Our new series Get On Up: The Triumph of Black America launches tonight, 9pm BBC Two.
Actor David Harewood takes us on a journey across America to meet his heroes, and discover some of the true stories behind the incredible artists who captivated and inspired him, and changed the course of his life. Along the way he discovers how these African American performers, filmmakers and creatives of all sorts have come to transform popular culture around the world.
In episode two, David takes us from the birth of hip hop in the early 1980s to the present day, exploring how a new generation of producers and performers increasingly began to own their “creative capital”, and became billionaires with lifestyles to match.
Director Allen Hughes (Menace II Society, The Defiant Ones) explains how, inspired by Spike Lee, the attitude of his generation of 90s filmmakers, were influenced by the hip hop sound and attitude and brought a new approach to filmmaking, telling stories from a fresh perspective.
In New York, David Harewood meets Jamie Hector who played Marlo Stanfield in The Wire, often voted the greatest television series ever made. Hector reveals how the ensemble approach of the series, and its epic canvas provided a launchpad for so many black actors. And David reflects on how he was a beneficiary of that as own career in the States had taken off not long after The Wire was first broadcast.
Johnny Nunez, Puff Daddy’s in-house photographer tells David stories about the bling and excess of Puffy’s parties - and also how they were driven by more than just a taste for ostentation. Johnny describes the moment when Puffy brought the original Declaration of Independence to a party, complete with an army of security guards - as a way of showing just how far Black Americans like him had come.
Sherrie Silver who choreographed Childish Gambino’s record-breaking This Is America video describes how Donald Glover discovered her on YouTube, leading some kids through one of her dance routines in a dusty street in Africa.
As David approaches the end of his journey, he meets Florence Kasumba, one of the stars of Marvel’s Black Panther, and notes how African American culture has embraced and been embraced by people across the world.
Former Vibe editor Danyel Smith, writer MK Asante, singer Monie Love, academic Jason King, DJ Trevor Nelson, author Nelson George, journalists Kathy Iolandi, Kelundra Smith and Ivie Anie and Professor Eric Dyson provide context and background.
A Milk and Honey production. The Executive Producers are Lucy Pilkington and Lawrence Lartey. The Director is Geoff Small, and the Commissioning Editor for the BBC is David Upshal.