Black Sheep veteran Dres is the subject of a new documentary that, among other things, chronicles the challenges he faced upon being handed the delicate task of adding a posthumous chapter to J Dilla’s legacy.
On Monday (November 6), Paramount + released the trailer for The Choice Is Yours, which will explore the Queens MC’s unsung impact on Hip Hop culture. It will also provide insight into his work on the Slum Village beatmaker’s unreleased catalogue, handed over to him by the late icon’s mother, Maureen Yancey.
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“You can’t be afraid to take that step,” she encourages him in the trailer as he struggles with handling the project with care amid the criticism descending upon him. Piecing together the hard drive he was entrusted with in order to extend the life of “one of the illest producers ever” is a central theme of the deep-dive.
The film is scheduled to be released in the United States and Canada on Tuesday (November 21), followed by a worldwide release the next day.
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“Hip Hop gives us the opportunity to blow up. Hip Hop also gives us the opportunity to implode,” Dres says in the above trailer. “As we strive to live up to our character, in the mirror we see the champion and challenger knowing the choice is yours.”
To this point, The Choice Is Yours also looks back at the 56-year-old’s presence in the Hip Hop space during the ’90s and his aging process amid the craft’s rapid evolution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsbApT2DLHo
Aside from his impact on golden era Hip Hop, Dres apparently also made a lasting impression on Kanye West back in the day.
Last year, he tweeted about the time the Chicago native told his team that Dres should give him fashion advice. The rap vet even expressed his regret over not helping Ye, insinuating that the latter’s drab color choices weren’t exactly his cup of tea.
“@kanyewest once told his entourage that I’m the one who should be dressing him (was dead serious) … I should have helped him.. I inspire color,” he wrote. “I am not bragging when I say I dress better than @kanyewest … you can ask him yourself.”
Dres and Mista Lawgne, collectively known as Black Sheep, rose to prominence in the 1990s as part of Native Tongues collective. Their first official appearance was on De La Soul’s 1991 album De La Soul Is Dead on the track “Fanatic of the B Word.”
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Their 1991 debut, A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, is largely celebrated by Hip Hop purists thanks to the single “The Choice Is Yours (Revisited),” even though it peaked at just No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100.
