NYC's hip-hop scene in the summer of 1993. He first got noticed in the world wide rap community for his freestyles on Stretch and Bobbito's groundbreaking hip-hop radio show in the early 90's on WKCR He then went on to win the New Music Seminar Freestyle Title, co-host a nightly radio show and land a record deal with Elektra Records. "Buddah Blessed It," Supernatural's only release on Elektra, became an instant classic. What Elektra didn't realize back then was that a vibrant underground world was about to open up for real b-boys and Supernatural was in many ways the prototype. Supernatural's uncanny ability to spontaneously combust along with countless radio appearances (Bobbito & Stretch, Sway & Tech) and legendary freestyle battles with Craig G. and Juice have helped him etch out a very special place in hip-hop's history. Supernatural would go on to display his lyrical gift for hip-hoppers worldwide, garnering fans, friends and respect city by city, stage by stage, and mic by mic. He was barred from competing in the '99 Blaze freestyle battle in L.A. because the officials thought it would not be fair to the other contestants. He now he tours worldwide freestyling to sold-out houses proving he is no joke by letting the audience pick topics and then flawlessly flow about whatever they chose sing myriad voices and personalities. Supernatural is widely recognized as the most gifted freestyle MC on the planet. Since hosting the Word of Mouth Tour for Dilated Peoples, The Beat Junkies and Jurassic 5, Supernatural has buried himself in the studio, determined to further chronicle his lyrical gift and prowess with the release of his first full-length album The Lost Freestyle Files Baby Grande/Koch records exc. produced by Chuck Wilson. and the single produced by DJ Rhettmatic of the World Famous Beat Junkies. www.babygrande.com www.supernaturalmc.com

Freestyle Fellowship

The darlings of the West Coast underground and undisputedly acknowledged as the inventors the new wave in "Free Rap"; Freestyle Fellowship formed after meeting at the legendary Good Life open mic near Leimert Park, a cultural arts community in South Central Los Angeles. The poetic rhyme geniuses that make up Freestyle Fellowship, Microphone Mike aka Mikha 9, Aceyalone, P.E.A.C.E., and Self Jupiter are true masters of the art of improvisational rhyme. "They are probably one of the most underrated, underappreciated groups in the history of hip-hop. The only other figure in the culture whose whole style had been bitten as often as successfully is 2Pac. To say that Freestyle Fellowship significantly influenced west coast hip-hop is like saying that Jesus was a pivotal figure in Christianity. Before Freestyle Fellowship, the Old Testament of left coast hip-hop consisted of the soon-to-be-played-out gangster funk. With their seminal debut, To Whom it May Concern, Freestyle Fellowship ushered in a new era of minimalist, bass-heavy tracks and progressive, socially astute lyrics that incorporated both harmonies and spoken word interludes. Not only did they define the genre's musical aesthetic, they also developed the keep-it-underground ethic that has defined the movement. In the decade-plus that the fellowship has been blitzing stages and ciphers worldwide, they've developed a dedicated cult following-as well. Freestyle Fellowship self-produced their first record, "To Whom It May Concern," independently in 1989 (before it became the norm), to much acclaim and as a result the group was subsequently picked up by Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records. Poised to blow up and change the world of hip hop forever, tragedy struck when one member was arrested just before their first European tour causing the group to split in turmoil - but not before making one of the most beautiful albums ever in hip-hop: "Inner City Griots." And as of Agust 2003 had Sound Scanned over 75,000 units. Since then each MC has gone on to produce solo albums, in AC's case with Capitol Records in an album entitled, "All Balls Don't Bounce." One who is able to balance both the artistic and business side of music Acey also co-founded along with A-Team partner Abstract Rude, Project Blowed, an open mike hip-hop workshop at Ben Caldwell's, KAOS Network in Leimert Park.

Craig G

Seminal member of the classic Marly Marl headed Juice Crew all-star posse, hailing from the infamous Queens Bridge Housing development. Honing his mic skills in Queens, Craig was first approach by super producer Marley to do a rendition of "Shout" a hit song for the rock band Tears for Fears when he was only thirteen years of age. " I used to harass Marley every day. He'd come down the stairs and I'd be banging on the pole in the staircase rhyming." Evidently his determination paid off, after the success of "Shout" Craig was quickly granted Juice Crew membership, so by age seventeen, Craig was already holding his own with the likes of Big Daddy Kane, Master Ace, Kool G Rap and the other members of the "Juice Crew". Craig-G has an impressive track record of hits, from "Dropping Science" to his electrifying verse as one fourth of The Symphony on the track of the same name, who could ever forget that one, "Next up, I believe that's me". Since then Craig has divulged most of his time on the underground circuit, confronting rappers at popular battles. Craig shows why he has longevity in this game and why he is one of the undisputed kings of the freestyle. A fierce freestyle competitor, Craig penned most of the battle rhymes for Eminem's semi-biographical movie, 8 Mile, in which he also appears in. With such a list of accomplishments and being a long time friend of D&D Records, it seemed only natural that Craig be signed to the label. The much-anticipated 1993 battle, which pitted him against MC Supernatural at the Lyricist Lounge, is one of the most talked about events in 90's underground hip-hop. With the help of Alchemist, Large Professor, Rocwilder, Dj Premier, and Marley Marl he put out an album entitled This and Now that droped in May of 2003. www.craig-g.com

Mos Def

One of the most well known underground artists to come from the group Black Star along with partner Talib Kweli, Mos Def blew up solo backed by the street savvy label Rawkus Records. Mos Def, signed with the Universal Music, MCA and then Geffen with his black hard rock project BLACK JACK JOHNSON. Mos has constantly proved himself to be one of hip-hops new-school visionaries - those who break the stereotype of the 'Gangsta rapper' and take hip-hop and rap to new and exciting levels. Indeed, Mos is a precious MC, devoted to his music, with a passion for social consciousness and a divine ability to entertain which will surely cement his place in musical history.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Mos grew up at the centre of hip-hops golden era of the 1980's. Inspired by the superhero MC's and New School leaders of the time (Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul), Mos began rhyming at the tender age of nine. In the 80's most people who were fans of hip-hop were also fans of the culture in some way, but Mos wasn't just inspired by hip hop, he absorbed musical knowledge from across the artistic spectrum, as he himself states; "I'm not just inspired by black art, but good art, representations of art that are sincere and genuine"

Encouraged by his younger brother (Medina Greens DCQ), Mos formed his first group with his younger sister - Urban Thermo Dynamics. On their first record - 'My Kung Fu' released in 1994, Mos' talent was clear to see - exhibiting all of his trademark nasal flow and playful scatting. After UTD's brief existence, Mos was invited to join the Native Tounges family, founded by Afrika Bambaataa and including established (and highly rated) artists like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest among its members. This provided the springboard Mos needed to build his reputation on his undeniable talent, he went on to make cameo appearances on De La Soul's 'Big Brother Beat' and Bush Babee's 'Love Song'. Record labels sat up and took notice of Mos' charm and charisma (essential to appeal to a crossover, worldwide audience) and his deft, intelligent rhyme skills coveted by the underground movement.

It was only a matter of time before Mos would find his way to a record label, and he chose Independent newcomers Rawkus to showcase his talents. At Rawkus Mos found a label willing to play by 'his' rules - "I liked being a free agent, I liked negotiating my own terms, working with my own friends" With Mos' new record deal came the instant underground classic 'Universal Magnetic', combining a jazzy beat with Mos' endless stream of pulsating rhymes, and catapulting Mos to an underground favorite. Also in 1996, Mos teamed up for the first time with his soon to be partner-in-rhyme Talib Kweli, producing the legendary 'Fortified Live' collaboration.

In Talib Kweli Mos found a brother with the same beliefs, talent and mindset. Both socially conscious, community activists who saw the larger picture of hip-hop's influence in America and the world. The two then joined to form 'Blackstar', named after the first Negro owned steamship company in Africa, and produced their debut album - 'Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are....Blackstar'. Blackstar was designed to give the two MC's more recognition, the lesser exposed Talib Kweli became an overnight success and Blackstar's first album went on to become one of the most important albums of 1998. Mos tries to explain what Blackstar meant to the duo -

"I know this is going to sound corny but - it's about black love and self esteem. These things that me and Kweli say on certain records coming out are our love for our tradition and indigenous people in this country, and about the resilience of the spirit to move forward."

In 1999, three months before the highly publicized end of the millennium, Mos was ready to unveil his first solo album 'Black On Both Sides'. The RIAA certified Gold album embodies the best of hip-hops past, and peels open the persona of one of its brightest hopes for the future. Bringing to the fore Mos' experiences of life and life as a black person. Mos explains;

"So often, artists like myself or Kweli are referred to as alternative or conscious. To me, that's like another code word to diminish your attachments to the community, to black people. You're like this foreign, distant element that people may admire from a distance but they don't have any real closeness to, it's not intimate to them, it's not of them."

Black On Both Sides officially established Mos amongst the elite of the hip-hop circus - at least in the eyes of the critics and those with an appreciation for REAL rap music. Surely with all the talent he possesses it will only be a matter of time before he (and Kweli) become worldwide rap stars. With a new Blackstar album and a new solo album scheduled for release some time this year, 2001 was also 12 months where the Mighty Mos conquered new shores. But while Mos' music seems to be created to inspire with its vast imagination and ambition, he has a different perspective -

"The revolution is personal, I'm not doing this for public acclaim. I'm doing this because it's sincere to me, it's real to me and whoever has feelings about it."

Nothing but good things are in store for this very talented MC, who is also an excellent actor. He appeared in Spike Lee's BAMBOOZLED, and stole the show in Monsters Ball, starring Bill Bob Thornton and Hailey Berry. His numerous film and television credits include performing in the Lyricist Lounge comedy sketch show on MTV and hosting and co-exc. producing Def Poetry Jam on HBO for Russell Simmons, the Italian Job , Brown Sugar, and the list goes on and on.

Juice

Juice ain't the cat you want to have your first battle with. He's been making a name for himself in Chicago for almost decade now, and he has emerged as an underground legend. He is revered as some sort of latter-day hip hop deity in some Chi-Town circles, and his freestyles sound better than some MCs' best written material. Juice won the '98 Hip-Hop Olympics and beat Eminem in a 12-round knockdown, drag-out lyrical slugfest at Scribble Jam '98. When he's not blazing microphones MC Juice is writing commercial jingles to pay the bills. This one time LA resident would like to let all those know that his freestyles are never written; and that he always comes of the top.

Otherwize

Associated with L.A. underground group Black Forest, Otherwize is known for pulverizing MC's at local open mikes in L.A. like Project Blowed and Elements. He also beat Eminem at the 1997 Rap Olympics sponsored by Sprite, and is definitely considered one of the most potent MC's in any cipher. A Mid-City L.A. resident he works regularly with producer Lodge Infinite from Dark Leaf, and is dropping projects all the time, including "Community Service", and "Disturbing The Peace".

Bobbito Garcia

A.k.a. "The Barber" DJ Cucumber has been holding it down in the studios of NYC's 89.9 WKCR for more than 11 years now, paving the rough terrain of the underground for more than a few superstars. Off the air, he's put in time as an A&R at Def Jam, and as a hip-hop journalist and as head of the revered Fondle'Em imprint. Garcia has since launched a new label called Fruitmeat. He's secured a publishing deal to pen a book tracing basketball shoe culture from 1960 to 1987 called "Where'd You Get Those?" published in 2003 by Testify ", one of his romantic obsessions. And somewhere in it all he manages to keep his regular interview column in Vibe magazine.

Cut Chemist & J-5

Former elementary school classmate of the project director Kevin Fitzgerald, there are few DJ's with hands in as many pots as the ubiquitous Cut Chemist. After coming up with the groundbreaking Unity Crew (in which Kevin was the sax player), Cut earned coast-to-coast accolades as part of the double DJ threat behind the Jurassic 5. Together with partner Nu-Mark, he stitched together the distinctive sounds of J-5's full-length debut Quality Control, and turn heads wherever and whenever they play live. All the while, Cut manned the turntables for Latino supergroup Ozomatili and has teamed with DJ Shadow on the Brainfreeze project…." Voted Best DJ by The New Times 2001!

Jurassic 5 - MCs Chali 2na, Zaakir (Soup), Akil and Marc 7 and DJs Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark - conjure an energy that recalls a throwback era in hip-hop, when the only thing that seemed to matter was the music and having fun. The time of park jams and block parties, of willful braggadocio and stylish wordplay, of crafty disc jockeys and handclap beats. J5 have always displayed characteristics of those back-in-the-day jams, like their powerful vocal harmonizing and amplified funk beats, but what the group embody more than stylistic flourishes is that era's spirit: making good music that connects with the people.

That sentiment is especially true on Power In Numbers, which the group describes as an all-together different sounding album but one still is very much a part of the Jurassic 5 tradition. "We all knew we wanted to do something different than what we had done before, with a whole new sound and a whole new texture to the music," explains Cut Chemist. "We were kind of starting from scratch with no regard to what we had done before, experimenting with technique and sound."

Jurassic 5's roots lie in the L.A. Underground, a hip-hop movement centered around The Good Life Café open-mic space in the heart of South Central Los Angeles' old jazz district, where dozens of MCs and DJs would congregate regularly to perform. During its most prolific period (1991-1994), the L.A. Underground was a Mecca of musical innovation, spawning groups like The Pharcyde and Freestyle Fellowship; more importantly, the movement encouraged its artists to constantly balance progressive styles and good music - an idea that still resonates with J5, the most successful group to emerge from that scene.

Jurassic 5 formed in 1993 as the union between two separate hip-hop groups, Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee, both frequent participants at The Good Life. The two groups came together to release a spontaneous, one-off single, "Unified Rebelution," which made a deep impression with true hip-hop heads everywhere. Its success emphasized the chemistry each of the artists had with one another and they decided to form Jurassic 5 as a singular musical unit. www.jurassic5.com

Black Thought & Questlove of The Roots

Black Thought is the front man and lead MC for the rawest live band in hip hop, MCA recording artists: The Roots. He is also an actor, appearing in the feature narrative BROOKLYN BABYLON directed by the award-winning director of SLAM, Marc Levin. Health conscious and spiritual, his words usually follow his actions. He started off playing with the band then called the Square Roots for pocket change on South Street in Philadelphia in the early 90's. Black Thought and the Roots are seminal artists in the world conscious hip-hop. Their albums often go Platinum, and always Gold. www.okayplayer.com

Wordsworth

Star of MTV's highest-rated comedy sketch show, The Lyricist Lounge, Wordsworth is the other half of the duo Punch and Words. An underground video of him freestyling at a recording session for the first Lyricist Lounge compilation on Rawkus Records landed and sealed the networks offer to create a TV show by the same name. A gifted storyteller and improviser par excellence, Wordsworth is one of the most versatile freestylers in underground hip-hop.

Sway

MTV hip-hop host, DJ, and MC, Sway is co-host with King Tech of the world's #1 rated hip-hop radio program of all time, The Wake Up Show. It was the first internationally syndicated radio show to regularly feature a dedicated freestyle segment. Sway is a positive source of information and righteousness in hip-hop. He was instrumental in healing the East/West feud in the mid 90's, and in establishing a platform from which true hip-hop flourishes. Through Sway, many underground artists have gained worldwide exposure and fame.

Toni Blackman

Poet, hip-hop artist, and innovative educator, TONI BLACKMAN is the founder of Free Style Union, a Washington, D.C.-based organization of hip-hop artists formed to create music that respects individual dignity and difference. It also elevates the level of hip-hop by promoting "freestyling," the free improvisation of lyrics, which requires tremendous verbal and intellectual agility. She is herself an accomplished freestyler, and has been featured at 360 Degrees: The National Black Poetry Festival and in the 1999 Lilith Fair Tour. She has also appeared widely with her band, Daughters of the cipher, including an invitational performance at the White House. She holds a B.A. and M.A. from Howard University and is currently working both as an artist-in-residence at colleges and universities and as an educator using hip-hop as a tool to teach critical thinking skills, increase self-esteem, and as a means to communicate with children about violence. Toni Blackman lives in Brooklyn New York City.

Medusa

Widely heralded as the Queen of Underground Hip-Hop, with her background vocalists and 12-piece band FELINE SCIENCE, is taking the Hip-Hop community by storm! Dubbed the "Angela Davis of Hip Hop" because of her profound lyrics, trademark 'fro, and Afro-centric essence, she continues to cultivate Hip-Hop seeds across the country, in unprecedented numbers. Her innovative style of blending old school funk with lyrical science, has given rise to comparisons of nothing less than the "High Priestess" of Hip-Hop, having won the Rap Sheet Emcee World Championship hands down. Following the release of her EP, "Do It The Way You Feel It," MEDUSA gained a strong fan base overseas and on college campuses across the nation, and has virtually become a Guru to the children of the underground Hip-Hop scene. This lyrical Goddess has Hip Hop Heads, young and old, bobbin to the beat and recitin the chorus to her anthem, "One Bad Sista" as though it was the "Pledge of Allegiance." MEDUSA's talents know no boundaries. In addition to writing, performing, and producing the track, "My Momma Raised a G" for HBO Films' Stranger Inside, she received wide praise for her memorable portrayal of "Leisha" in the film. MEDUSA has also lent her producing talents to the film score and soundtrack for Vondie Curtis-Hall's Gridlock'd, starring Tupac Shakur. Having emanated from Leimert Park's Project Blowed workshop, MEDUSA stays lyrically fit by co-operating a Hip Hop, Jazz, Rare Grooves & Raggae club called NAPPY @ DA ROOTS, where she performs once a month, and opens the mic to free-style battles and other performers, musicians and poets. www.onebadsista.com