The following info and Bio is taken from the original A4 promo document…

“In 1999 the sound of underground London, and suburban and provincial England for that matter is hip hop. More precisely a hip hop increasingly built of the English language, slang and lyrics laid on top of traditional and rooted break beats and elaborate samples.

The 1980’s witnessed the exceptional growth of hip hop music worldwide, from a novelty fad to a viable multimillion dollar industry. Born in the Bronx, New York City out of poverty and struggle hip hop became the voice of a generation; its raw and uncompromising style unleashing the years of oppression and hardship felt by many of the MC’s and DJ’s involved.

In the UK at the same time, their senses numbed by a constant stream of chart music; the youth, feeling a need to express themselves but with no outlets were forced to look abroad. Then from across the atlantic came not just a music but a culture with a weight and passion that would leave no portion of the population immune to its effects. From the early days it became apparent that hip hop was a music of the youth; a street culture where the only entry requirements were enthusiasm, creativity and a love for the music.

The youth finally had an identity; although at this time heavily influenced by the US. As time has passed so has hip hop in the UK evolved, becoming more uniquely British and self-sufficient, American attitudes are now deemed inappropriate and far removed from the UK realities. The people had created a music for the people – by the people.

THE PIONEERS documentary presents its subject first hand, with a truthful and open-minded attitude. Within hip hop there exist certain stereotypes about how people perceive the music and the people related to it, these stereotypes often compounded by inaccurate media coverage; THE PIONEERS is the real story of the UK hip hop scene; the realities of the culture and the industry depicted through interviews, live performances, freestyles and recording sessions with all of the leading UK hip hop heads.

At present, although British hip hop is experiencing increased national radio play still many of the artists remain relatively anonymous – but for how long?“

The Pioneer Biographies (Taken from Original A4 Promo Document)

Disorda
Having been involved in near enough all aspects of the UK Hip Hop scene in a professional capacity since 1995, Disorda has most certainly been there, done that!

From handling promotional and vocal duties for his own crew (Intelligent Madness’) first vinyl release in 96, hosting numerous radio shows throughout the country and indeed world-wide, organising and promoting his own hip hop jams, setting up and maintaining his own web site (www.suspect-packages.com), to running a mail order mix tape / CD / video company providing a platform for UK hip hop artists to gain valuable exposure via his UK Hustlerz and Mind The Gap mix tape series; sales of which have regularly reached as far afield as Japan and Australia.
And this is the next instalment in his quest for world domination; THE PIONEERS. THE British hip hop documentary, directed and produced by Chris Leech and Daniel Rayner.

Chris Leech
Annoyed and frustrated at the lack of passion in the majority of today’s filmmaking, Chris was spurred on to make THE PIONEERS. A project born out of a universal love of hip hop music and filmmaking, in which he has captured the raw energy of the UK’s underground hip hop scene.

Daniel Rayner
Tired of Hollywood commercialism, Daniel found solace in the creativity of left-field, quality low budget films from France, China and Japan. This diet of film and documentary inspired him to inject a unique sprit and quality in to his work.

Whilst studying film at Newcastle, Daniel was involved in shooting various live music events around the country; clients included MTV and Tyne Tees Television.

As a film making team Chris and Daniel go back to their early teens; producing no-budget gore flics on an old super & camera.

YOUTUBE ONLY (XTRA CUT VERSION)

Note from MuggerHarris Youtube Page on this 2021 updated version of the documentary…

“Here is a new upload of ‘The Pioneers’ with some little added extras. We originally made it in 2000 before filming this kind of thing was easy, driving round the country using real maps and bulky camera gear. The film was made by a crew of two people with no backing hoping to catch a moment in Hip Hop history. It was all done out of love of the music, we were young and it was our first time doing anything like this. Somewhere the raw footage still exists with loads of unseen footage. A fresh reedit could still happen. I have no copy of this film and had to use a video upload of our film from youtube to make this cut. I’ve added some extra parts, if any artists want these bits removed just ask. This has been done for all those that want to look back at some fun, creative days of brilliant music. This is for those who want to remember a slice in time before everything was constantly filmed.“