Nas (Facebook)
Nas is teaming with BET to executive produce “Street Dreams,” a biographical series based on his life.
The hour-long show is named after the rapper’s 1996 hit single and is set in early 1990s New York City, where Nas grew up in the Queensbridge projects, according to Deadline. “Street Dreams” will cover the emcee’s family dynamics as well as the ups and downs of the rap industry and Nas’ climb from being a crack dealer to performer and adult.
The online magazine reported deals for the project are still being fleshed out, but Nas and manager Anthony Saleh will head production along with Jonathan Levine, who wrote the script and will direct the pilot BET ordered. Jamie Patricof and Lynette Howell also are on tap to executive produce the show.
“Street Dreams” was originally imagined as a half-hour comedy series from now-extinct XBox Entertainment Studios in 2014 and the personnel on board for the new incarnation were on staff for that version, too.
BET’s Nas series is the newest effort by the rapper, born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, to expand his small-screen résumé. He serves as executive producer for the Netflix hip-hop series “The Get Down,” which debuted in 2016, and he also wrote raps for the show’s characters. Before then, Nas appeared in several films, including the mockumentary comedy “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,” where he appeared as himself and the 2013 musical drama “Black Nativity,” where he played Prophet Isaiah.
