Cyrus Langhorne
With the Academy Awards just two days away, SOHH recently reached out to rapper-turned-actor Treach to get his take on hip-hop artists looking to make it big in Hollywood.
While Treach believes there are artists who want to do films solely for the big bucks, he also said select hip-hop entertainers have taken the Hollywood scene serious.
“I think overall, everybody’s dream is to be a movie star or be in entertainment in some form or fashion,” Treach told SOHH. “Whether it be sports, film or music, things like that. I think a lot of people now — sure they might see the dollar sign aspect in it and fame factor — take it seriously because of the line of work that I’ve seen, especially looking at hip-hop artists and the acting they have done. You see the growth, the change and knowledge of filmmaking. There’s a lot of them that want to be on the bandwagon just to say they’re doing it and to get that check and notoriety but not everybody can do it.” (SOHH)
Able to also balance music and acting, rapper Busta Rhymes previously spoke to SOHH about hip-hop star Nicki Minaj‘s interest in getting tagged for movies
“I don’t think there’s anything missing from what she’s doing,” Busta recently told SOHH when asked what advice he could offer Minaj in reference to launching a film career. “She’s a new artist. She’s doing more than what new artists do as far as being everywhere and having the success and acknowledgment that she’s had. I’m just saying the only thing left for her to do, from what I can see, and not only the thing left for her to do but the next thing that I would like to see her do is films.” (SOHH)
Last year, Minaj detailed her interest to work alongside blockbuster actor Will Smith and director Tim Burton.
As far as her acting aspirations go, she’s looking for a bit more than the usual rapper-to-actor transitions (meaning we won’t be seeing Nicki’s version of Killa Season). “I want to work with Will Smith, because he’s a very successful rapper-turned-actor and therefore a role model,” Minaj said. “And Tim Burton because I love his crazy imagination. He comes up with these characters that are just so fascinating and the costumes and just creates these whole worlds.” (Entertainment Weekly)
In summer 2010, Young Money‘s Drake envisioned himself playing the role of United States’ President Barack Obama.
“I hope somebody makes a movie about Obama’s life soon because I could play him. That’s the goal [laughs]. I watch all the addresses. Anytime I see him on TV, I don’t change the channel, I definitely pay attention and listen to the inflections of his voice. If you ask anyone who knows me, I’m pretty good at impressions. Slowly but surely, I’m not in the study mode because nobody’s called me about anything, but I just pay attention so when the day comes I’m not scrambling to learn how to speak like him. I want to be involved in great film projects. I don’t want to do the basketball movie that everyone does. I don’t want to do the typical black film that everyone expects. I think that I have enough experience to actually be involved in a real meaty project full of substance.” (Paper Mag)
