‘It Was All a Dream’ documentary takes a close look at the golden age of hip-hop
The new documentary from Detroit filmmaker dream hampton is a visual memoir — from her own personal archives — about the dawn of the golden age of hip-hop.
"It Was All a Dream" will premiere at the Tribeca film festival in June 2024.
Dream Hampton is an award-winning filmmaker and writer from Detroit.
Her latest film, “It Was All a Dream,” is a visual memoir, from Hampton’s personal archives, about the dawn of the golden age of hip-hop. The film will premiere at the Tribeca film festival in June.
Hampton was a filmmaker living in New York City during the 1990s, inspired by the hip-hop era. As a music journalist and filmmaker, Hampton believed hip-hop was a groundbreaking revolution.
“I’m not always saying that we had hoped that’d be radical politically, but that it was this radical shift in music, that it was a different sound, that it was disruptive,” Hampton said. “This is before it became the kind of mainstream, what Tricia Rose derisively called the commercial arm of capitalism, the cultural arm of capitalism.”
Listen to the interview below at the 14:29 mark.
One of the first people Hampton started filming was her neighbor, Notorious B.I.G., she says. Other artists featured in the film include Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre.
“So I picked up my camera and shot my neighbor, you know, Notorious B.I.G.,” Hampton said. “So he was my neighbor, he didn’t have a hit song out, there was no guarantee that he was going to be a star.”
Hampton’s previous film “Freshwater” and her other works revolve around the theme of memory. She wanted to continue the theme with her most recent project.
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