Here’s a nice little documentary on MPC wizard araabMuzik. Features some day in the life footage with the producer and a very ill light installation performance at the end.

Synopsis:

In December of 2010 Burn Energy Drink (A Coca-Cola Brand) put out a call for treatment submissions for a series of web films they were commissioning. Having recently worked with the young producer/MPC (Music Production Center) savant Araabmuzik, Director Alec Sutherland was inspired to create an installation that could be a real time, visual articulation of Araab’s actions on the MPC. The treatment for this idea was submitted and selected by Burn.

With a modest amount of money, Alec and his crew set forth to build a light setup that would converse instantly with Araab’s MPC. After a week of troubleshooting an array of computer software, DMX controllers, Midi converters, dimmer pads, electrical latency, power conversions, finally a pad on the MPC was pushed simultaneously lighting a single LED strip. 16 LED lights were custom wired and fabricated.

The shoot lasted two-days: the first spent documenting Araab in everyday situations accompanied by audio excerpts from a candid interview. The second was spent at Broadway Stages in Greenpoint Brooklyn, building the light setup and finally, recording Araab’s performance.

What you see of the performance is about three and half minutes of excerpts, taken from a nine minute set. Each set was shot on 4 cameras to enable a live, real time edit of Araab’s performance. The 16 lights are triggered exclusively by Araab’s actions on the MPC, the result being a precise visual translation of the music he’s creating.

This film has been completed for months but we were unable to release it do to Burn’s brand repositioning. Recently, they gave us a choice: release the film now on your own, or wait until August when Burn/Coca-Cola will put their corporate weight behind it. We have decided to release it now because we would like people to see it as something other than an advertisement. Thank you and we hope you enjoy.

Previoulsy: araabMUZIK Re-Does “H.A.M.”

ABSOLUT’s full documentary on Cee Lo Green is available on Facebook.

Previously: Cee-Lo Distilled (Trailer)

Man, I’ve been meaning to buy Jamel Shabazz’s book Back In The Days for years now but it always slips my mind. I’m about to go to Amazon right now as a matter of fact…

Above you will find the trailer for Jamel Shabazz: Street Photographer, a new documentary on the famed photographer and his priceless documentation of New York City during the 1980′s, by Wild Style directory Charlie Ahearn. There will be a special screening of the film this Saturday in NYC if you’re in the aread. Info below.

Jamel Shabazz- Street Photographer 74 min 2011 by Charlie Ahearn
This is the story of Jamel Shabazz, whose twenty five year mission to create a portrait of the Hip Hop generation became a world wide phenomenon with his book “Back In The Days”. Charlie Ahearn, director of the classic movie Wild Style, follows Jamel’s journey from his Brooklyn youth, through army service and work as a corrections officer, to his decisive photographic interactions on the streets and subways of New York. Interviews with Hip Hop legends such as Fab 5 Freddy, DJ Bobbito Love and KRS One, as well as with Jamel’s numerous portrait subjects, reveal the stories behind the photographs. Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer celebrates a unique artist who reflects the African American community and modern life.

World premiere of feature documentary
followed by panel including Jamel Shabazz, Charlie Ahearn, Fab 5 Freddy
Exhibition of photographs by Jamel Shabazz and reception
Sun June 26 at 3:30

http://bam.org/view.aspx?pid=3283

BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

Dallas and Rafi do the Chinese New Year parade for episode 2 of their I.C. NYC series.

Previously: Internets Celebrities – I.C. NYC Episode 1 (I.C. Waters)

Similar to Pill, FADER has a camera follow CyHi before their Vitamin Water: Uncapped Live concert.

Previously: CyHi Da Prynce’s Royal Flush 2 Cover Shoot (Video)

A camera team follows Pill around before his FADER Presents: vitaminwater uncapped performance in Atlanta.

In the lead-up to the inaugural uncapped LIVE show in Atlanta, Pill took us back to the notorious Pink City, the condemned trap house immortalized in his gritty videos for “Trap Goin’ Ham” and “Glass,” but down sunnier streets too, hugging fans along the way and sharing an uplifting smile.

Previously: Pill – I’m On One Freestyle

DJ Quick covers this week’s issue of LA Weekly and the paper spent a day with the legend in the neighborhood he helped make infamous.

Sitting in his studio in a Papa Smurf t-shirt, or sliding through Compton in his gleaming black Mercedes, DJ Quik talks about driving through Crip territory as a Blood, Eazy-E’s offer of a million dollars to sign, and his disbelief that he’s still alive. It’s a trip through his hood, but also his life.

Dallas and Rafi join the Coney Island Polar Bear club in their annual New Years’s Day dip for Episode 1 of their 6-part I.C. NYC documentary series.

The Polar Bear Swim is a Coney Island tradition. On New Year’s Day, the Polar Bear Club who swim off this beach all winter long invite the world to join them for a plunge in the near freezing Atlantic Ocean. What better way to start I.C. NYC than by participating in this New Year’s tradition? Are these people just crazy or are the health benefits of cold water for real? And more pressingly, is this just some white people shit? The IC’s aim to find out!

Ha ha, I don’t care who does it, that is definitely some white people shit.

Previously: Internets Celebrities – No Pity In The Naked City (I.C. NYC Trailer)

Here’s the trailer for Naledge and Double-O’s new documentary style webseries Here Now, which debuts on June 5th and is sponsored by adidas and Red Bull.

Previously: Kidz In The Hall – Break It Down

Part 2 of Fred’s mini-doc, featuring Talib Kewli.

Previously: Fred The Godson – Novakane (Video)