Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall Of Fame (LIMEHOF) Music Documentary Film Festival Returns September 26 With Hip-Hop Film and Star-Studded Performance
Hip Hop musicians including DJ Belal Miller, JVC Force (B-Luv and AJ Rok), Diamond The Artist (A.K.A. DTA Experience), DJ Kaos, MC Glamorous, Son of Bazerk, Sport G, Mastermind, and DJ J-1 are expected to turn out for “The Long Island Underground Legends of Hip-Hop’ screening.
STONY BROOK, NY — Hip-Hop history will take center stage on Long Island when the second annual LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival returns September 25–27 to the Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame in Stony Brook Village.
One of the festival’s marquee events will take place Saturday night, September 26, with a screening of The Long Island Underground Legends of Hip-Hop, directed by award-winning journalist Archie H. Snowden, followed by a Q&A and a star-studded live performance featuring several of the pioneering artists whose stories are told in the film.
“The Long Island Underground Legends of Hip-Hop is an important piece of Long Island music history that finally gives many of the artists who helped build the region’s hip-hop culture the recognition they deserve,” said Tom Needham, Executive Director of the LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival.
“Having these legendary artists with us for a Q&A and rare live performances from JVC Force, Son of Bazerk and others makes this a truly special LIMEHOF experience that audiences won’t want to miss.”
The documentary shines a spotlight on the pioneering, grassroots and underground artists who helped establish Long Island’s suburban Hip-Hop scene before many of the region’s biggest names became known around the world.
Among those featured are JVC FORCE, best known for the Long Island anthem “Strong Island”; MC Glamorous, recognized in the film as one of Long Island’s earliest prominent Hip-Hop artists; and Snowden himself, known on the mic as MC Amazin’ A, among several other artists and figures who helped shape the culture locally. But the film tells a story much larger than individual artists.
The Long Island Underground Legends of Hip-Hop explores the network of predominantly Black suburban communities where emcees, DJs, crews, and promoters were creating a distinct Hip-Hop movement outside New York City’s five boroughs.
Long Island would eventually produce some of Hip-Hop’s most influential artists, including Rakim, Public Enemy, Biz Markie, EPMD, De La Soul, Eric B. and Rakim, and many others. The documentary turns attention toward the artists, neighborhoods and local circuits that helped create the environment from which that extraordinary generation emerged.
For Snowden, having the documentary screened at a major music institution on Long Island carries special significance.
“After all of those nights of hard work, sitting in the editing bay until 3 a.m., it’s the greatest honor to have my film selected to the prestigious LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival,” Snowden said. “A film presentation in my hometown of Long Island, organized by true music and film lovers.”
The September 26 presentation promises to bring that history off the screen and onto the stage, with JVC FORCE, Son of Bazerk and other special guests scheduled to perform following the screening and discussion.
For longtime Long Island Hip-Hop fans, it will be more than a documentary screening. It will be an opportunity to see some of the artists who helped create the scene come together to celebrate a chapter of Hip-Hop history that has too often remained underground.
The Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame is located at 97 Main Street in Stony Brook Village. The second annual LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival runs September 25–27.
Following the screening will be a Q&A conversation with Snowden and many of the artists featured in the film, including DJ Kaos (Fred Cox), DJ Spider (Mike Watts), Will Castro, DJ Rah G Raj (Roggie Pettaway), and DTA Diamond the Artist. The panel will be moderated by Amelia Moore.
There will also be a LIVE Music performance featuring DJ J-1 (James Miller), DJ RNB (Robert Barnes), DJ Belal Miller, DJ DTA Diamond the Artist, DJ Kaos (Fred Cox), JVC Force – B-Luv and AJ Rok, MC Glamorous, Son of Bazerk featuring Half Pint, Sport G and Mastermind, and Divine Sounds (Disco Richie and Brian Ace Soundz).
Several people who appeared in the film will also be in attendance, including Greg Ramos, Charles Davis, Robert Davis, Brent Quarles, Tony McClurkin, Eric Riddick, Verona Ford and Antar LaGrande.
The three-day festival features 43 music documentaries from 11 different countries. Tickets and passes are available now. The full lineup has been announced, and full details are available on LIMEHOF’s website.
About Director Archie Snowden – Archie Snowden is an award-winning multimedia journalist who currently serves that role for WHNT News 19 in Huntsville, Alabama. Born in Amityville, Long Island and graduated from Central Islip High School. His media career spans more than two decades while operating as a sports producer and reporter. He worked as a reporter for Verizon FiOS 1 News Long Island and RNN-TV from 2010 to 2019.
For nearly two decades, he worked as a video and news production instructor at the CSB Media Arts Center in Westbury, mentoring thousands of aspiring journalists and video professionals.
In his film directorial debut, he created the documentary, The Long Island Underground Legends of Hip Hop, a film that challenges traditional hip-hop narratives which usually focus strictly on the concrete landscape of New York City’s five boroughs. It shines a light on the teenagers, DJs, MCs, rappers and grassroots crews who built a thriving movement among the grass and suburban streets of Long Island. It digs deep into the 1970s and 1980s scene, tracing underground talent from Hempstead to Riverhead, and out to the Hamptons.
Snowden, aka MC Amazin’ A, says, “The film addresses who gets remembered when hip-hop history is told and who gets omitted by mainstream gatekeepers.”
About the Featured Artists
DJ Belal Miller – prominent hip-hop and R&B radio personality, travel DJ, and member of the early Uptown Records hip-hop group Groove B Chil
DJ J-1 – rap music pioneer and one of the first successful Hip-Hop DJs in Suffolk County.
JVC Force – B-Luv and AJ Rok – Influential Golden Era American hip hop group from Central Islip, Long Island, New York. Best known for their seminal 1987 underground anthem “Strong Island”. Active primarily between 1987 and 1993, the trio played a pivotal role in establishing Long Island’s footprint in the East Coast hip hop scene alongside contemporaries like Public Enemy and EPMD.
Diamond The Artist (A.K.A. DTA Experience) – Featuring cut master DJ Kaos (formerly DJ Diamond J), is a Brooklyn-born, Long Island-based multi-talented music veteran, DJ, rapper, producer, actor, and radio personality. He serves as an on-air talent for SiriusXM and hosts shows across multiple stations, including OG 98.9 FM and The Shore 93.5 FM. He has worked on projects, tours, or events alongside massive industry staples including Beyoncé, Diddy, and Kevin Hart.
MC Glamorous (Born Jo Ann Berry, later Jamillah Abdul-Kareem) is a pioneering American hip-hop artist. She is best recognized as Long Island’s first female rap artist and an original member of Marley Marl’s legendary Juice Crew Allstars. Native of Roosevelt, Long Island. Released her highly sought-after solo single “Good To Go” in 1988 under Prism Records.
Son of Bazerk – Freeport-based hip-hop group assembled by Hank Shocklee of the legendary production team The Bomb Squad (famous for producing Public Enemy), the group is recognized for its highly energetic, chaotic, and soul-infused musical style. They released their critically acclaimed but commercially overlooked debut album, Bazerk, Bazerk, Bazerk (credited to Son of Bazerk featuring No Self Control and the Band), in 1991.
Sport G and Mastermind – Sport “G” and Mastermind is known for rare 12″ vinyl releases in the late 1980s – an underground Hip Hop duo from Gordon Heights/Coram, Long Island. Known for underground singles like “Louder” and “Live” released via labels such as Street Walker Records.
About LIMEHOF – Founded in 2004, the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the idea that Long Island’s musical and entertainment heritage is an important resource to be celebrated and preserved for future generations. The organization, which encompasses New York State’s Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Kings (Brooklyn) Counties, was created as a place of community that inspires and explores Long Island music and entertainment in all its forms. In 2022, LIMEHOF opened its first Hall of Fame building location in Stony Brook, New York. To date, the organization has inducted more than 130 musicians and music industry executives and offers education programs, scholarships, and awards to Long Island students and educators.
