Hip-hop icon Slick Rick brings his long-awaited visual album VICTORY — executive produced by Idris Elba and directed by Meji Alabi (Beyoncé’s Black Is King, Burna Boy) — to the big screen this August with two more major festival debuts:
- August 2 at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival.
- August 7 at HollyShorts Film Festival, screening at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood
A bold, genre-defying cinematic work, VICTORY weaves imagination, resilience, and lyrical mastery into a visual experience that spans continents from London to America to Africa. With narrative threads woven from Rick’s life, standout direction by Alabi, Rick’s unmistakable voice and poetry, and Idris’ vision, the project has already earned critical praise, debuting at SXSW in London and the Tribeca Film Festival in New York this past June, and is now gaining serious momentum in the awards season.
In keeping with his commitment to mentorship and rehabilitation, the film had its first screening on Christmas Day 2024 at Rikers Island, hosted by Rick and his wife/business partner Mandy Aragones through their Bronx-based 501(c)(3), the Victory Patch Foundation, which supports youth empowerment, creative expression, and second chances.
“VICTORY is named with purpose,” said Rick. “This is more than a body of work — it’s where sound meets vision, where resilience meets rhythm. A global love letter to hip-hop, to creativity, and to the overlooked, told through the lens of imagination and truth.”