Half A Mill Documentary "Player Hating, A Love Story&am

[Conscious]

Plain and simple. I went to Medgar Evers Tuesday night to watch a film screening of this film about Half A Mill and didn't think I'd end up doing a phone interview with the creator. I don't co-sign much of anything but I have to say I felt some kind of way after watching this film. I'm sharing this interview and hoping to create more awareness for it. There's far too much to be discussed but whatever.

Here's a link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdGRgmL_0UQ


Quad Cinema: Fri. April 6 - Thurs. April 12
34 West 13th Street, NYC 10011 ג€¢ 212.255.8800

Indie Screen: Fri. April 13 - Sat. April 14
289 Kent Ave. Williamsburg, BK, NY 11211 ג€¢ 347.227.8030

[ardamus]

nice.

[drizzle]

found a trailer for the doc, looks interesting

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[Magneto]

Playing at Quad Cinemas on April 13th

[Piff Tannen]

yeah i wanna check this out. never heard of this half a mil dude, at first i thought this was a doc about Amil

my b

[The ILLatino]

Half A Mil was dope, and left us too soon. I hope this gets some kind of wide release.

[Magneto]

yeah i wanna check this out. never heard of this half a mil dude, at first i thought this was a doc about Amil

my b

He was good, his biggest track was probably "Some Niggas" which was on the Belly soundtrack. Classic song.

He was down with Mister Cee and Big Daddy Kane tried to sign him back in 1993

He was also on The Firm's album, on the last track.

[B. Ware tha Siniq]

Definitely was a solid album. I'm interested to check this out.

[Piff Tannen]

where can i hear his stuff

[Gyangsta 4 Life]

where can i hear his stuff

youtube. never ask this question again.

[Career Over Like Mike(NJJ)]

Some faves :

Half-A-Mil - In The Projects

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Half-A-Mil - Any Day Can Be Ya Last

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The Firm w/ Half-A-Mil - Firm Biz remix

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Half-A-Mil - World Famous (basically an extended solo version of the Firm Biz remix)

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Begetz w/ Half-A-Mil & AZ - Cold Outside

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[Verge]

yeah, i think i posted that trailer a while ago in the Half A Mill Appreciation thread in TROY, looking forward to seeing this.
Underground NY Legendary status
IMHO(and im definitely not alone), Half A Mill's best music was before he got signed, pre-fuck your moms anals to any bork backpack comments.
The first one IDAL posted was off his 1995 DJ Scratch produced demo tape. Here's more:

Fast Money And Foreign Objects:
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Make It Hot ft. Dominator: (sound quality is annoying on this, but its vintage unobtainable Half A Mill, so whatcha gon do)
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Executioner's Song demo:
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I believe the rip i have at the TROY blog sounds a little better.
http://www.divshare.com/download/7970819-f81

Half A Mill ft. AZ - Groove On:
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here's vaporized's Hydra Beats blend of AZ, Begetz, and Half A Mill's Street Life: (available in TROY or at the blog)
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"smack jesus christ and smoke a half a pound of hash"

classic indie cut, imo, Homicide Scene:
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What really had heads thinkin dude was the next big thing, pause, moreso than his demos was his freestyle sessions on WNYU mostly:
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freestyle on Mr.Magic:
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There's literally a LOT more, it was like every week it was either him or Natural Elements up at WNYU ripping freestyles that would shit on most acts' discogs.
My man Nes had a zip folder full of WNYU frees but the links dead:
http://dirtywaters.blogspot.com/2008/07/other-half.html
I also did a blog post at TROY years ago and to my surprise the link is still alive, about 170MBs in heat:
http://www.thetroyblog.com/2009/07/31/h ... het-r-i-p/

But that doesn't include stuff that's been surfaced since then. Gonna have to collect a bunch more and also ask Nes at Dirtywaters to re-up that WNYU freestyle folder, though I'm certain i have it somewhere.
Damn, wanna hear that "I'm like a walking ATM, walking fort knox" WNYU freestyle, he murders shit.

After being such a fan of all this shit from 94-96, his official albums were HUGE letdowns for most. I'm sure now though, there's stuff i could appreciate and enjoy off them.

There was also a WNYU like 30 minute session with The Roots playing live in the studio and numerous emcees blessing it:
http://www.thetroyblog.com/2008/12/14/3 ... e-session/
Money Boss, Half A Mill, Natural Elements etc.

[COOLEHMAGAZINE]

Definitely gonna go see this.

[Echo Leader]

LOL, holy shit. I knew this sounded familiar.

This woman spoke at my college (tiny, liberal arts school in Maine...so it was like ) for some reason or another. I think it was some mid-week seminar or some shit. It was so long ago I can't even remember what she talked about other than Half-A-Mil and this documentary she was doing on him. It was kinda surreal.

Good to see this is getting some press. IIRC she was experiencing some financial troubles when she came to SJC and wasn't sure if this would ever get made.

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/mo ... ntary.html

Movie Review
On One Corner of America, the Violent Realities of Thug Life
ג€˜Player Hating,ג€™ Maggie Hadleigh-Westג€™s Documentary

The artist Half-a- Mill performing in "Player Hating."
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
Published: April 5, 2012

ג€œPlayer Hating,ג€ Maggie Hadleigh-Westג€™s volatile documentary, is subtitled ג€œA Love Story,ג€ but itג€™s really a tragedy: a tragedy that the hair-trigger energy and ambition of the young men in front of her camera have so few legal outlets. And a tragedy that almost all of them, most in their early 20s, would not think of stepping outside their homes without life insurance.

Venturing into the Albany Houses in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Ms. Hadleigh-West, the self-confessed descendant of ג€œa long line of white Southern racists,ג€ explores thug life through the eyes of the aspiring hip-hop artist Half-a-Mill (born Jasun Wardlaw). Baby-faced and with the pragmatism of a dedicated survivor, Half-a-Mill ג€” whose childhood band of 30-odd friends has dwindled to a handful of scarred adults ג€” expounds on the Darwinism of the housing projects and the fragility of an existence dependent on crime.

ג€œYour stomach donג€™t care,ג€ he says, shrugging, knowing that hunger is the great motivator. Following Half-a-Mill and his ragtag entourage during the six months leading up to the release of his first album, ג€œPlayer Hatingג€ (the phrase describes the act of envying someone elseג€™s success), is a sad chronicle of absent fathers and messed-up mothers, drugs as currency and violence as the period at the end of every argument. Hammering the point home, a black screen with ג€œRest in Peaceג€ in white letters interrupts the filmג€™s narrative all too often, tagging the end of lives barely begun.

Intimate and never condescending, Ms. Hadleigh-Westג€™s chaotic, on-the-fly shooting style opens a portal to an alien land, a corner of America where many whites fear to tread. In contrast to the approach she took in her confrontational 1998 documentary, ג€œWar Zone,ג€ she stays mostly in the background, making no apologies for her subjectsג€™ off-screen crimes. Rather, like the best interviewers, she holds her shots for several seconds after someone has ceased talking, knowing that silence, like an empty belly, demands to be filled.

[drizzle]

Rather, like the best interviewers, she holds her shots for several seconds after someone has ceased talking, knowing that silence, like an empty belly, demands to be filled.

[shadowmaster]

Is AZ featured in this docu at all, and when does it go on wider release?

[Conscious]

Is AZ featured in this docu at all, and when does it go on wider release?

For now it's a theater for theater situation. She currently has no distributor. Box office sales matter a lot at this stage. AZ is not in the film. She said she couldn't really get anyone in Hiphop to be involved. Reaching out to all these folks but not one would contribute. It's some deep shit. Hopefully after getting the NY Times, Village Voice last week and a few other reviews in prominent publications the fuel will ignite even more. I think there's a big chance it'll pick up in an overseas market. At the premier there was a woman from Sweden asking how they could get the film out there. It's really some sad shit. If you're in NY go out and see it while it's still showing. You can cop the dvd online as well.

Oh and DJ Scratch was at the premier. He had some very positive things to say about the film. He was around while they were filming and he divulged that initially he'd warned Half about the film maker. He didn't trust her or anyone for that matter, especially anyone coming around with cameras. He expressed he was impressed with the film and that he's happy someone took time to tell this story. He also briefly spoke about NYPD posing as engineers posting up in music studios. There's a lot going on and people have the slightest clue about it.

[Verge]

If anyone still isn't sure, click the links i posted and dl that 170MB folder, everything great he ever did is in there, aside from a couple of the youtube clips that IDAL and myself posted.

Can't wait to see this. Of course I wish it started out about 3 years earlier then when it does but hey, I never thought anything like this would ever be done for the god, so i can't complain.

Dj Scratch needs to master and release that 95 demo tape already, i hope this gets more hype and pushes him to do so.

[Verge]

Classic WNYU 1996 Half A Mill Freestyle
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thanks to Dj Nes at:
http://dirtywaters.blogspot.com/

[Conscious]

Can't wait to see this. Of course I wish it started out about 3 years earlier then when it does but hey, I never thought anything like this would ever be done for the god, so i can't complain.

I'm not moved by much but after seeing the screening early in the week then going to the premier and listening to heads that were actually in the film share their feeling about him and the whole process of this film being shared on a big screen, it was real powerful. I can't really put it into words.

On another note DJ Scratch is one of the best live show DJ's hands down. When I look for a DJ to spin for an event I always make reference to him. He can keep a crowd pumped for two hours, long before the first act gets on stage.

[Stieflkater]

Dj Scratch needs to master and release that 95 demo tape already, i hope this gets more hype and pushes him to do so.

Word up...

[shadowmaster]

Is AZ featured in this docu at all, and when does it go on wider release?

For now it's a theater for theater situation. She currently has no distributor. Box office sales matter a lot at this stage. AZ is not in the film. She said she couldn't really get anyone in Hiphop to be involved. Reaching out to all these folks but not one would contribute. It's some deep shit. Hopefully after getting the NY Times, Village Voice last week and a few other reviews in prominent publications the fuel will ignite even more. I think there's a big chance it'll pick up in an overseas market. At the premier there was a woman from Sweden asking how they could get the film out there. It's really some sad shit. If you're in NY go out and see it while it's still showing. You can cop the dvd online as well.

Oh and DJ Scratch was at the premier. He had some very positive things to say about the film. He was around while they were filming and he divulged that initially he'd warned Half about the film maker. He didn't trust her or anyone for that matter, especially anyone coming around with cameras. He expressed he was impressed with the film and that he's happy someone took time to tell this story. He also briefly spoke about NYPD posing as engineers posting up in music studios. There's a lot going on and people have the slightest clue about it.

Thanks for the info, and it's a shame when people don't really make any kind of an effort to support someone they knew. I think when Poetic of the Gravediggaz was ill it was put out there that a lot of the people he knew / worked with didn't really do anything to help. I really want to see this docu now.

[GoodLook]

Look forward to seeing this. Shame he was killed.

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

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