Few icons represent New York City like Spike Lee — award-winning director, cultural force, Knicks superfan, and the visionary behind Do The Right Thing.

In this exclusive Boardroom May Cover Story, Spike sits down with Co-Founder Rich Kleiman for a powerful conversation covering: The meaning behind May 19th — Malcolm X’s 100th birthday, the anniversary of Do The Right Thing, and the Cannes premiere of his latest film Highest 2 Lowest starring Denzel Washington & A$AP Rocky.

Denzel stars as David King, a charismatic and powerful music mogul in the midst of a high-stakes corporate power struggle when his son is seemingly kidnapped. Highest 2 Lowest marks Lee’s first collaboration with one-time muse Washington since 2006’s Inside Man. ‘Malcolm X, what he did with that film was amazing,” Lee said, of Washington’s performance as the Black activist and civil rights leader in the 1992 biopic. “And no disrespect to my brother Al Pacino, I love him. But Denzel, in my opinion, should have won” (the best actor Oscar in 1993).