Bogus Scottish rappers Silibil N’ Brains to hit the big screen, thanks to McAvoy

The true story of two Scottish hoax rappers who conned the music industry is to be told on the big screen in actor James McAvoy’s directorial debut.

California Schemin’ will follow the rise of Silibil N’ Brains, two students from Dundee, Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd, who pretended to be American in the early 2000s so the hip-hop scene would take them seriously.

They maintained the lie for three years and landed a £100,000 record deal with Sony, appearing on MTV and supporting Eminem on tour.

McAvoy (inset), who is from Glasgow, will play a supporting role in the film, with shooting expected to begin later this year. Scottish actor Séamus McLean Ross will play Bain (Brains) while Boyd (Silibil) will be portrayed by Samuel Bottomley, who is from Yorkshire.

McAvoy, 45, said: “California Schemin’ is as rooted in the California rap scene of the early 2000s, as it is in the workingclass Scottish setting where our story begins.

I’ll be telling a story about friendship, rap and glorious failure that has the potential to move, shock and entertain.

“Adapted by Archie Thompson, we have a script that brilliantly captures the desperation, bravery, talent and sheer con artist genius of our Scottish rapping duo Silibil N’ Brains while with Samuel Bottomley and Séamus McClean Ross we have two special young actors who I feel privileged to be telling this story with on my debut feature.”

In 2001 the pair auditioned for a record label panel on the lookout for the next Eminem, but music bosses sneered at their Scottish accents, dismissing them as the “rapping Proclaimers”. They put on American accents, claiming to be from San Jacinto, California, and attracted attention in London, gaining management and later a record deal with Sony

Music UK for two singles and an album. The duo successfully kept the truth of their Scottish identities a secret within a small circle, but things began to fray as Sony delayed for six months their debut single’s release.

Boyd moved back to Scotland, finding work in the oil industry to support his wife and newly-born child, while Bain continued performing as Brains until he eventually revealed the hoax.

The film is based on Straight Outta Scotland: A True Story of Fakery, Money and Betrayal in the Music Industry, Gavin Bain’s 2010 autobiography.