"The Tunnel Documentary" Documentarian Choke No Joke Says People Tried To Block Its Release

by DANIELLE STOLICH

Exclusive: Videographer Choke No Joke reveals failed attempts to block release of "The Tunnel Documentary" over content ownership.

Hip Hop videographer-producer Choke No Joke (A Genius Leaves the ‘Hood: The Unauthorized Story of Jay-Z, Last Days of the Roc) is preparing his latest project, The Tunnel Documentary.

The documentary is slated to feature rare footage of and live performances from Lil Wayne, Nas, Jay Z and others at the renowned New York City club during its heyday.  

But the Hip Hop historian explains not every artist or affiliate may make the final cut. 

“There are individuals that are upset about the project because they feel that they should have some stake in it, but they don’t legally have ownership in our content,” Choke No Joke says during an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “So if filmgoers don’t see an artist or any person they feel is relevant to The Tunnel club era in the film that they think should’ve been in it, then that artist or individual is either cooler with or they need something from those people trying to block the documentary’s release.”

Choke No Joke says The Tunnel Documentary will debut at film festivals followed by a worldwide release.

 Choke No Joke worked as a producer, director and videographer with New York City public access TV show StreetFunk TV from 1996 until The Tunnel closed in 2001. Choke later becameRoc-A-Fella Records’ in-house videographer, as well as a producer shows for BET and TV One networks.

“I use[d] to show a producer my shows and he was at MTV at the time doing [MTV] Jams with[Funkmaster] Flex and I use[d] to work on that show,” he says. "Then when it ended that same producer said, ‘We need a live performance show like The Tunnel’ and when he went to BET they created 106 & Park.”