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Director Sacha Jenkins‘ resume is full of projects focused on hip-hop, but he says his most favorite is the latest for Showtime, a documentary on the pioneering hip-hop career of Biz Markie.
Speaking with ABC Audio ahead of the release of All Up in the Biz on August 11, Jenkins said he wanted to make the film because of the late rapper’s indelible legacy on music.
“I’ve done a few different hip-hop stories,” he said. “But I felt like Biz was the ultimate because he was the personification. He embodied hip-hop.”
Taking on such a story presented both a “great opportunity” and “great challenge” for the director. But, he set out to conquer it, hoping Biz’s story will help “people to understand that hip-hop can change your life.”
“No one expected much from Biz. No one expected him to do the things that he did, but he knew deep down that he could do it,” Jenkins said. “I think the same energy that he shared with Rakim and Big Daddy Kane — the … positive energy that hip-hop has — he knew how to channel that.”
To help with storytelling, Jenkins included Biz’s wife, Tara Hall, who’s a producer on the film. She said revisiting the memories — and sifting through Biz’s large collection of antique items — wasn’t easy.
“We’ve always been so private about our personal lives,” Hall said. “It was just really hard for me to turn over my personal cellphone, and my personal pictures and videos to really make the film just a little more brighter.”
Hall not only produced the film, she signed on to star in it, as well. She hopes the story inspires viewers to be like Biz and never to give up.
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