On New Year’s Day, 2024, hip-hop artist Bryce Savoy’s life was irrevocably changed: His biggest fan, his father Bryce Fluellen, tragically passed away at 53 years old. Among the important lessons Big Bryce (as he was known to friends and family) imparted on his son were that everything one wants to do in life is ripe for the taking, and what life offers is not restricted to one lane.
In His New Film, Oakland Rapper Bryce Savoy Explores Fatherhood Through Generations
Bryce Savoy's son was born shortly after he lost his father, the chef Bryce Fluellen. Savoy explores these generational cycles in his documentary, 'Big Bryce Son.' (Courtesy of Bryce Savoy)
Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Big Bryce attended Howard University where he met Tee Tee from Hercules, California. They fell in love and moved to East Oakland, where Savoy was born and raised. Big Bryce worked as a chef and was involved in the food-justice movement; he did cooking demos for the American Heart Association, and made healthy and accessible food his life’s work until his untimely death. His advocacy led him to Los Angeles, where he worked in food policy and taught entrepreneurship in underserved communities through Everytable.
Savoy eventually left Oakland and moved to LA to pursue music and, more importantly, be closer to his father. Unbeknownst to him, he’d be spending his father’s final years with him.
In Savoy’s grief, he processed the best way he knew how, recording a four-track EP titled Big Bryce Son, which includes a heartfelt title track. Big Bryce’s death was followed by the birth of Savoy’s son Zimri — monumental life events occurring just ten months apart.
“I think I realized how much life and death sit in the same house,” Savoy tells KQED. “They occupy the same space in life, in terms of a beginning and an end.”
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Despite the joy Zimri brings Savoy, the fact that Zimri will never meet his grandfather compounds his grief, as does Zimri arriving into this world with serious health complications. So Savoy decided to capture this moment in time in a short documentary, also titled Big Bryce Son.
Savoy hosts the documentary’s Oakland premiere on Friday, Nov. 14, at Rhythm Section Art Lounge for two screenings at 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
“That’s my gift, to be able to transmute whatever grieving, trauma or suffering I’m going through over my life, and being able to put it into my artistry,” Savoy says. “It’s powerful because it’s all of our stories. We’re all going to experience grief. We’re all going to experience trials and tribulations.”
Over the documentary’s 30-minute run time, more than a dozen interviews with loved ones filmed across California tell this tale of fatherhood across generations. Viewers hear from Big Bryce in his own words, taken from a father-son podcast they recorded together.
Big Bryce compliments Savoy for being a point guard in his rap career, unafraid to hand the ball to others so they can contribute or shine. Later, he reflects on his son’s two albums, Neighborhood Diamonds and King Diamond with the highest praise hip-hop heads can give: “No skips.” Seeing Savoy’s reaction tells the whole story: Big Bryce poured love into his son that empowered Savoy to chase his dreams and persevere through obstacles. His latest LP, Just Keep Shining, released on Nov. 3, gets its name from the mantra that’s kept Savoy going through his grief.
“I know I’m going through the most trying, most transformational, toughest times of my life right now, but I’m the most inspired,” Savoy says. “All the opportunities that I’ve wanted in life are coming rapidly. That’s not for nothing. It’s a testament to my perseverance and resilience, and that’s what this project represents for sure.”
Hip-hop is a constant, unifying and driving force in Savoy’s life. When he was a baby, his uncle, Bay Area rap legend G-Nut, would delight him with raps. His older cousin is rapper G Maly, and they’ve been making music together their whole lives, going on 20-plus years of official releases.
Savoy has expanded his entrepreneurship to media projects that depict Black life with nuance through his Neighborhood Diamonds brand. Big Bryce Son the documentary does that by following a narrative thread that embraces familial love and rejects anti-Black stereotypes about broken families. The philosophy behind Neighborhood Diamonds — to find, recognize and support diamonds in the rough — stems from how Big Bryce moved through the world. Savoy infuses that spirit into his music and entrepreneurship, and he intends to pass it down to his son Zimri. It’s all rooted in Oakland.
“It’s never been about the fame,” Savoy says. “It’s about being inspiring, empowering and uplifting others in my community, and making a living off my artistry.”
‘Big Bryce Son’ screens at Rhythm Section Art Lounge (2744 Eat 11th Street, Oakland) on Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., followed by a performance by Bryce Savoy and a Q&A.
