Main content

The Great Hip Hop Hoax

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.

Foul-mouthed Californian hip hop duo Silibil n' Brains were going to be massive. But no-one knew the pair were really amiable Scotsmen, with fake American accents and made up identities. This documentary tells the audacious tale of how two lads from Dundee duped the record industry and nearly destroyed themselves.

When their promising Scottish rap act was branded 'the rapping Proclaimers' by a scornful record industry, friends Billy Boyd and Gavin Bain reinvented themselves as Los Angeles homeboys. The lie was their golden ticket to a record deal and a dream celebrity life. With confessions from the rapping imposters, insight from the music industry they duped and animated elements, the film charts the rollercoaster story of this outrageous scam.

A stranger-than-fiction true account of fractured friendship, the pressure of living with lies and the legacy of faking everything in the desperate pursuit of fame.

1 month left to watch

1 hour, 26 minutes

Last on

Sat 29 Jun 2019 22:30
麻豆约拍 Scotland

More episodes

Previous

Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic

Next

Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer

See all episodes from Storyville

Clips

See all clips from The Great Hip Hop Hoax (4)

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • Silibil N Brains

    Medicine

  • B Production

    We Got More

  • Trad.

    Scotland the Brave

  • Automuse

    Polveron

  • B Production

    Five of the Best

  • B Production

    The Movement

  • Frightened Rabbit

    Scottish Winds

  • Automuse

    7ths

  • B Production

    Wise Words

  • Automuse

    Arthur's Afterhours

  • B Production

    We Got More

  • FOUND

    Shallow

  • Silibil N Brains

    Everyday

  • Silibil N Brains

    Let's Get Naked

  • Silibil N Brains

    Losers

  • Outro

    Glitch

  • FOUND

    Blendbetter

  • S-Type

    League

  • Silibil N Brains

    Tongue Kung-Fu

  • Silibil N Brains

    Your Moms

  • Martin John Henry

    Breathing Space (Instrumental)

  • Silibil N Brains

    Ooh Aah

  • Labi Siffre

    I Got The聟

  • Automuse

    7ths

  • Silibil N Brains

    Shut Yo Mouth

  • Automuse

    Smokey Mancini

  • The Magnetic North

    Warbeth

  • Silibil N Brains

    I Play With Myself

  • Automuse

    Contact

  • Automuse

    Rattling

  • Silibil N Brains

    Your Moms

  • Holiday for Strings

    Particles

    Remix Artist: Automuse.

  • Automuse

    Evil Eye

  • FOUND

    You're No Vincent Gallo

  • Hopeless Heroic

    Brasco

  • The Magnetic North

    Bay of Skaill

  • Gavin Bain & Billy Boyd

    The Great Hip Hop Hoax end credits

Director Jeanie Finlay on 'The Great Hip Hop Hoax'

Director Jeanie Finlay on 'The Great Hip Hop Hoax'

What is more important, story or character?听

I鈥檓 not sure you can have one without the other. All the films I make are portraits to varying extents, The Great Hip Hop Hoax is probably the most story driven film I have made but I hope that you go on a journey with the characters and feel differently about them at the end of a film than you did at the beginning. Even in a very narrative heavy film, if you were to cut out character all you would be left with would be plot.

I was really drawn to the small details of the story and the pair鈥檚 deception that helped bring it to life 鈥� the 鈥渓aminate flooring鈥�!

听

What made you first want to explore the subject?

As soon as I read about the deception Silibil n鈥� Brains pulled off I knew I wanted to make a film about their story. I was intrigued with how the lie took on a life of its own and ran away from them.

Everybody lies everyday, it's human nature but what happens when you lie about your whole identity to get what you want? I felt haunted by the idea that the boys changed themselves fundamentally, all for the hollow promise of fame.

I kept thinking about my (Scottish) father and the improbability of him ever sacrificing his 鈥淪cottishness鈥�. I told him about the story and he found the idea ridiculous.

I wanted to discover how and why they did it and what the lasting effect on them was鈥� I鈥檓 also a really rubbish liar, I could never have done what they did.

听

How long did it take to get the film off the ground?

It took a long time 鈥� I first started filming Gavin almost five years go. It took a while to get both Billy and Gavin both on board for various reasons 鈥� I went and made SOUND IT OUT in the interim. It was worth waiting until I was able to tell the story from both men鈥檚 perspective. The story lies in-between the two of them.

听

What were you most surprised to learn in the course of production?

It was fascinating comparing different versions of the same events. Billy and Gavin鈥檚 in some places were beat for beat and in other places wildly different. I had to plough through the 鈥渓ies about the lies about the lies鈥�. It was like unravelling a jumper.

I found my reaction to some of the archive surprising, knowing the two of them as grown men I was genuinely surprised by some of their behaviour in the guise of Silibil n鈥� Brains back in 2004 鈥� smashing glass on the street in particular.

听

What have been the differences in reception to the film in countries it has now travelled to?

It has gone down brilliantly, particularly in Canada. Maybe my Canadian editor Jim Scott has left his mark.

听

Which documentary has most inspired you?

Too many to mention. To celebrate the release of the film Broadway Cinema in Nottingham where I am based programmed a mini season of my favourite films. These included the docs:

American Movie

The Agony and the Ecstacy of Phil Spector

They are both portraits of a kind, one of a likeable slacker who is just really trying to get his film made. Another of a great artist who is also facing trial for murder. I am both in awe of Spector鈥檚 music, charmed by his talent and repulsed by actions. Such a layered portrait, it鈥檚 a great film.

听

Favourite Website/blog?

I could lose many hours listening again to my favourite podcast This American Life

听

Person you鈥檇 most like to interview (living or dead?)

I would have loved to meet Jimmy Ellis aka Orion who I鈥檓 making my new film Orion about. I鈥檓 piecing his life together through archive and stories 鈥� he was brutally murdered 14 years ago. At the moment I鈥檓 ploughing my way through hours of recordings, a voice 鈥渇rom the grave鈥� if you like. I鈥檇 love to hear from the man himself.

Bobbie Gentry 鈥� her mysterious departure from public life after her time in the spotlight has always intrigued me.

When I was about 10 we had to write an essay for school entitled "my hero". Most of the girls in my class wrote about Lady Diana and her flicky hair. My essay was about Kenneth Williams. I was kind of obsessed with him and what I saw as his arch wit. I would have given anything to meet him and ask him questions all day.

听

Best piece of filmmaking advice you鈥檝e ever been given?

If you want to be a filmmaker, don鈥檛 just talk about it - make films.

听

Best piece of filmmaking equipment you can鈥檛 live without?

An editor!

The golden rule is don鈥檛 ask filmmakers about cameras, as they鈥檒l never stop and it鈥檚 very dull.听 My well stocked Peli cases have a 7d, a c300, lenses, GoPro, mini lights, sound kit, magic arm, window clamp.... I like knowing I can load up my car at anytime and go filming on my own if I need to.

听

If money was no object, what is your dream documentary subject?

I鈥檓 interested in telling small and shy stories. I sometimes feel like a shy person in the role of an extrovert, as a filmmaker. I鈥檝e found a way of connecting with an audience 鈥� a film can make a very small and intimate story accessible by thousands, but without the need for shouting.

I can鈥檛 really say but it鈥檚 something deeply uncommercial, small, uncommisionable and would never attract funding in a million years.

听

Favourite film of all time?

Black Narcissus 鈥� Powell and Pressburger

Nuns, sexual repression, lipstick and transformation, directed by a maverick duo in post war Britain. DOP Jack Cardiff brought the Himalayas to life on a sound stage in London using black and white photo backdrops coloured with chalk. The effect is breathtaking.

听

Most difficult access?

Many of the people you see in The Great Hip Hop Hoax听didn鈥檛 want to take part initially, that鈥檚 the same for Sound It Out听as well. Part of my job is to persuade people that being in a film could be a good experience and that I will treat their contribution with fairness and respect. I really enjoy interviewing people who have never been on camera before and might see themselves as unlikely contributors. Who really wants to hear from someone who wants to be in a film?

听

Best recent read?

Gillespie and I by Jane Harris 鈥� an unreliable narrator takes us through the winding art world of 1880s Glasgow.

Credits

Director Jeanie Finlay
Producer Jeanie Finlay
Producer Al Morrow

Broadcasts

Featured in...

Hip Hop on 麻豆约拍 Scotland

Hip Hop on 麻豆约拍 Scotland

Programmes on the 麻豆约拍 Scotland channel hip hop season.

TV blog: 鈥淟ies about the lies鈥�

鈥淭he quest for truth also governed the way the film looks鈥�

How the 'rapping Proclaimers' lived a lie

Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd pretended to be American rappers and lived a lie for three years

Animating The Great Hip Hop Hoax

The animators talk about bringing the characters of Silibil n鈥� Brains to life

Gallery

Related Links

  • (hiphophoax.com)
  • (www.silibilnbrains.com)
  • (www.youtube.com)