How did the idea to connect hip-hop to the conflict in Sierra Leone come about?
Raquel Cepeda: As the chief editor of Russell Simmons’ Oneworld magazine, my goal was to bring the internationalist flavor of the “one world” name to life by using my editorial real estate to promote the notion of global community. I believed it was important to inspire our demographic to travel, to become citizens of Earth rather than just America. I realized that using hip-hop parlance was the best way to engage such a broad body of readers. I also realized that that same power could be utilized in films to make some rather compelling statements.
