Brandon, Brian and Matt recently returned from the first leg of the Beats, Rhymes & Borders tour, which wrapped up in Capetown after three months of filming around the world. In the coming year, we plan to edit footage, put together a trailer, and get back on the road, where Brazil, Jamaica, Japan, and Senegal still await. We’d like to thank everyone who has helped us so far, and drop a few names that haven’t been mentioned in this blog yet. Since our last post in Amsterdam, we spent some quality time on film with Escalatie Team, Shockwave, and Henk Bakboord, and made an appearance on Def-P’s radio show on Kink FM. We also caught the EPMD show with Knowhow at Panama, put on by Hendsome and Young (thanks to Nalden at Appletree Records). In Capetown, we interviewed and kicked it with Shameema of Godessa, Waddy Jones (aka Max Normal), Sweat X, Crosby and the Chronic Clan. We also filmed the Kit for Kids benefit concert, which featured a headlining performance by Godessa. Thanks to Roach at African Dope Records, Grenville at High Voltage Entertainment, and Draztik at Unreleased Records for recommendations and connections. It has been a great three months of filming, and we can’t wait to show you all what we’ve got so far. Check back for more photos and details on the upcoming trailer, and keep your eyes peeled for Beats, Rhymes, & Borders in 2007.

We’ve spent a week and a half in Amsterdam, during which time we’ve met some great people, gotten some great footage, and generally had a great time in the Netherlands. Some of the artists we’ve spoken to so far include Brain Power, Deams, Edzon, Sotu the Traveler, Pete Philly, and Sense of Q4. We’ve also made some great connections through Melkweg, in Town Productions, Appletree Records, and other purveyors of excellent Dutch hip hop. We’re going to be in town through November and look forward to meeting up some more with the same people, and talking to some new faces as well. Much love and respect for everyone making good music here, and to those who’ve pointed us towards it.

Brandon, Brainpower, and Edzon in Leidseplein

Inside the Melkweg

Asleep on the 6am train after three interviews and two parties

Haarlem passport photos

The crew is spending their final day in England, packing and getting ready for Amsterdam. We had a great interview/rapping session with Brother Ghazi at 6db Studios in Manchester. We also got some footage of Old Trafford/Manchester. All in all, it’s been a great first leg of the film, and we’re ready to keep things rolling…

Brandon and Ghazi at 6db

We spent three productive days in Birmingham, a really killer city a couple hours south of Manchester (if you don’t suddenly start going in the oppisite direction, which somehow happened to us without making any exits off the highway). We got solid interviews and performances from Testament, Juice 126, Cipher and the Moorish Delta 7 Crew, Joel the Custodian, and Barrowclough and DJ Moyma of Vertical Thinkers. Right now, we’re resting our weary bones and getting ready to head back into B’Ham (where, apparently, it is at) for a radio gig and some more interviews. A huge shout out to Joel, Cro, and Wasif for showing us around, to their mothers and wives for cooking us amazing meals, and to Phil and Kerri for putting us up w/out even knowing who the hell we were… Now that is some serious trust placed in us. Don’t worry, we won’t let you down…. Beats, Rhymes & Borders, The Movie, will make it all worth it.

Brian and Joel at the Bull Ring

Testament pondering…

Juice 126 and Wasif in an elevator

Joel and Johnny Damage at the stacks

The camera scratches?!

A Carlsburg and a Camera

Stumped!

We’ve included the link to this blog in emails, myspace and facebook profiles, and the collective memories of people everywhere. Now it’s time to start writing in it and actually make it a real, live, breathing blog. To everyone wondering what we’re up to, we’re in Manchester, about to leave for Birmingham tomorrow. We’ve gotten a lot of administrative work done in our home base away from home, contacting British artists and also Dutch and German ones for the next leg of our gyrating body of a tour. We’ve rapped, recorded, and spoken with Wasif (aka The What Supreme), one of our big time Birmingham connections, advocates, and subjects. We had the pleasure of meeting Drongomala, a sitar and guitar based producer from Scotland (by way of Ireland) who has worked making beautiful beats for emcees from the U.K. and U.S. (including the super group Elemental) as of late. And we’ve spoken with several other Manchester artists with whom we hope to meet up soon! We’ll be in Birmingham, receiving a tour from the hospitable and wise Joel the Custodian, along with Wasif and others, for the following several days, but will be back in Manchester October 18th through the 24th. Several studio interviews and hopefully a whole lot more, await our return. Until then, we’ll be thinking of you, Manchester!

Drongomala

Brian shooting

Matt writing

Brandon writing

We are three American filmmakers traveling the world to document the lives and stories behind global hip hop. Currently, we are based out of Manchester, UK, with plans to travel throughout Europe, Africa, South America, and East Asia. If you’re an Artist with a story to tell, contact us at brbfilm@gmail.com . We’ll be updating this site with stories, photos, and anecdotes from the road.