Chef Raekwon + P. Wall + Tego Calde El Abayarde = VH1 Doc

Puerto Rico's sickest lyricist, Staten Island's Cuban Link Pie Cooker, and Houston's Grilled up spitter are doing a documentary with VH1 on Sierra Leone's bloody diamond trade. Sohh has the scoop:

For eleven years Sierra Leone was the setting of mass genocide and the horrors that took place between 1991 and 2002 were committed primarily by rebels whose primary funding for their cause was the illegal trading of conflict diamonds, also referred to as "blood" diamonds.

Bling: A Planet Rock will follow Paul Wall, Raekwon and Tego Calederon as they visit mining communities in Sierra Leone, capturing the artist's reactions as they meet local musicians, government officials and children in order to hear the first-hand accounts of the terrible atrocities carried out during the civil war.

As VH1 investigates how hip-hop's demand for "bling" played a role in the war, the film's greatest aim is to raise public awareness about the issue on a global level, helping to educate viewers about ways they can help end the smuggling of blood diamonds. VH1 plans to air the special early in 2007.

Once again Hip Hop steps up to use its power for progressive causes. I'm glad I found some good news amid all this WAR talk.