Runtime: 56 minutes
Directors: Yemi Oyediran
"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, Freddy King's guitar blues, 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. What began as “records for the little man” became a cultural force.