Adrian Younge
Sound
Biography
Adrian Younge was known foremost as an entertainment law professor when he provided the score for the blaxploitation homage Black Dynamite (2009). As noted on the front sleeve of the release, Younge was the composer and producer, yet he also performed most of the music -- an acid-tinged hybrid of soul and funk -- on well over a dozen instruments, assisted by only a handful of vocalists and ancillary musicians, and also edited the film itself. Younge reached that point after a 13-year process that entailed immersing himself in hip-hop production, deepening a scholarly appreciation for a broad spectrum of late-'60s and early-'70s sounds, teaching himself to play a multitude of instruments, and learning the ins and outs of recording in the analog domain. Once the effect of Black Dynamite took hold, Younge's grip tightened with conceptual solo projects ranging from the dark psychedelic soul of Something About April (2011) to the synthesizer experimentation of The Electronique Void (2016). Concurrent sessions yielded full-lengths headlined by major influences such as the Delfonics, Ghostface Killah, Souls of Mischief, and Bilal. Younge's synthesis of vintage styles from a crate-digger's perspective appealed to hip-hop producers such as No I.D., the RZA, and DJ Premier, major inspirations who sampled his work. Younge also got to work directly with another influence, A Tribe Called Quest's Ali Shaheed Muhammad, for the score of Marvel's Luke Cage, as well as The Midnight Hour (2018) and the Jazz Is Dead sessions (2020). His vision has expanded again with an album, short film, and podcast entitled The American Negro (2021).
Known For
Alex Cross is a brilliant but flawed homicide detective and full of contradictions. A doting father and family man, Cross is single-minded to the point of obsession when he hunts killers. He is desperate for love, but his wife’s murder has left him too damaged to receive it.
Cross
Given superstrength and durability by a sabotaged experiment, a wrongly accused man escapes prison to become a superhero for hire.
Marvel's Luke Cage
An enigmatic private detective struggles with personal demons as he investigates the disappearance of a Hollywood producer's beloved granddaughter.
Sugar
From Peruvian salt flats to Rwandan coffee forests, explore and celebrate the ingredients that built societies, shaped beliefs, and forever altered the tapestry of humanity.
Omnivore
Michael Che shares his unique perspective on controversial topics with the help of fellow Saturday Night Live stars, sketches, and vignettes to illustrate what it feels like to experience various every-day situations including racial profiling, unemployment, falling in love and more.
That Damn Michael Che
This is the story of 1970s African-American action legend Black Dynamite. The Man killed his brother, pumped heroin into local orphanages, and flooded the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor. Black Dynamite was the one hero willing to fight The Man all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House.
Black Dynamite
After graduation, Bram gets his dream job at a local newspaper. In his mind he’s the next Woodward (but he’s probably more of a Bernstein). A year in, he realizes that maybe the paper business is no longer what he’d seen in the movies. Instead of investigative journalism, he is writing easily consumable Top 10 Lists - Best Hot Dogs in the City! Ten Ways to Tell You Grew Up in the 90s! After the paper is hit with another round of layoffs, Bram stumbles upon a potentially explosive story involving the city’s controversial mayor. But he needs to beat the mayor’s smooth talking aide, Kamal, to the punch. This could be Bram’s big break — if he had any idea how to be a real journalist.
Run This Town
Ed Sullivan broke barriers by booking Black artists on his Sunday night variety show. This documentary spotlights the TV pioneer's legacy of equality.
Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan
This profile of legendary funk/R&B icon Rick James captures the peaks and valleys of his storied career to reveal a complicated and rebellious soul, driven to share his talent with the world.
Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James
Confused, in a haze of consciousness and intolerance, five fragile souls enter an eerie dimension. This journey forces an artist, junkie, an unapologetic queer, a racist cop and a forged reverend to confront their own demons. In the waiting room, a trickster deity illuminates the shadows hiding within each subject. Piece by piece, each person realizes the darkness they've left behind.
T.A.N.
Funded by a tax on cannabis, Evanston, IL, earmarked $10 million to compensate descendants of enslaved Africans for 400 years of unpaid labor. Alderwoman Simmons leads her constituents through this historic campaign for reparations for the Black c...
The Big Payback
Funk star Shawn Lee arrives in Moscow. He has only one night to realize a crazy project: he must, with the help of a local group of funk The Soul Surfers, design ex-nihilo and record a piece of music thanks to an old recording device sound dating from the Soviet era, which miraculously survived in a local of a car factory in ruins.