A Talk With Adam Bhala Lough, The Filmmaker Behind Two Lil Wayne Docs

His latest Lil Wayne doc was leaked before completion, but he’s going to finish it and possibly release it alongside Wayne.

Award-winning filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough has been diligently working on a follow-up to his cult classic The Carter documentary for over a decade. But last December, midway through the process, a Lil Wayne fan hacked into his Vimeo account, stole the rough cut, and uploaded it to YouTube. Lough, who’s also crafted The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee “Scratch” Perry, and Alt Right: Age of Rage, uploaded the file to his own YouTube account with a caption explaining the situation, and noting, “Wayne, if you see this, I’m open to connecting.”

I talked to Lough last Thursday, right after he had a positive call with Lil Wayne’s manager Fabian Marasciullo. He says the two discussed the possibility of formally releasing the film whenever the final cut is done. When Lough began filming the original Carter in 2007, Wayne gave him footage that other people recorded of him from 2002 to 2004. Lough, who originally began editing The Carter Documentary Part 2 with filmmakers Bill and Turner Ross, says there’s so much footage from that early period that he could do a two-part film.

Wayne attempted to block the official release of the original The Carter documentary, apparently due to scenes showing his lean usage. His $50 million lawsuit was thrown out in 2009, but the Quincy Jones III-produced film never received the full release it deserved, now being impossible to find beyond unofficial uploads on sites like YouTube. The footage captures Wayne at his zenith, with Tha Carter III going platinum in a week and the prolific artist realizing his self-fulfilling “Best Rapper Alive” prophecy. The Carter Documentary Part 2 shows Wayne an era (or two) before that period, creating an interesting juxtaposition.

In The Carter, he records in giant luxury hotel suites; The Carter 2 begins with him arguing over a room at the Radisson Inn. The film is unpolished, but it’s hard for fans not to feel his fervor to be the best artist he can, as seemingly every other scene showcases him rapping for whoever’s around. I had a sprawling conversation with Lough, a lifelong Wayne fan, about being around the iconic artist, the importance of showing the full scope of a subject, and how the original filming process reset the course of his life.