As uncanny it may be, a Tupac musical is headed for Broadway. The musical which is slated to be called “Holler If You Hear Me” is being produced by director Kenny Leon. As reported by mtv.com:
“You heard it correctly — Kenny Leon, the theater director responsible for versions of A Raisin in the Sun, Gem of the Ocean, The Mountaintop and Stick Fly, is preparing his first musical, dubbed “Holler If Ya Hear Me.”
“Although the musical won’t be biographical, the director tells the Wall Street Journal that it’s an anti-violence, ‘unconditional love story’ featuring Shakur’s music. It’s based on the book by Todd Kreidler.”
Leon thinks often times hip-hop gets painted in a one-dimensional light and hopes to sketch it instead, as the art form of human expression that it is.
“Some people look at hip-hop and they think they hate everything black or they think they hate everything that uses profanity, or they think it’s about gun violence,” Leon said, calling Tupac a “prophet.”
“When you look at the lyrics of his music, he was always talking about universal things like honor, betrayal, family.”
Even from the grave, Tupac is one of the most influential rappers of all time and is still taking hip-hop to new places.
The “Holler If You Hear Me” musical doesn’t have an official release date, but will likely debut between 2012 and 2014.
