SPOTIFY - I’M WITH THE BANNED
When people can't travel, music will.
In response to Trump's Muslim Ban and the rhetoric that swirled around it, we created I'm with the banned, a project that paired artists from the "banned" nations with American artists to create collaborative music, and put a human face to those affected.
We produced six original music tracks and a documentary film with cinematic premier at:
-The Globe Theater in Los Angeles
- E Street Cinema, Washington DC Less than a mile from the White House
- Sunshine Cinema, NYC
Honors:
The film ran on A&E Network’s Viceland
Emmy Awards (x2 nominations)
Cannes Lions (x1)
One Show (x2)
Clio (x4)
Methal, a singer-songwriter from Yemen, collaborated with American rock group, X Ambassadors.
Wayaha Cusub, a hip hop collective from Somalia, collaborated with American rap artist, Desiigner.
Moh Flow, a singer-songwriter from Syria along with his brother/producer AY, collaborated with American rap artist, Pusha T.
KasraV, a producer/DJ from Iran, collaborated with American singer-songwriter, K.Flay.
Sufyvn, a producer from Sudan, collaborated with American R&B artist, BJ the Chicago Kid.
Six original collaborative tracks.
The artists from the "banned" nations included Waayaha Cusub, a Somali hip-hop collective, and Methal, a singer-songwriter who was the first woman to publicly perform music in Yemen. They were joined by U.S. collaborators including Pusha T, Desiigner, X Ambassadors, BJ the Chicago Kid and jazz legend Dr. Lonnie Smith. And in June 2017, joined an all-star team of writers and producers, they met in Toronto – the closest the "banned" artists could get to U.S. soil.
Within a week, four of the songs had made their way to Spotify’s Viral Top 50, and would go on to be streamed over 11 million times. By the end of the program, the short documentaries had been viewed over 5.2 million times.
Our documentary, directed by Daniel Kaufman, was nominated for 2 Emmy Awards
Producers:
Doc McKinney
Matty Tavares
The Stereotypes
Songwriters
Clarence Coffee Jr
Evan “Kidd” Bogart.
Film Director
Daniel Kaufman
Copywriter
Dan Brill