Bling: A Planet Rock, a new documentary directed and produced by Raquel Cepeda, explores the way the illegal diamond trade contributes to the violence and poverty in Sierra Leone.

In order to encourage awareness and promote "conscious consumerism," Cepeda traveled to Africa with hip hop luminaries Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan, DJ Paul Wall (himself a jewelry store owner who sells custom “grills”) and reggaeton star Tego Calderon, allowing them to see firsthand the complex relationship between blood and bling. They visited refugee camps and diamond mines and met with government officials and local artists.

Cepeda was interviewed Wednesday afternoon on WNYC’s Soundcheck, and she offered some fascinating insights on what drew her to the project and how she pulled it together.

"We had to find a way to make consciousness sexy" she said, and "nobody rocks diamonds the way hip hop people rock diamonds, and nobody has had such an impact on the way our socialites and our rock stars and our movie stars wear jewelry...A lot of people in hip hop grew up having nothing...and wearing diamonds affords them a place in high society."

The artists who traveled with her "wanted to go on this free trip, and part of them wanted to get promotion, but they didn’t realize what they were going to see when they actually got out there, because I can’t explain it." She described the profound effect the trip had on the three men, adding "if they engage in this kind of conversation...they’re becoming conscious consumers, and that hopefully will trickle down into their art, into their lyrics."

Bling: A Planet Rock screens in a number of venues around the country in the coming months, and a DVD will be released on September 18th.