Joseph Patel

SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)

An examination of the life and legacy of Sly & The Family Stone - the groundbreaking band led by the charismatic Sly Stone - that captures the band's reign while shedding light on the burden that comes with success for Black artists in America.

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in a basement, unseen for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost — until now.

DESTINY

Princess Nokia is unafraid. During the 16-minute film directed by Orian Barki and produced by The FADER, the self-proclaimed New York aficionado commands the sidewalks of the Lower East Side and East Harlem. There's footage of intimate recording sessions, shots of some of her most beloved local spots, and vulnerable stoop conversations that all show the city's important connection to her work.

AURORA: Nothing Is Eternal

Following the artist from the bustling streets of New York to her rain-soaked hometown of Bergen, the film includes interviews with AURORA's closest friends, as well as uniquely stripped-back performances of tracks including “Warrior” and “Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1).” Whether she’s reminiscing on her childhood with her sisters, dancing through the city streets in her headphones, or discussing the secret life of apples, there’s a spellbinding quality to everything the artist does.

Stopped Making Excuses

What follows is a candid look at the Pittsburgh native’s past six years, starting with his ascent, when he was 19, as a popular but critically panned rapper. “I was an easy target. I admit that,” he says now. “It became one of those things where I got so much negativity that it almost became, like, ‘There’s no point to overly hate on this dude, let me look in and see what he’s doing.’ And when you look in, there’s some good music there.” Following his 2011 debut album, Billboard's first independently released No.1 in over a decade, Mac moved to Los Angeles, where it seemed to many he was thriving. That’s where Andrew Nosnitsky met him for Mac Miller's 2013 The FADER cover story, and where he played an endearing role in Earl Sweatshirt’s cover too.