The majority of people profiled were of the pioneering generation of Baltimore club music, rather than the new wave of artists.

My first contacts in Baltimore were from the old school. The only younger artists I met and shot with were TT and Schwarz. In the editing process, I felt that it was more important to go deep in the roots of the genre. Plus, spending so little time there, I felt it was too big of a mission for me to document the scene as a whole and besides Mighty Mark, TT and Schwarz, I didn't know too much of the young scene. Shooting with the pioneers made me understand how it was important for them to tell the story, to take the time to do so, in a non-MTV format. I've seen a few short docs on Bmore club but I always felt like it was missing time to go deeper. That's often the problem with mainstream TV when they document sub-cultures.

There is scene in the film dedicated to Miss Tony, the legendary Baltimore club MC who was a drag queen and really our first club celebrity. What did Tony's presence in Baltimore club tell you about the city, considering that rappers who identify as queer are still widely shut out on a national and local scale throughout the U.S.?

If you listen to Bmore club and you're not open-minded, you may say that Baltimore club is a violent and sexist music (dick control, shake your ass, hoes, etc.). I felt it was important to say that the queer culture was [very visible] in the Baltimore club scene, as much as the presence of female artists. Even if Baltimore may seem harsh, it's not a problem to be gay or trans/queer and to be a leader of urban culture scene. I wanted to tell the audience "Yeah, Bmore club is raw as fuck, but it's not only a guy thing,” and like in every musical genre of the last few decades, the queer/gay scene is primordial. Plus, I wanted this scene to be a real tribute to Tony, because I heard many things about him. I felt it was justice to give Tony as much space in the movie as someone like Swift.

For a non-Baltimorean, that's a stance I haven't seen taken too often because, like you said, Tony is very much a local hero. He died before the mainstream got to us. From your perspective, was he just as vital as Swift?

I think so. According to people I interviewed, he was the first to shout lyrics on club. So I felt it was important to tell his story in some way. I know that he was the first club “celebrity," and for a scene that doesn't have too many, I felt that it was just justice to give him a shoutout. You can hear a real deep message in some of Tony's tracks like "Living In The Alley"; he’s shouting all the Baltimore neighborhoods to promote unity in a city that needs some. It’s like he’s saying "Be proud of yourself, of your culture, and your city.”