Manchester indie, Riverhorse, is working with a Silicon Valley start-up, Crowdtilt, to finance its new film, Hustlers Convention.
The film is about the forgotten roots of rap and centres around Lightin’ Rod, also known as Jalal Mansur Nuriddin of The Last Poets. He was behind the seminal record, Hustlers Convention, an album which Chuck D described as “a verbal bible to understand the streets.” Wu Tang and the Beastie Boys have also paid homage to it.
Jalal Mansur Nurridin
It’s remained relatively unknown, however, Riverhorse are looking to change all that.
They’ve spent the last 2 years researching Nuriddin’s story and his street rhyming style, which revealed the anger of the streets “like had never been heard before.”
Released in 1973, Hustlers Convention, tells the story of 2 young hustlers who get tangled up in a shoot out and police chase. It finishes with one of them on death row weighing up what it all means.
Riverhorse will be looking blend archive footage with interviews with key figures in hip hop and animated sequences to illustrate the documentary.
It will culminate in Nuriddin returning to the UK, where he lived for a number of years, for the first ever live performance of the album.
Crowdtilt’s Crowdhoster is an invite-only crowd funding platform and Riverhorse is the first UK company to be involved. Unlike its competitors, the platform allows companies or individuals to retain the branding of their project.
“It’s a great opportunity to be working with Crowdhoster. We are excited to be working with the company that is taking crowd funding to the next level,” said Riverhorse director Mike Todd.
