Miley Cyrus, Rakim, Depeche Mode, Becky G & Beyond: How Music Became a Key Part of Tribeca Festival
'When we first started taking the train in from Long Island, me and Biz [Markie] and the other Sixth Borough artists had to sneak into events like this and steal a mic to get onstage,' Rakim says. 'Now we got the red carpet.'
The Wyandanch, N.Y.-born rapper, who inspired everyone from Jay-Z to Eminem with his culture-shifting rhymes as part of the duo Eric B. & Rakim, is talking about The Sixth Borough, a documentary about Long Island hip-hop that will premiere at Tribeca Festival on June 11, followed by a set from Rakim and De La Soul. It's one of many music-centric movies playing at the event, which begins June 4 with the world premiere of Billy Joel: And So It Goes, a documentary that will screen weeks after Joel revealed that health issues were forcing him to scuttle all upcoming appearances.
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Tribeca Festival director/senior vp of programming Cara Cusumano has watched its music-related programming steadily increase since joining in 2007 after attending the inaugural festival as a student in 2002 ('I always wanted to be involved in some way,' she recalls). This year's lineup includes documentaries from Becky G (Rebecca), Eddie Vedder (Matter of Time), Billy Idol (Billy Idol Should Be Dead) and more. 'At its core, our new film M is about the deep connection between music, culture, and people,' says Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan of the concert doc Depeche Mode: M, which debuts at Tribeca on June 5. 'Fernando Frías, who directed and conceived the film, did a beautiful job telling that story through the lens of Mexican culture and our shows in Mexico City. To now bring it to Tribeca and share it with a wider audience here is something we're truly proud of.'
'Our local audience is New York – it's the biggest, most diverse moviegoing audience in the world,' says Cusumano of the festival's appetite for eclectic stories. And as new media continues to redefine film, that diversity extends to the cinematic perimeters of projects on this year's lineup, which includes visual albums from Miley Cyrus (Something Beautiful), Slick Rick (Victory) and Turnstile (Never Enough).
'The labels are giving more and more budget toward these visual albums,' says music programmer Vincent Cassous, who worked as a booking agent before joining the Tribeca Festival in 2022. 'It's a big swing for promo.'
Working with each film's director and producer, Cassous helps execute what happens after the film wraps: A Q&A with Cyrus? A performance by Vedder? A house music party? 'Obviously, production and budgets come into play,' he says, adding that the festival is committed to keeping ticket prices low even as production costs rise.
Those post-screening events often carry an emotional weight that even affects seasoned veterans. 'I was backstage with Santana a couple years ago at the Beacon … his hand was shaking when he was introducing the [2023 Carlos documentary],' Cassous says. 'This person has performed for millions of people, but I think for him, he was so vulnerable in the film and his whole family was there.'
'These people are often seeing films for the first time that are their own lives and careers calculated, and then getting up onstage immediately,' Cusumano adds. 'It is such a unique moment in their lives that audiences get to be invited into.'
A version of this story appears in the June 7, 2025, issue of Billboard.
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