Despite being an extremely high profile franchise, the GTA games have always chosen less-known or popular actors to lend their voices and faces to the in-game character — sometimes they're not even actors. Both CJ from San Andreas and Franklin from V are voiced by professional rappers, for example.
Among others, Lamar Davis in GTA 5 is voiced by a man known as Slink Johnson, who is both a rapper and an actor. His music stage-name is Slink Capone, a name under which he performer hip-hop for a while before moving on to be a full time actor. Aside from Lamar, he is probably well known for playing the title role in Adult Swim's Black Jesus comedy series.
Johnson's most recent work involved additional voice acting and motion capture work for Lamar's new scenes in the Lowriders DLC for GTA Online. Now, Slink has jumped into a new project kicking off from none other than Los Angeles, the city that serves as a basis for Los Santos.
Get LOUD with Slink Johnson is a multi-part YouTube documentary about marijuana and weed culture. It seems that Slink is drawn to controversial topics — GTA is obvious in this, while Black Jesus led to a number of religious debates stemming from the less-open minded folk.
Marijuana is also bound to set the comment sections under his videos ablaze, even though Get LOUD seeks to focus on the people rather than the plant itself.
We travel to different places and cover some of the finest cannabis spots and dispensaries, but I don’t want to categorize it as cannabis show because it’s really a lifestyle show.
Slink makes it clear that this show won't be all about just hitting a blunt without any real substance to it. He will be travelling around, meeting people who can provide interesting insight. Drugs are often major, sometime main, part of GTA stories and V was no different, however the game tends to focus on the negative side of things.
We’re getting to see all types of different products and people, just getting to be that fly on the wall entering other people’s lives. Like I said, it’s not just a stoner show with two guys sitting on the couch getting high.
He also clarifies that this isn't about the "street-weed" and dirty blunts kind of cannabis culture. Get LOUD will be something akin to a gastronomical documentary focusing on high-end restaurants — even weed has its McDonald's level and its Michelin-star level.
We went to Silika Glass, for example, to see how the glass was made. We found out how important it is to have a nice piece of glass, or at least how people appreciate fine glass. There’s much more appreciation for enjoying cannabis than just rolling a jay. It’s an art form, it’s a lifestyle.
As a documentary, the show won't be a scripted series and will focus mainly on interviews or even less formal get-togethers where the topic is discussed.
Would you want future GTA games to give a wider or more varied view of recreational drug use, or should Rockstar stay away from the controversy?
