In June 2007 we introduced you to Sona Lionel, a now 22-year-old hip-hop artist who left his home in Cameroon, Africa, at age 17 to come to Milwaukee in pursuit of a college education and a musical career. He found both.
Last summer he dropped his last name and released, via his own Imperial Records label his debut album, "Man in the Mirror."
Record sales were good, and with the profits -- and help from local filmmaker James Van Vonderen and cinematographer Chris Hyler -- he immediately began working on his next project, a feature-length documentary called "Behold Something Bigger Than Tupac."
Filmed on three continents -- Africa, Europe and in the U.S. -- Sona's film is a commentary on many social issues plaguing youth today, including poverty, hunger and violence in rap music. Most of these things, he says, he's experienced first hand. In his film, which took about a year to complete, Sona takes on the roll of The Voice, a character unafraid to stand up to the prevalent negativity by presenting a positive message of hope.
Because he speaks out against institutions like mainstream rap music, Sona says the film might come off as controversial when it screens Sunday, Aug. 24 at the Miramar Theatre.
"As we all know, going against a stream is a hard thing to do. I choose that," he says. "I have witnessed people starve to death. My people in Africa, Asia, even in the U.S., are dying, yet rappers are bragging about their money day and night. I felt like somebody had to do something.
"Also it's controversial because it's opposite to the norms of what people consider hip-hop today. People don't want to hear about the things that are being said in this movie, but it's the truth. There used to be this saying that the truth is good, but bitter. This will get people thinking."
The references to the late rapper Tupac Shakur, an artist known equally for his social activism as well as his raw, controversial lyrics of ghetto life, work as a metaphor throughout the film. Sona believes Shakur to be one of the genre's greatest voices and insists that after his death the genre has lost its heart and vision.
It is his hope that his film, "Behold Something Bigger Than Tupac," will have a large enough impact to promote change among his contemporaries.
"I know that some will be offended, but somebody's got to speak and that's just what I, The Voice, did."
Tickets are $10 and available online at biggerthantupac.com. Show times are 12, 2:30, 5 and 7:30 p.m. Here is the trailer:
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
