PICK UP THE MIC features more than a dozen contemporary gay hip-hop artists, representing a striking range of sexual and ethnic diversity. Shot over a three-year period, the film traces their intertwining relationships from San Francisco’s underground music scene of the early ‘90s through performances as recent as 2005. It was recorded in such major cities as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, but breaks down coastal stereotypes by also covering performers in such diverse areas as Houston, Minneapolis, and Madison, Wisconsin – and a particularly memorable outdoor gig in the Ozarks.
The artists are followed rehearsing, performing, and struggling – always revealing their raw, most intimate feelings, including experiences with homophobia, gender identification issues, and suicide.
PICK UP THE MIC reveals these artists and producers as they attempt to express their lives through hip-hop music - a medium from which they’ve often felt alienated because of it’s widespread misogyny and anti-gay rhetoric. But their stories resonate far beyond the music industry and queer communities, reminding us all of the surprising resiliency of the human spirit.
PICK UP THE MIC is available now at Amazon.com , Barnes & Nobles, TLA, and Best Buy. Get into the trailer below.
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