Before the billboard hits, Nicki Minaj was on her grind like many up and coming artists. Hood Affairs was there to get these exclusive moments of the behind the scenes grind to what would become the biggest female artist in hip-hop history.
George Michael: Singer, songwriter, record producer. From the international popularity of duo international sensation Wham. to solo artist megastar. George Michael's solo career got off to the strongest start imaginable with the release of a duet with Aretha Franklin in 1987. Known for his personal affairs, his private life became a target for the media. These personal troubles making headlines throughout the '90s and the 'Noughties' became a struggle to fight his own reputation.
In 2014 & 2015, filmmaker Robert Mugge assisted Philadelphia public radio station WXPN in it's exploration of the Creole culture of Southwest Louisiana via it's yearlong Zydeco Crossroads project. The resulting film features performances by C.J. Chenier, Rosie Ledet, Buckwheat Zydeco, Nathan Williams, Chubby Carrier, Rockin' Dopsie, Jr., Major Handy, Vasti Jackson, Creole United, and Soul Creole.
After overcoming traumatic events, Gloria Gaynor rebuilt her life by earning a degree in psychology and investing her own resources to produce the gospel record Testimony, which earned her second Grammy 40 years later.
Denver’s iconic and Grammy Award-winning musicians reveal the secrets of their success and longevity in the music business while warning the young lions to whom they pass the torch to stay relevant in a marketplace both treacherous and brutal. The majestic Rocky Mountains tower over a bustling metropolis filled with steamy and romantic nightclubs where jazz flourishes on stage. JazzTown features never seen before live concert footage on historic stages that have now crumbled due to economic stresses of the Covid Pandemic. ~ Dianne Reeves, 5-time Grammy Award winner for Best Jazz Vocalist ~ US Senator John Hickenlooper (former jazz club owner) ~ Ron Miles (Colorado Music Hall of Fame, Joshua Redman, Bill Frisell, Ginger Baker) ~ Charlie Hunter (Snarky Puppy, Christian McBride, Stanton Moore) ~ Art Lande (Mark Isham, Gary Peacock) ~ Ayo Awosika (Session Singer on Soundtracks to: Wakanda Forever, Nope, Dune, The Lion King ... tours with Miley Cyrus,) and many more.
A tragic story of a musician taking a bold voyage in the pursuit of creation, ambition, and need. Letting life choose for him, as part of the art itself and coming to terms with his decisions.
Hemisphere is a site-specific video installation designed for The Townsend Austin. The installation was conceived after a number of preliminary visits to gauge the room atmosphere and décor. Images were chosen and adjusted to reflect various viewing positions within the space as well as the lighting environment in the room. The pictures consist of altered views offering a slightly skewed reflection of the common place. It is hoped that the effect will be one of 'moving paintings'.
The Songbirds guitar museum hosted the world's largest collection of vintage guitars. Covid-19's devastating blow to the music industry forced the museum to permanently close. This documentary film explores the final hours and cultural impact of this special collection.
Ghouls and goblins abound! After an ominous warning from a fortune teller, Tammie Brown and Kelly Mantle fight to keep their Halloween Spooktacular afloat. Kylie Sonique, April Carrión, Fena Barbitall, Todd Glass, and the Sugarbaker Twins guest star in this hilariously spooky Halloween special.
After a tragic event, a sheltered young woman seeks the comfort of some long-forgotten scary story records from her youth. The specter of losing her family home and a string of crimes in her neighborhood propel her toward a dark obsession with the frightening tales. Eerily, they begin to reveal occult truths and hint at a violent, inescapable fate. Like a disease, the stories begin to infect others who enter her world, creating disturbing encounters that bring her to the threshold of terror.
Shostakovich may have secreted a subversive cipher beneath the surface of his life-saving Symphony No. 5. This is all the more shocking since another bad review from Stalin’s totalitarian forces could have meant a sentence to the Gulag or worse.... When he penned this fifth symphony, the composer was literally writing for his life. The risk was so high that Shostakovich slept on the stairs outside his apartment so the secret police would not wake his family when they came from him, as he was sure they would. This Keeping Score episode, investigates the arresting symphony that would either redeem Shostakovich or doom him. Did he dare hide a kernel of musical criticism in what appears to be a paean to the Motherland? Join Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony as they explore the hidden language of this masterwork. Episode includes full-length concert performance of Dimitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D minor by the San Francisco Symphony.
One part animal adventure, one part human musical, and all parts fun, Toby Goes to Camp is the heartwarming follow up to Toby's Big Adventure. In this latest adventure, Toby, and begrudgingly Lana, are off to have fun at summer camp.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced musical activities to shut down in March 2020, singers searched for ways to stay connected and sing live music together. Online solutions such as Zoom helped groups socially, but did not allow a choir to rehearse and perform together. Several tech-savvy musicians turned to old-school audio technology to organize parking lot choirs, with each singer safely isolated in their own car. The idea spread through social media across the US and Canada, and reached the attention of the New York Times, the Today Show, and NPR. "The Drive to Sing" tells the story of the parking lot choir, the cast of characters who worked together to develop and refine it, and the singers who kept their musical communities going during this time of fear and isolation.
Revealing indie rock’s best-kept secret of the 90s, Traces of Glory is a feature length documentary that tells the story of L.A. band, IDAHO and its obscure frontman Jeff Martin, as he contemplates his past, self-doubt and the fame he was never really after.
Past Future is an intimate musical, a slice of life of an American family in the summer of 2020. It's a moving meditation on where we’ve been, where we are and where we might go as we share this world and pass through time together.
Ten years after Razorlight’s fast rise and infamous implosion, for the first time since he quit and the celebrated line-up split, drummer Andy Burrows has a major heart-to-heart with the band’s frontman and former best friend Johnny Borrell. What happened next, captured authentically as the contemporary narrative unfolds, surprises everyone…