Actor/rapper Joaquin Phoenix held a press conference in Beverly Hills to respond to accusations that his rap documentary is a Borat-esque hoax. At the conference, Phoenix humbly poked fun at the project, saying it is inevitable that some people won’t take him seriously, but that won’t stop him from giving it his all.
“But what I wanna do is make the f*cking Wall,” he said (via VH1). “I want to do the hip-hop Floyd…I have one track right now that’s five minutes that I’m trying to make seven.” So who is going to help him make the rap version of one of the greatest albums of all time? Apparently Method Man has offered assistance, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea may make an appearance, actor Dermot Mulroney (“He is an amazing cellist,” says Phoenix) and Diddy is helping get the project off the ground.
“Diddy said to me, ‘You’ve gotta get out there,’” Phoenix said. “Diddy knows a lot great people and stuff. … My dream would be to have DJ Premier produce a track and have Chuck D too — but Chuck D would never do it.”
I would say this conference rules out the possibility that this is all a big hoax, like Borat, but it could still be a big piece of performance art, à la Andy Kaufman’s Tony Clifton.