hip hop

For the 4th of July, Host and Producer Garrett Pittman took to the streets of his New Orleans neighborhood to ask the people he met, "What's your essential BBQ banger?" The result: The 4th of July Peoples' BBQ Mixtape, served with a side dish of songs about good grub.

The show was improbable and internal — a roster of cameos reflecting the city's tradition of bounce music and Cash Money Records — and its ringleader was a local superstar happy to share the stage.

The rapper and actor says he is paying a debt with his film about hip-hop. "Rap music saved my life," he says.