SYNOPSIS

In the late 80’s THE NATIVE TONGUE POSSE was birthed through the mental cohesion of three Hip-Hop groups: The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. Eventually, The Native Tongue roster would grow to include Queen Latifah, Monie Love, Black Sheep, Leaders of the New School and more. After only a few short years in existence, the Native Tongue movement was, “in full effect”.
Today, despite many efforts to reunite The Native Tongues, the collective exists more in abstract ideology than as a tangible hip-hop crew.
However, the influence of the Native Tongues is evident in the music and attitude of many of today’s most celebrated and decorated musicians – Kanye West, The Neptunes, The Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, The Black Eyed Peas, Pharaoh Monch, Raphael Saadiq, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, D’Angelo, Dwele, the late Jay Dee aka J-Dilla, 9th Wonder, The Pharcyde and countless others.
What happened to this ever-evolving Hip-Hop movement known as the Native Tongues Posse?
The feature length documentary, “Speaking In Tongues” is a cinematic quest to answer this and many other questions surrounding one of the most influential hip-hop crews in music history. Speaking In Tongues features real life accounts of the rise and evolution of the Native Tongue movement, lifestyle and influence.
“SPEAKING IN TONGUES” is a visual salute to an internationally renowned group of musical pioneers who, through their mere formation, have changed the landscape of Hip-Hop, Soul and Dance music since 1988.
The celebration of the Native Tongues legacy is well overdue

BACKGROUND

The New York-based Native Tongues crew was a collective of like-minded hip-hop artists who would help bring abstract and open-minded lyricism – that addressed a range of topics, from spirituality and modern living to race, sex, and just having fun – to the mainstream. Together with the use of eclectic samples that would take on an increasingly jazzy sound, they would be pioneers of so-called conscious hip-hop, alternative hip-hop, and jazz rap.
Fostered by Kool DJ Red Alert, the success of the Jungle Brothers would pave the way for De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest; together, these three groups would form the core of the posse and continue the spirit of Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation. By 1989 they had been joined by Queen Latifah and the UK’s Monie Love, and later by the Black Sheep. Collectively, they became known as the Native Tongues Posse.
The Native Tongues had a huge effect on the style and trends of hip-hop during its most important period – the end of the “golden age” of the late 80s/early #90s where the songs and music where characterized by tales of guns and gold. The “New School” era brought in by the Native Tongues was characterized by lyrics, music and style with a strong emphasis on Afrocentric pride, peace and fun. They came in on the heels of the political consciousness sparked by groups like Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy. The Native Tongues single-handedly introduced and created a platform for other rappers and entertainers to be more free with their musical and artistic expression.
There are several collectives today – with overlapping membership – that can be seen as the spiritual heirs to the Native Tongues crew: the Spitkicker crew (founded by De La Soul’s Trugoy and Posdnuos in 2000), the Okayplayers, and the Soulquarians. Chris Lighty—a member of the Native Tongues-affiliated street crew the Violators, who began his career carrying records for Zulu Nation DJs and later as the Jungle Brothers’ roadie —now runs the successful Violator Management company, which represents Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip, among other high-profile clients. They have influenced many other artists in the music industry.

PRODUCER: NORMAN PARRISH

While working as a Technical Specialist at Goldman Sachs, Norman Parrish sold a piece of music that managed to get licensed for the soundtrack of the film “Belly”. Although Norman was a novice to the music industry at the time, that soundtrack went on to sell over 500,000 units. He!s been making large strides in music ever since, providing music to artists on record labels including Def Jam, Warner Brothers and MCA to name a few.
A seasoned music connoisseur with a knack for computer technology, Norman went on to consult for Russell Simmons! innovative and acclaimed 360hiphop.com at the height of the dot com boom. The site was eventually sold to Black Entertainment Television.
Norman decided to expand his horizons as well as his understanding of the entertainment industry by working in television production as a production assistant. His various credits include projects for A&E, VH1, Bravo, ABC Family and the Comedy Central networks.
A self-proclaimed “B-Boy,” Norman has dedicated his career to exposing niche music forms to larger audiences. From executive producing and promoting albums by underground hip-hop artists, to co-founding and marketing the Urban Lounge Suite series – a musical lounge experience matching sounds to the sights, colors and moods of some of the hottest hangouts around the world, Norman is a multifaceted talent.
In 2005 Norman founded The Parrish Group and represents a collective of today!s hottest and most cutting-edge music producers and directors. The Parrish Group has successfully licensed music for use by such brands as Burger King and Time Warner Cable. In 2006, The Parrish Group won a Radio Mercury Award for Best Urban Commercial Spot, their first Urban category ever. The Radio-Mercury Awards is the richest nationwide competition devoted exclusively to honoring and rewarding Radio creative for excellence in Radio advertising.
Norman attended Temple University where he majored in Sociology. Speaking in Tongues is his first project as a Producer.
The future is bright, indeed.

DIRECTOR: OMAR AKIL

Since, graduating from Temple University, in 1995, Omar Akil has excelled in all facets of media production, by successfully creating groundbreaking and original television, film, corporate and web content for more than 12 years.
In 2001, Omar Akil joined THE SOURCE: ALL ACCESS family as a consultant/at-large content provider, by creating/producing an auto lifestyle segment titled “WHIPS”. Eventually Omar would move on to serve as senior producer of VIBE Magazine’s syndicated program, WEEKEND VIBE.
At the 2004 H2O International Film Festival, Omar’s short subject “THE DEFENDANT RESTS” was honored as BEST NARRATIVE SHORT. In 2005, another one of Omar’s shorts, “UNCLE POP” (ANDRE ROYO), was honored as official selections for: The Black Hollywood Film Festival, The Independent Black Film Festival, Cinequest Film Festival, and The Arizona Black Film Festival, respectively.
In the Summer of 2005, with Omar Akil credited as Director, the groundbreaking documentary “BLACK WHEELS” debuted in 130 television markets across the country. Omar, along with Executive Producers Tim Reid and Byron Hunter were honored with a TRAILBLAZER AWARD by the Association for Diversity in Motorsports’ (AFDIM).
The trio (Tim Reid, Byron Hunter, Omar Akil) reunited again to produce “RAINBOW ON THE GREEN”, a documentary chronicling the legacy of minority achievement in the sport of professional golf. Like their first effort, the documentary aired in 130 television markets and has received critical acclaim from sports and television professionals.
Since founding Cylent Films, Inc. – a media production suite specializing in client specific content of various production budgets and needs – in 2003, Omar!s production company has created Broadcast, DVD, VIDEO-ON-DEMAND, WEB and CORPORATE media content for such clients as: Black Entertainment Television, FUSE TV, SONY URBAN MUSIC, ATLANTIC RECORDS, VIBE MAGAZINE, U.S. CONCEPTS, and others.
Currently, Omar serves as Senior Producer for RAP CITY on the BET NETWORK, a Viacom company.

The website is currently under development.
We look forward to briging you a new site design shortly.

Also, be sure to join the Speaking In Tongues group coming soon to Facebook.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!