James Brown hit the big screen with HBO new documentary 'The Legend of the Underground'

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Nigerian crossdresser Obialor James better known as James Brown finally hit the screen with the new HBO documentary The Legend of the Underground.

A movie that explores the life, break down and barriers of being gay in Nigeria and the punishment that comes with it without excluding the African society reaction to the LGBTQ community.

According to PEOPLE, the documentary is slated to premiere on June 10 at the Tribeca Film Festival, and on June 29 on HBO and HBO Max has it aims “to uncover rampant discrimination in Nigeria” in terms of the African country’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

The Legend of the Underground is directed by Nneka Onuorah and Giselle Bailey, with John Legend as an executive producer

According to HBO, the documentary “explores the lives of several charismatic non-conformist youths who must choose either to fight for freedom of expression there or flee to live ‘free’ in the USA.

In the nearly 2-minute trailer, LGBTQ+ people who have fled Nigeria to relocate to the U.S. tell their stories. “I feel guilty, ’cause I have people have a home who cannot have this [privilege] that I’m having [here],” one person says.

“For Nigerians, we fear what we don’t know,” another voice is heard saying, while a third says, “When are we going to overcome this?”

Speaking with PEOPLE, the directors Onuorah and Bailey said; “as two women, one Nigerian and one Jamaican, what drew us to create this film is the fact that there was a lack of visibility and access to the beautiful androgynous and non-conformist communities in these type of countries where being different can be criminalized, we wanted to help paint an authentic picture that was a true depiction of this community and not one media likes to portray.”

“On the asylum side of the story — being daughters of immigrant parents, and one of us being an immigrant having to move to the United States — we wanted to create empathy around the story of having to create a new home, culture and family in new spaces,”

“We hope through this film that people know they are not alone and there are others just like them and they can do more than survive. They can thrive.”

Aside from John Legend, 42, other executive producers on board are Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius who teamed up with Onuorah and Bailey to provide “a timely and critical look at a vibrant and resilient community that continues to fight state-endorsed discrimination in Nigeria while celebrating who they are.”

Rounding out the project’s team are editor Rabab Haj Yahya and cinematographer Stephen Bailey, as well as associate producer Katie Mark.

“Through social media, celebrity and bold creativity, they spark a cultural revolution that challenges the ideals of gender, conformity and civil rights in Nigeria,” the release says of the team behind the film.

James Brown was born on February 18 1999 and gained popularity in 2018 after he was arrested at a gay party in Lagos. His grammatical error in a viral video of him in which he said “they didn’t caught me” hit the internet.

Ever since he has engaged in crossdresser social media fracas with self-acclaimed Nigerian crossdresser queen Bobrisky as to who is the queen or not.

James Brown is also a comedian, gay actor, dancer, content creator and brand influencer and he has got lots of content on his Instagram page and other recently featured projects to show for it.

Social media went agog when the trailer of The Legend of the Underground was released as James Brown fans celebrates his new achievement saying ‘James Brown is now International’ while Bobrisky only appears on Netflix to sell bleaching cream.

(Is James Brown not truly international? After all, he said “the whole world is watching me…”)