Confessions of a Thug Gets Billboard Cover

Confessions of a Thug

Confessions of a Thug, a hip hop movie newly released on DVD, has made the cover of Billboard.  That's a good thing but this most recent announcement, as well as earlier announcements, prominently promote this movie as a "Jay-Z Inspired Hip-Hop Musical."

Now the first time I saw that in the headline, sometime last year, it really caught my interest as it was intended to do.  However, Jay-Z turns out to be more of a personal inspiration for the filmmaker rather than someone who actually had anything to do with the movie.

So technically it's correct but it works as a kind of a bait and switch maneuver that left me uninterested in this film.  What I'm realizing from checking the trailers at the official site is that it probably isn't a musical either, i.e. folks aren't breaking into song and dance in the midst of dramatic situations.  I get the impression there's a lot of rap music in the movie but that doesn't make it a hip hop musical.

I find the whole approach rather unfortunate since the initial hooks are a bit deceptive.  I'm not saying that these folks are intending to deceive but I am saying that they've chosen a relatively common pr route that tries to catch attention by connecting a product to someone or something that ultimately has little to do with one's experience of that thing.

It also makes me wonder what they mean by being "featured" on the cover of Billboard, just to show you where this approach tends to take me, turning a victory for the filmmakers into a question mark.

Update:
Daron Fordham [Writer/Director/Star of Confessions Of A Thug] responded:

Jay-Z made "Streets Is Watchin" a long-form 60 min. music video in 1998. It was sort of like musical. It did OK but I was very fascinated by it and I figured with the right approach and an increase in dramatic action that the concept could really take off. Fast forward to today. Confessions Of A Thug is definitely a hip-hop musical. There is action and characters breaking into song throughtout the film (more than 10 times actually). So in essence, I was inspired by Jay to do this film because of what he accomplished almost ten years earlier with the Street Is Watchin 60 min.video.

This tale, which isn't included in the press releases, is an interesting backstory that also clarifies why Jay-Z is mentioned.  I still think including Jay-Z in the press release headlines is a mistake but this also seems to be an example where simply telling one's story would have been better pr.

Available from Amazon:
Confessions Of A Thug

Comments

[Daron Fordham]

Hey playa,

Jay-Z made "Streets Is Watchin" a long-form 60 min. music video in 1998. It was sort of like musical. It did OK but I was very fascinated by it and I figured with the right approach and an increase in dramatic action that the concept could really take off. Fast forward to today. Confessions Of A Thug is definitely a hip-hop musical. There is action and characters breaking into song throughtout the film (more than 10 times actually). So in essence, I was inspired by Jay to do this film because of what he accomplished almost ten years earlier with the Street Is Watchin 60 min.video. Hit me up and I'll be glad to send you a copy for your review. Yours in profits, Daron Fordham (Writer/Director/Star of Confesseions Of A Thug.

[Jarrett Carter]

^While guerilla PR can be a good thing in some instances, I can only hope folks aren't turned off by the latent attribution of Jay's influence.

I do respect the project, however, and wish it much success. Hit me up if there's any way I can help.