Photo courtesy Kurtis Blow
This isn’t your grandfather’s “Nutcracker.” Set in the 1980s at a Brooklyn nightclub, this version of the two-act ballet scored by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky features dancers performing backspins and uprocks instead of balançoires and pirouettes. Some of the music might sound familiar, as the classic soundtrack is overlaid with boom-bap sounds. This is “The Hip Hop Nutcracker,” a touring show in its fifth year that features contributions from legendary rapper Kurtis Blow, known for his hits “The Breaks,” “Christmas Rap” and “Basketball.” Blow, who splits his time between New York and Los Angeles, chats about the touring musical, his most enduring song and opening a hip-hop museum.
Richmond magazine: Tell me about “The Hip Hop Nutcracker” and how you got involved.
Kurtis Blow: It’s a real hip-hop interpretation of the classic “Nutcracker” story of Tchaikovsky, all that timeless music. … I help get the audience ready to experience the show. I also have this song that I rap, to the introduction of the whole play. It’s a nice little intro, then I come back at the end and I sing “The Breaks” with the cast. … It’s crazy at the end — [a] one-of-a-kind experience for the whole family, what a great show.
RM: You were the first rapper signed to a major record label.
Blow: Yes, I was blessed and fortunate to be around at the right time. Whenever there are miracles and mystical happenings and situations, we always say God has something to do with it. You can hear the smile in my voice as I say this, “I thank God from the bottom of my heart.” Amen.
RM: Speaking of God, what do you make of the fact that Run of Run-DMC, who once billed himself as your son, is now a minister, and you’re a minister as well?
Blow: Yes! He tells me all the time, I got him into hip-hop, and he got me into God. So I think that … he did more for me than I did for him. Amen. [Laughs]
RM: Do you ever get offers to update your song “Basketball” with new players and names?
Blow: Yeah, all the time. That song will live forever, man. What a classic. It really, truly is my favorite sport. Believe it or not, my wife was the one who gave me the idea to make it. She was like, “Baseball has their song, but basketball doesn’t have one, you need to do one.”
RM: Is there anything else you want to mention?
Blow: I would like to give a shout-out to the Universal Hip Hop Museum. We’re going to start construction next year. We open in 2022 in the Bronx Point section of New York. A big project for the Bronx and a big project for New York City, and a big project for hip-hop and music in general. You can go to uhhm.org to find out more.
"The Hip Hop Nutcracker" comes to the Altria Theater Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. $35 to $60.
