(AllHipHop News) Netflix is ready to present its own Hip Hop drama. The Get Down is a music-based TV series set in the 1970’s starring Shameik Moore (Shaolin Fantastic) and Justice Smith (Ezekiel “Books” Figuero).
Several real-life Hip Hop stars are attached to the Baz Luhrman created program. Grandmaster Flash serves as an associate producer, adviser, and character. In addition, Nas has been called a “huge creative force” for the show.
Rolling Stone spoke with Nas about his participation with The Get Down. The Queens icon discussed providing rhymes for Smith’s Ezekiel and other characters.
Nas stated:
I put myself in a position … I said to myself, “If it was you, if Ezekiel was you, you’d be telling your story. I made myself Ezekiel. I said, “Yo, Nas, what’s your story growing up in hip-hop? How do you feel by making it to become a voice in the Nineties, because you remember all the hard times, you remember Mayor Dinkins being elected, you remember New York City when the streets were flooded with crack, and crime was everywhere.” So I am Ezekiel. Ezekiel is older than me, but I am that.
The creator of the 2002 single “Get Down” also revealed he immersed himself in early era Hip Hop by looking at photos of popular clubs like Harlem World and The Roxy. Pictures of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and DJ Jazzy Jay were used as inspirations as well.
The Get Down is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on August 12. The cast also includes Herizen Guardiol, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jaden Smith, Skylan Brooks, Tremaine Brown Jr., Mamoudou Athie, Jimmy Smits, and Giancarlo Esposito.
Watch the trailer for The Get Down below.