He came from nothing

Self-belief propelled him to success

Nicky Lockett AKA MC Tunes

Rapper / writer / singer

We are all profoundly influenced by the environment in which we are born, grow and live our lives. Filmed over a 6 year period, this is a brutally compelling look at the life of an inner-city musician whose life has been the very definition of roller-coaster. His music was an artistic response to the events and city that defined, impinged, coloured his existence. With massive success at age 19, and the likelihood that he became the world's first successful white rapper, came a whole fresh set of problems and issues for Nicky to negotiate.

Violence, substances, recording contracts being torn up, new musical avenues explored, new contracts, new success and yet more personal tragedy ensued. The film covers almost 30 years of achievements, failures, notoriety and, notably, incredible honesty and erudite self-analysis.

Below is a short development clip:

The Missing Album materialises : 23 years later

At the start of this story there appeared little chance of developments yet there was such an irresistible energy and commitment coming from Nicky, together with an honesty and willingness to discuss everything and anything, that it seemed a waste to not spend some time over an extended period filming with him. There are many facets to this intrigue; some are driven by what could be seen as tragedy; some would likely say poverty plays a part; there is an intelligent anger present too which makes for compelling viewing.

One significant part of the story revolves around the missing master tapes from his second commercial album, which was produced by the legendary Trevor Horn. These show up and are played and displayed in a venue in Manchester, attended by a wide gamut of personalities - as you would expect from that city and after a mystery that has persevered for over 23 years!

Below is a promo reel giving a potted history of MC Tunes' achievements and details of what's around the corner from him.