Kurtis Blow Raps About His Star Turn In Upcoming Christmas Play, “The Hip-Hop Nutcracker”
Source: Hip-Hop Nutcracker
Source: Hip-Hop Nutcracker
Ericka Blount Danois sat down with hip-hop icon Kurtis Blow to talk about his role in the upcoming Christmas play, The Hip-Hop Nutcracker.
Growing up in a house full of books and records, there are many memories I have of sitting on my father’s lap listening to music in his headphones. The early years are remembrances of an eclectic mix of Chaka Khan and Sun Ra, Rod Stewart, Davy DMX and Parliament, Betty Davis, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Chuck Brown. But if there was one record that could easily help classify me with OCD, and that was Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. If that didn’t classify me, then my memorizing of every line in the classic movie, Beat Street, would. So, when I heard that there’s a reimagining of The Nutcracker with hip-hop in The Hip-Hop Nutcracker, which began touring the country on November 9, I was super curious about this cultural mash-up.
The play has been adapted to modern times by Mike Fitelson and takes place in ”Uptown, U.S.A.” in the year of our Lord, 1984, on New Year’s Eve, rather than Christmas. Choreographer Jennifer Weber has dancers performing a variety of styles, including C-walking, breakdancing, krumping, and Harlem shaking. As Tchaikovsky’s score plays, DJ Boo accents the performance with live music along with violinist Mathew Silver.
Kurtis Blow, who opens up the play as the otherworldly MC, was highly instrumental in bringing The Hip-Hop Nutcracker to the masses. On the eve of the show’s New York date, the hip-hop icon spoke to @Okayplayer about participating in the project.
Source: Hip-Hop Nutcracker
Okayplayer: For us, it is interesting to see hip-hop and classical music fused together in such a way. How did you get involved in this project? How do you feel about this cultural mash-up?
Kurtis Blow: One of the main reasons I joined The Hip-Hop Nutcrucker was because of that very same fusion. One of my buddies saw me performing up in the Bronx and he said that I would be great to host this play. At that time, I was working on some music that had that same fusion of classical music with hip-hop beats. I was calling it “King’s Music,” or “Royalty Music” from some old medieval times. It was sort of a strange sound, but it was also kind of hot. So, I was working on track like that and when I was approached with the news I thought that that would be incredible. I then went to rehearsal and these guys were doing ballet and breakdancing to classical music. I said to myself that this is incredible.
OKP: Did you get any flak from either side of the musical genre fence when you began to participate in this play?
KB: Hip-hop folks are taking the culture to another level. We are growing and evolving. Classical and traditional playgoers like where hip-hop is going, too. They say that The Hip-Hop Nutcracker is a fresh take on the original version. They like the modernized style of it.
I come out in the beginning of the play, making me the first thing the audience sees. I sing a couple of songs, since it is the holiday season and throw in “Christmas Rappin’” as a throwback to the old days when times were fun. I get everybody jamming and up out their seats, using the call-and-response (“hey-ho”) and all that.
The last song that I do is a song called, “New Year’s Eve,” which is a new song I made and it just basically is telling people to get ready for New Year’s Eve. At the end of the song, we count down from 10-to-1 as if it was New Year’s and when we get to 1, we all scream! The play starts right after and the story begins on New Year’s Day.
OKP: How did you react to what the dancers were doing?
KB: The dancers are specializing in breakdancing, so when I come back out near the end of the final act, we all sing “The Breaks” with the cast. The crew also comes out and we all do solos, representing our different dance styles that are all mashed up in this Hip-Hop Nutcracker play. There is a whole new culture of b-boys and b-girls out there, representing and taking the culture to the next level.
Source: Hip-Hop Nutcracker
OKP: Tonight’s show, Dec. 14, is at the United Place of Cultural Arts in Washington Heights, New York. Can you speak on the historical significance of that venue for those who might’ve never been?
KB: [Laughs] For me, it was the first church that I went to with the famed Reverend Ike.
OKP: One of the venues is the United Palace of Cultural Arts in Washington Heights in New York for Dec. 14th. Can you tell me about the history of that venue?
KB: It was the first church I went to with famed Reverend Ike. That was his church. I grew up maybe a mile south from there. It was always the place to be. It reopened as The United Palace Theater. They also still do a church service every Sunday.
I remember becoming a preacher. I went to Nyack University Divinity School. I started my own ministry called the Hip-Hop Church in Harlem on 146th Street. An AME Zion church and I preached there about 10 years ago and now I'm back onstage again and singing holiday fun with The Nutcracker.
It’s incredible to be back in your hometown and to see what I experienced as a kids years later. Who would ever think I'd be back on this stage!
It is not too late to cop tickets for tonight's show at the United Palace Theater. Check out this link to get your own ticket for The Hip-Hop Nutcracker.
Ericka Blount is a journalist, professor, and author from Baltimore, Maryland. Her book ‘Love, Peace and Soul: Behind the Scenes of Soul Train’ is available on Amazon. Please follow her (and us!) on Twitter @ErickaBlount.
