About the Film
A cinematic listening session that feels like time travel through America’s musical past. King of Them All revisits 1950s Cincinnati’s King Records – where country met R&B, barriers fell, and the sound of modern music was born.
King of Them All is a feature-length documentary about King Records, the scrappy Cincinnati label that reshaped American music. Founded in the 1940s by Syd Nathan, a brash outsider dismissed by the industry, King dared to put everything under one roof. In a single building, records were written, recorded, pressed, and shipped – capturing performances with an urgency the industry giants couldn’t match. The results were transformative. James Brown’s fiery soul, Little Willie John’s smooth R&B, Hank Ballard’s rock ‘n’ roll anthems, and the Stanley Brothers’ bluegrass harmonies all came through King, together forming a catalog that rewrote the sound of the 20th century.
About the Artist
Yemi Oyediran is a Nigerian American filmmaker and music producer whose work centers on American music history, cultural legacy, and interdisciplinary storytelling. Born in the United States and raised in part in Nigeria, he developed an early connection to music and performance, shaped by both West African and American traditions. Oyediran began his career as a musician and producer before expanding into documentary filmmaking. His work reflects a long-standing interest in the social, historical, and artistic forces that shape popular music.
JP Leong is a Cincinnati-based filmmaker, cinematographer, editor, and photographer whose work highlights the city’s arts, culture, and community. He is also a board member at the Asian American Cultural Association of Cincinnati and an organizer of the Asian Food Fest.
Together, Yemi and JP created Afrochine, a Cincinnati-based creative studio that produces films, music, and multimedia projects that preserve history while pushing culture forward. Afrochine builds bridges between past and present—amplifying underrepresented voices, re-imagining archival materials with cutting-edge tools, and creating space for community dialogue through art.