back to index

The Great Hip Hop Hoax

5.0/5.0

Director: Jeanie Finlay

IMDB: Californian hip-hop duo Silibil n' Brains were going to be massive. No one knew the pair were really Scottish, with fake American accents and made up identities. When their promising Scottish rap act was branded "the rapping Proclaimers" by scornful A&Rs, friends Billy and Gavin reinvented themselves as LA homeboys. The real deal. The lie was their golden ticket to a dream life. With confessions from the scammers, insight from the music execs they duped and doodle reconstructions, the film charts the roller coaster story of the highs of the scam and the lows of madness and the personal toll the deception took. A film about truth, lies and the legacy of faking everything in the desperate pursuit of fame.

BBC synopsis: Documentary telling the audacious tale of how two Dundee lads duped the record industry by pretending to be a Californian hip hop duo and nearly ended up destroying themselves.

Released: 06 Sep 2013 First broadcast: 11 Oct 2013

IMDB: 7.1
Rotten Tomates: 86%
Wikipedia
BBC programme page
Amazon UK prime instant video