Hip-hop icon Warren G and has chosen to start production on the gangster funk documentary “G-Funkumentary” on Wednesday, which just so happens to be April 20, the counterculture holiday that celebrates marijuana.
Karam Gill will make his directorial debut with the film, which Warren G will produce under his G-Funk Productions banner along with Rafael Chavez and Gary Ousdahl of the The Chavez Brothers Productions, and Robert Ruggeri of Omega Point Films. Matt Carpenter will serve as an executive producer.
Warren G also plans to create an original soundtrack featuring other west coast hip-hop legends to accompany the documentary.
The film will feature exclusive interviews with top west coast hip-hop artists who discuss the untold story of how rap music’s most commercial and iconic subgenre, G-Funk (gangster funk), came to be. The feature film will explore the roots of G-Funk, the era itself and the influence it has had on rap and hip-hop artists of today. The documentary will be filmed in and around Los Angeles, with footage of past and current performances from the likes of Warren G mixed in to create a compelling film.
Derived from artists such as George Clinton, G-Funk’s lyrics are often a reflection of the harsh reality of life during the golden age of hip-hop from the late-’80s to the mid-’90s, when the L.A. riots took place. The era produced household names such as LL Cool J, Nas and Ice-T, who helped take hip-hop to new heights.
When Dr. Dre put out “The Chronic” (1992), Snoop Dogg released “Doggystyle” (1993), and Warren G dropped “Regulate” in 1994, the worldwide phenomenon known as the G-Funk era began, forever changing the landscape of music.
“This is a project that explores the evolution of rap and dives deep into a lot of social issues that still plague society today, and I’m incredibly excited to help share this story with the world,” said director Gill.
“It’s important for the new generation to know where west coast hip hop originated and how artists like myself and others influence is bigger than people know,” said Warren G, a pioneer of the genre who wanted to spearhead the project in order to shed light on the G-Funk movement.
Warren G is represented by Advanced Management and attorney Lynn Quarterman.