Renowned hip-hop journalist Dream Hampton is digging into the archives for the feature-length documentary “It Was All a Dream,” premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 9.
In the trailer, premiering exclusively on Variety, viewers get a sneak peek at the personal footage captured by Hampton on the frontlines of hip-hop in the early 1990s. As a staffer at The Source magazine, at the time considered the Bible of hip-hop, Hampton recorded her interactions with rappers including the Notorious B.I.G., Method Man, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Q-Tip, among many others, as they embarked on their generation-defining careers. The film is a snapshot of hip-hop veterans in their golden years, coming to terms with the world around them and how they would inevitably change it.
Hampton, considered one of the most foundational writers of her time, has held the footage in her possession for three decades. In the film, the footage showcases her ventures with narration from her articles published in the early ‘90s. Additional appearances come from Ice-T, Mobb Deep, Guru, Nikki D and Hurricane G.
“It Was All a Dream” conveys intimate moments with rappers of the time, beginning with a car ride from Brooklyn with the Notorious B.I.G. and Hampton. Throughout the film, she hangs with Snoop, talks with Ice-T and visits West Village basketball courts where emcees held impromptu ciphers.
“Last summer I was moving my daughter across the country and found two boxes of footage I forgot I had and spent the last few months making this film,” says Hampton in a release. Biggie’s son, CJ Wallace, was the first person for whom she screened the film, encouraging him to come on as an executive producer. “I named it ‘It Was All a Dream’ not because of my name or ‘Juicy,’ but because of the golden haze that has cloaked this era.”
Check out the trailer below:
Source Agencies
