STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — After four years of work, writer-directors Carl June and Luis Libran have released “The Culture of Hip Hop: The Staten Island Story,” a documentary series following the rise and fall of some of the greatest hip-hop artists to come out of the borough.
With parts one and two already available, and part three set to release July 2 from Breaking Glass Pictures, viewers can gain insight into various Staten Island hip-hop artists, including the Wu-Tang Clan, Force M.D.’s, The U.M.C.’s and DJ K Roc, who DJs for MC Lyte.
“We did a documentary to pay homage to all the different groups and artists that came out of Staten Island. Through episodes one through three, we did a timeline of the Staten Island music scene where we started with Force M.D.’s to Wu-Tang. A whole bunch of different groups we wanted to pay homage to because outside of New York, Staten Island definitely is the so-called ‘Forgotten Borough,’” said June.
The film features many artists, including Inspectah Deck, Method Man, Shyheim, Haas G, Ralph McDaniels, King Just, Fatman Scoop, Force M.D.’s and DJ K Rock, who share their music journey through New York to capture the rise of hip-hop.
“Staten Island has a lot of talent, and Staten Island needs more credit, especially with the talent pouring out of here. I think people will be wowed by what they didn’t know, and be inspired by this documentary to never give up and keep believing in what they believe in,” said Libran.
Childhood friends June and Libran grew up on Staten Island, where they shared a love of music and dreams — some of which seemed unattainable. Libran said getting artists who they listened to growing up like Wu-Tang Clan to appear in the documentary “was a wow factor” and turned their dreams from “an unattainable fantasy to reality.”
The documentary series, which was produced and edited by June and Libran, will serve as a time capsule for individuals to learn about hip-hop on Staten Island, the writer-directors said.
“We were passionate enough that we wanted to get these stories out there. We wanted to share that we’re from Staten Island,” June said.
On July 2, all three parts of the documentary series will be available on various streaming platforms, including Apple TV, YouTube TV, Roku, Google Play, Microsoft, Direct TV, Dish Network, On Demand, Xbox and Vudu.
