Soundz of Spirit
Soundz of Spirit is a unique hip hop documentary. Filmed by new director Joslyn Rose Lyons, Spirit has already impressed crowds and racked up numerous awards including winning the NY international Independent film and video festival. Now with the backing of Urbanworks Entertainment (who also put out the Fat Albert Greatest Hits Collection by the way) the film will finally be available in your local retail store. Scored by Amp Live (Zion I) the flick bounces through live performances and interview clips of “hella” artists from Common, KRS and Andre 3000 to Saul Williams, Q-Bert and Shock G. The focus of the film is to explore the creative process of these and other artists and uncover the role spirituality plays in their music and their lives. It’s an interesting concept and shows how both creativity and spirituality seemed intertwined. At the same time the numerous references to a ‘spiritual presence’ influencing artists’ work can come off as somewhat derivative in some cases but there is no denying the sincerity of many of the responses from cats like Common, Cee Lo and Saul Williams who view art as a divine experience. These sincere moments are really where this film shines. The DVD also comes with a separate soundtrack featuring original work from Cee Lo, Living Legends, Del, Blackalicious, Iriscience and a standout performance from Hope Shorter. The extras include a couple of short outtakes, a few live performances, and a interview with the director.
