Entertainment / September 27, 2021

The US rap scene is getting Louis Theroux-ed again

@officiallouistheroux
Entertainment / September 27, 2021

The US rap scene is getting Louis Theroux-ed again

Theroux’s upcoming BBC documentary series, Forbidden America explores the intersection between the internet and the real world

It was only a matter of time before one of the world’s best documentary makers took on the weighty topic of the US rap scene, once more.

Through his documentary series entitled Forbidden America Louis Theroux examines “the impact of the internet and social media on some of the most controversial corners of American entertainment”.

Produced by the BBC, the station said that the three-part series will, “explore how online has collided with the real world, helping the far-right build solidarity, creating power shifts in the porn industry & seeing rap artists live-streaming feuds.”

The “trilogy of films” looks at the ways in which the internet has impacted the workings of the porn industry, the rap music scene and the rise of the far-right.

The hour-long documentary film will explore the rap and hip-hop industries, particularly in the southern states of the US.

Theroux will examine how rappers and hip-hop artists promote themselves online and interact with their fans through social media.

“The world has gone through massive changes in the last few years, in particular from the effects of social media. This new series looks at the way those changes have affected people in America who are in different ways involved in dangerous, extreme, or morally questionable lifestyles,” Theroux said in a press release.

This isn’t the first time that the rap scene has been viewed through Theroux’s quizzical gaze, in 2000 he visited New Orleans in the hope of becoming the “first white, middle-class gangsta rapper” as part of his documentary Weird Weekends.

There has been no release date announced, but when the time comes Forbidden America will be available to watch on BBC Two.

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