“To get a dream, it’s not like you’re just going to dream and it’s going to come to reality. You have to go through stuff,” Sona says.

Making a film

In 2008 he achieved another one of his dreams by completing a feature-length film, funded by money earned through “Man in the Mirror.”

Disenchanted with rap and hip-hop’s infatuation with money and violence, Sona directed his documentary in 2008, calling it “Behold Something Bigger than Tupac.” Shot in Africa, Europe and the United States, the film cites a steady decline in hip-hop’s social conscience following the death of Tupac Shakur in 1996, and Sona denounces several popular rap icons, including Nas and 50 Cent.

The movie premiered Aug. 24 at the Miramar Theatre in Milwaukee and received a mixed response, according to Sona.

“We’ve had a lot of positive response from some of the people who have actually seen the film and are actually part of the hip-hop community,” Sona says. “A lot of people came out and were actually speechless.”

Some have criticized the movie, however, as degrading Tupac’s legacy.

Cyauthur Deacon, Sona’s friend and co-worker as a chemist at PPG Industries in Milwaukee, says he was impressed by the final product regardless of its critical reception.

“No one imagined he had such huge ambitions. He did this pretty much all himself. He had the drive, it wasn’t like he was following a template. … This was his own creative effort,” he says.

“He’s not the average commercial stuff. In that regard, I would say he’s very progressive,” Deacon says. “Sona at this time I think is in an ‘emerging’ phase. There is a potential, if he has the exposure, to really make an impact.”

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