(AllHipHop News) Rap legends Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and Nas hosted a Hip-Hop boot camp to educate the young stars of Baz Lurhmann’s new TV series “The Get Down.”
The show stars Jaden Smith, Shameik Moore, and Justice Smith as members of a group of talented teens growing up in New York’s South Bronx in the 1970s, during the birth of the Hip-Hop movement.
And before filming on the period project began, director Baz made sure the youngsters were fully versed about the roots of rap.
Justice tells U.S. breakfast show Good Morning America, “Baz’s team was awesome, they provided us with a bunch of resources in terms of books and movies and things like that, but we also had a boot camp with Kurtis Blow and Grandmaster Flash, Lady Pink (graffiti artist), Nas, Raheem from the Furious Five, where they taught us graffiti and breakdance and rap and stuff.”
The castmates even had to perfect popular dance moves from the 70s, with Justice really being put through his paces for his character Ezekiel “Books” Figuero.
Jaden, who is no relation to Justice, explains, “Justice had to go through… learning how to dance, do the hustle, the bus stop, the funky chicken…”
Grandmaster Flash and Nas both served as advisors and producers of “The Get Down,” while the “One Mic” hitmaker also helped to write original rhymes for one of the main characters.
“The Get Down” premieres on streaming service Netflix next week, on August 12.