Ahmir-Khalib Thompson

TV producer Pierre Delacroix becomes frustrated when network brass reject his sitcom idea. Hoping to get fired, Delacroix pitches the worst idea he can think of: a 21st century minstrel show. The network not only airs it, but it becomes a smash hit.  (more)

Friends since childhood, a magazine editor and a hip-hop record executive stumble into romantic territory.  (more)

The American comedian/actor delivers a story about the alternative Hip Hop scene. A small town Ohio man’s moves to Brooklyn, New York, to throw an unprecedented block party.  (more)

Under the direction of founder and world-renowned DJ Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw Records has consistently released critically acclaimed, left-of-center albums since its founding in 1996. Drawing on live concert footage, never-before-seen archival material, ...  (more)

A documentary that reveals how a forgotten record by the Incredible Bongo Band helped cement the foundation of hip hop when DJ Herc extended its percussion by playing them back to back, creating an anthem on the streets of the Bronx.  (more)

Finding the Funk is a road trip in search of the past, present and future of Funk music. Starting with Funk's roots in Jazz and the James Brown bands of the '60s we travel to the Bay Area to celebrate Sly & the Family Stone, then to Dayton the birthplace of so ...  (more)

Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was Death. Formed in the early '70s by three teenage brothers from Detroit, Death is credited as being the first black punk band, and the Hackney brothers, David, Bobby, and Dannis, are now considered ...  (more)

Spike Lee pays tribute to Michael Jackson's Bad on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the epochal album, offering behind-the-scenes footage of Jackson recording the album and interviews with confidants, musicians, choreographers, and such music-world superstars as ...  (more)

Having forged a 20-year run as one of the most innovative and influential hip hop bands of all time, the Queens NY collective known as 'A Tribe Called Quest' have kept a generation hungry for more of their groundbreaking music since their much publicized breakup in ...  (more)

The film documents the development of hip hop culture since its inception in the 1970s. With interviews from various figures in the community such as Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Fab 5 Freddy, KRS-One, MC Hammer and Busy Bee.  (more)

B4MD tells the story of American music at this precarious moment. Filmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen traveled the country, hoping to understand why mainstream music seems so packaged and repetitive, and whether corporations really had the power to silence ...  (more)

James Brown changed the face of American music forever. Abandoned by his parents at an early age, James Brown was a self-made man who became one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, not just through his music, but also as a social activist. ...  (more)

IMAX invites you backstage to the Rock n' Roll event of the year. The acts featured won a combined total of 13 Grammy® Awards in 2000. This exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of putting on a mega-concert combines candid moments backstage with ...  (more)

When his new album fails to sell records, pop/rap superstar Conner4real goes into a major tailspin and watches his celebrity high life begin to collapse. He'll try anything to bounce back, anything except reuniting with his old rap group The Style Boyz.  (more)

Established in 1960, Tower Records was once a retail powerhouse with two hundred stores, in thirty countries, on five continents. From humble beginnings in a small-town drugstore, Tower Records eventually became the heart and soul of the music world, and a powerful ...  (more)

A creative documentary about the song recorded by soul-man Billy Paul in the 70's. But also about the Philly Sound, Philadelphia, racism, cocaine, money and fame in the life and love of a beautiful elderly couple.  (more)

On the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, one fearless black pioneer reconceived a Harlem Renaissance for a new era, ushering giants and rising stars of black American culture onto the national television stage. He was hip. He was smart. He was innovative, ...  (more)

Recorded live, this special honors fivenew performer category inductees: Bon Jovi, The Cars, Nina Simone, The Moody Blues and Dire Straits.  (more)

A cinematic odyssey exploring the connectivity of global basketball, sneaker, and music lifestyle through the firsthand lens of authentic NYC culture orchestrator Bobbito García. The film explores García’s youth dealing with mistreatment, educational quandaries, ...  (more)

An aspiring music journalist lands her dream job and is about to move to San Francisco when her boyfriend of nine years decides to call it quits. To nurse her broken heart, she and her two best friends spend one outrageous last adventure in New York City.  (more)