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The Great American Guinea Pig is a feature-length documentary that profiles the epic and emotional journey of 27-year old Rodney Lucas. Hailing from the gutters and underside of southside Chicago's 75th Street as well as the Madison housing projects of Bayview and Truax, Rodney's background mirrors that of many of the young hustlers seen on HBO's The Wire. This young man has lived through and witnessed horrors that the would make the hardest cringe. His best friend was gunned down dead, he lived out of a one-bed bedroom hotel with his mother and 5 siblings, and his father was convicted of and sentenced to 45 years in prison for murder. Rodney has held guns, has held jobs and sold crack all to get by. Though not the picture of your model citizen, Mr. Lucas is acutely intelligent, highly articulate and undeniably charismatic. His warm smile is contagious and can't help but draw you in. One look at Rodney recalls a young Richard Pryor, the great comedic legend with whom shares the art of storyteller. Yet Rodney's art is hip-hop.
Currently homeless and dating a beautiful white model from Iceland that he met on tour, Rodney has spent the last two years pushing and feeding the machine that is F. Stokes. Performing under this MC name, he has mastered emerging technologies like social networking sites, slept on the floors of fans, and rocked houses from Brooklyn to Australia. Rodney willingly does this as part of creating awareness for his movement. Some ponder the vision of the life they want to live; others, like Mr. Lucas, swiftly pounce on it with claws fully engaged.
In a street prophet-like fashion, he aims to unify people from all walks of life by speaking about universal themes that span race, creed and color. Such issues include domestic abuse, overcoming insecurities and drug addiction. Rodney has sets the stakes high for the new F.Stokes album The Great American Guinea Pig and is obsessed with getting it distributed by a major Midwest indie hip-hop label like Doomtree or Rhymesayers. The Great American Guinea Pig traces the recording of his new project and its success or failure both in the industry and Rodney's eyes.
The Great American Guinea Pig reveals the journey of a young material-obsessed rapper to a socially conscious artist, on the brink of signing a major label deal. Yet on a deeper more personal level, the film will reveal a young boy's forced entry into adulthood at an early age and the amazing strength and balance he exhibited to handle and overcome this reality. The audience will be given full access into his innermost battles where he combats the demons holding him back from living a more fulfilled, meaningful existence.
Crew:
Director: Garth Donovan
Producer: Adam Roffman
Cast:
Rodney Lucas
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