In the history of hip-hop music, New York City is credited as its birthplace. A rivalry between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop artists helped grow the musical genre. The American South gained hip-hop notoriety through award shows in the 1990s. Even in the Midwest, the more popular artists seem to have come from Chicago or Detroit.
Now, hip-hop artist turned filmmaker Joseph Glover’s docuseries “216: Legends of the Land” aims to enshrine Cleveland’s place in the history and development of hip-hop music.
“I would watch other documentaries, and they wouldn’t have us in there. When you watch a movie, you look for yourself. So, I never saw Cleveland in there,” Glover said. “In the beginning of hip-hop and the culture, Cleveland was a big part of it.”
"216: Legends of the Land" will be available for streaming on Tubi starting April 15 with nine more episodes to be added later this year.
Glover, who goes by the stage name JayKool, was one of the earliest hip-hop emcees from Cleveland. His hip-hop group, Catch 22, signed to music label Profile Records in 1991.
“Cleveland stand up. We are on the books. This is history that they cannot take away from us,” Glover said.
Glover said the doc features Clevelanders who started hip-hop careers even earlier than he did in the early 1980s and some big-names artists from Cleveland, including members of the Grammy Award-winning hip-hop group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
“The Cleveland talent stacks up with any other city. We can go toe to toe,” Glover said. “We are just getting skipped in that mention.”
The four-part docuseries first premiered at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 50 Years of Hip-Hop celebration in 2023.
“It took me aback because a lot of people came out teary-eyed,” Glover said. “People were like, ‘Oh man, I remember all that.’”
Glover said he's spent the last nine years, without any previous filmmaking experience, producing this docuseries.
“Just to see from inception to global launch and these people get their flowers while they’re still living,” Glover said. “It’s just a crazy feeling.”
