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Just one week after confirming an April 18, 2025, release for the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, the creators behind the film have cast their young King of Pop.
Nine-year-old actor Juliano Krue Valdi will portray Michael Jackson during his formative years in the Jackson 5 — the legendary family band behind such timeless hits as “I’ll Be There,” “ABC” and “I Want You Back.” Valdi is well-known across social media for his Michael Jackson impersonations, with videos of him flawlessly executing the moonwalk garnering thousands of likes and views. He joins Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, who is set to play the older version of the late music icon.
“This opportunity is really important to me because Michael Jackson is the King of Pop, and he is very special in my heart. I’ve been dancing to his songs for five years now,” Valdi said in a statement. “He makes me feel really special and makes me feel good about myself. I love the energy of Michael Jackson.”
Titled Michael, the forthcoming biopic will be directed by Antoine Fuqua, the filmmaker behind 2001’s Oscar-winning Training Day and 2022’s Will Smith-starring Emancipation. In a statement regarding Valdi’s casting, Fuqua said: “Casting the role of the young Michael was more difficult than casting the adult role, because where do you find a child actor with the chops of the greatest entertainer who ever lived? In the end, that was our focus — talent — and we looked far and wide for an actor who could embody Michael’s spirit through his voice, his charisma, and his dance skills. Juliano’s undeniable, raw talent put him at the top of our list.”
Michael also features a slew of accomplished producers, including Graham King of the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody and John Branca and Jon McClain, co-executors of Jackson’s estate. John Logan, a Tony winner and three-time Oscar nominee, wrote the script. Michael is set to survey Jackson’s life and historic four-decade career. Principal photography begins next week (Jan. 22).
Michael Jackson is one of the most successful artists of all time. As a soloist, he earned 13 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits, including “Billie Jean” (seven weeks), “Rock With You” (four weeks) and “Black or White” (seven weeks). Over on the Billboard 200, the music legend score six No. 1 albums, including 1982’s Thriller (37 weeks), 1987’s Bad (six weeks) and 1991’s Dangerous (four weeks).
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UFC 297 will kick off 2024 with its first pay-per-view event as middleweight champion Sean Strickland puts his title to the test against former KSW welterweight champion Dricus du Plessis. The two will enter the ring on Saturday (Jan. 20) at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, but if you weren’t able to grab a travel deal this time or grab last-minute tickets to watch the Strickland vs. du Plessis live and in person, you can still livestream the event through PPV on ESPN+ for $69.99 at 10 p.m. ET.
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The co-main event will see an exciting match-up between Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva as the two fight it out for the vacant bantamweight title. The title became up for grabs once Amanda Nunes announced her retirement during UFC 289 back in 2023.
Other fights you can look forward to also include Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott (welterweight), Chris Curtis vs. Marc-Andre Barriault (middleweight), Brad Katona vs. Garrett Armfield (bantamweight), Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev (featherweight), Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson (featherweight), Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras (bantamweight), Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana (women’s strawweight), Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson (welterweight), Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Priscila Cachoeira (women’s flyweight) and Malcolm Gordon vs. Jimmy Flick (flyweight).
Keep reading to learn how to watch Strickland vs. du Plessis live at home.
When & How to Watch UFC 297: Strickland vs. Du Plessis
UFC 297 will stream live on Saturday (Jan. 20) with early preliminary matchups starting at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and the main card event taking place at 10 p.m. ET through PPV on ESPN+. You’ll need an ESPN+ account in order to get access to the PPV link. If you already have a membership, then you can just head to the fight’s main page and purchase the event through there or click here or the button below to purchase Strickland vs. du Plessis.
Don’t have an ESPN+ membership? You can purchase a bundle, which includes the PPV match as well as an ESPN+ membership for $134.98.
A subscription with ESPN+ will cost $10.99/month and give you access to the entire ESPN+ library including live games of other sports like football, soccer, hockey, baseball and more, game recaps and analyses hosted by Peyton Manning, a shorter version of NFL Primetime, as well as full replays of historic NFL games.
You can even expand your content offerings by bundling ESPN+ with Hulu and Disney+ for more programs to binge at your leisure.
For the last few years, Lil Nas X has carefully built up his public persona as a pop provocateur, master marketer and hilarious internet troll. But in a new clip, the rapper is stripping away all the facade and letting fans get to see the person underneath. On Thursday (Jan. 18), Lil Nas X unveiled […]
After a five-year hiatus, Netflix’s popular hip-hop competition show Rhythm + Flow will return for season two later this year.
The show that crowned its inaugural champion, Grammy-nominated MC D Smoke — and featured guest judges Cardi B, Chance The Rapper, and T.I. — has shaken the program’s lineup dramatically with its new judges Latto, DJ Khaled and Ludacris. In addition, Eminem will serve as a special guest judge for the show’s “Battle Round” competition.
“We are taking things up a notch with a new cast of global hitmakers in our judges and a new pool of undiscovered artists,” Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vp of nonfiction series, said in a statement. “Hip-hop continues to evolve, so it’ll be thrilling to see Ludacris, Latto and DJ Khaled mentoring contestants during their journeys, along with legendary guest judges like Eminem providing their own brand of insight and advice. We saw this type of life-changing mentorship play out with past contestants whose musical geniuses reached massive audiences across our global platform.”
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Jessie Collins and Dionne Harmon, Rhythm + Flow’s executive producers, echoed Riegg’s enthusiasm with their joint statement. “We are so excited to partner with Netflix for the second season of Rhythm + Flow. This season features a powerhouse panel of judges, each with a distinct and influential role in hip-hop culture. In this significant moment for the genre, the focus extends beyond the music alone. We’re seeking unconventional voices and authentic stories that peel back layers and invite fans to immerse themselves in the contestants’ world as we spotlight the continually evolving spirit of hip-hop.”
There is not yet a premiere date for season two, which is expected later this year.
Rhythm + Flow has featured notable guest stars including Miguel, Jhene Aiko, Snoop Dogg and the late Nipsey Hussle. Season one winner, D Smoke, outlasted second-place contestant Flawless Real Talk and won $250,000. In 2021, Smoke nabbed two Grammy nominations, including best rap album.
Check out the trailer below.
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Selena Gomez is casting a time-turning spell with her latest TV venture. On Thursday (Jan. 18), it was officially announced that the 31-year-old singer-actress is stepping back into her iconic role as Alex Russo in the pilot episode of a Wizards of Waverly Place reboot, a nostalgic project she’ll also produce alongside former costar David […]
This year is less than a month old, but Reneé Rapp is already knocking fans off their feet – and herself, literally – in 2024. And in between the release of Mean Girls and her upcoming appearance on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, the rising superstar stopped by Late Night on Wednesday (Jan. 17) to chat with Seth Meyers about her accomplishments, along with the recent viral moment she wiped out on the sidewalk on her birthday.
“It was literally painful,” Rapp said as Meyers held up a photo of her scraped knee, followed by paparazzi snaps in Page Six of the “Snow Angel” singer taking a spill with a bottle of champagne in hand.
“I was walking out and I was like, ‘It’s my f—king birthday,’” recalled Rapp, who turned 24 on Jan. 10. “I was like, ‘Who’s coming for me right now? Nobody.’ Mind you, I ended up coming for myself.”
“It’s a sign I’m gonna have a great year,” she added, smiling. “I have a little scar.”
Rapp, who’s fresh off the release of “Not My Fault” with Megan Thee Stallion for the soundtrack of the Mean Girls movie musical adaptation – in which the Broadway vet also stars – will make her SNL debut as musical guest on Saturday (Jan. 20). Earlier this week, it was announced that Rapp would perform at this year’s Coachella, billed just under headliners Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator and Doja Cat.
“Chappel Roan is playing and I’m really excited,” she told Meyers. “So is Sabrina Carpenter – my girls are playing I’m very excited to go see them.”
In addition to her birthday tumble, Rapp has been generating a number of viral clips while promoting Mean Girls on the film’s press junket. In one video, she rants about a “disrespectful” and “misogynistic” tour bus businessman named Buddy as her costar, The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Chris Briney, looks on in disbelief.
In another recent video from BuzzFeed UK, she gently chides Briney for not recognizing Beyoncé or Lady Gaga in photos from their 2010 music video for “Telephone.” “Oh my– oh my god. Have you ever heard ‘Telephone?’” she asks him as he shakes his head nervously.
“I’m like, sweating,” Briney tells her. “Am I canceled? Is this it for me?”
“No you’re not canceled!” she responds, laughing. “You’re just straight, it’s OK.”
See Rapp on Late Night above and BuzzFeed UK below:
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Earth, Wind & Fire, Kirk Franklin and Mary Mary are the first wave of performers being announced for the Super Bowl Soulful Celebration 25th Anniversary special. CBS will broadcast the one-hour special on Feb. 10 (8 p.m. ET). Hosted by Cedric the Entertainer and Tichina Arnold, stars of the CBS series The Neighborhood, the special will be taped on […]
Ice-T may have risen to fame in the ’90s as a rapper and fronting the band Body Count, who courted controversy with their song “Cop Killer,” but these days he’s a cop himself — at least on TV. He’s Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola on NBC’s long-running police procedural Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which kicks off its milestone 25th season on Thursday, Jan. 18, and it’s the rapper-actor’s 24th season on the Emmy-winning crime drama.
Over the show’s many seasons, it has featured countless entertainers as guest stars before they made it big (Stephen Colbert, Bradley Cooper, Adam Driver and Hayden Panettiere, for example), as well as household names (Carol Burnett, Robin Williams, Angela Lansbury and John Stamos, to name a few). But SVU has also given everything from blink-and-you’ll-miss-it guest spots to pivotal roles to musicians besides Ice, who has become a beloved staple alongside Mariska Hargitay’s Captain Olivia Benson (who one of Taylor Swift’s cats is named after).
Among them? Miranda Lambert, Heavy D, Sabrina Carpenter, Dave Navarro, Questlove (who played a dead body!) and many more.
“The one thing about [creator] Dick Wolf [and production company Wolf Entertainment] is they understand how musicians translate into acting — they have no fear of that,” Ice tells Billboard. “I think Dick Wolf’s theory is, ‘If you could be a star at something, you could be a star at anything.’”
“My whole career doing music and being on SVU, I’ve never had Dick Wolf or any people then try to talk to me about music or anything, like, ‘Oh, Ice-T did ‘Cop Killer” or this that or the other,” adds the actor-musician. “I think from the Wolf perspective, ‘The bigger the star Ice-T is elsewhere, the bigger the star I have on my show.’ So when I go win a Grammy, it’s like SVU now has a Grammy Award-wining actor. He understands power is power.”
As for his run on the procedural, Ice — who’s up for a 2024 People’s Choice Award for drama TV star of the year — tells Billboard it’s not just his acting abilities that keep Fin on the drama. “[Wolf] sits back, he watches not only a performance but what are you bringing — kind of like what I always say is he looks at a show and goes, ‘If anybody’s tuning in to see Ice-T, yes, he stays on the show.’ If you’re on the show and they don’t think they’re tuning into see you, you can get one in the back of the head in the parking lot, you know?” the Grammy winner says. “For some reason, he likes me. I think I’ve done more television with Dick Wolf than anybody in his camp. I’m on five shows; I’ve been on seven, counting crossovers.” (The Law & Order franchise has boasted a total of seven different shows to date.)
As for how much longer Ice can see himself playing Fin, the answer is a long time. “Yeah, I’ll stay on it. I have nothing better to do,” he shares. “Like I said, right now, it’s an easy gig for me. I’m still able to do Body Count, my music, I gig on the weekends; I got a daughter in school — it’s much easier. When you’re touring, you have to do 200 days a year on the road. … I said when Law & Order ends — whenever it does end — I’ll just go out and read for all Samuel L. Jackson’s parts!”
But until then, he’s happy to keep carrying Fin’s shield, and having musicians guest star on SVU alongside him. “I just love it when they bring hip-hop artists on,” Ice tells Billboard. “It’s one of those shows where if you got a fanbase and you throw your name in the hat, they might call you.”
While Ice isn’t sure which musician he’d like to see on the police procedural next, there are a few who have stood out in his mind as some of the most notable guest roles. Read on to see which five musicians are Ice-T’s favorite cameos on Law & Order: SVU.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit airs on NBC on Thursdays. Catch up on past seasons — as well as other shows in the Law & Order franchise — on Peacock.
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Image Credit: Will Hart/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
There were mixed results for “Barbenheimer” in the 2024 BAFTA Film Awards nominations, which were announced on Thursday (Jan. 18). Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was the most nominated film, with 13 nods, but Greta Gerwig’s Barbie received just five nods and was passed over for both best film and best director. Oddly, the BAFTAs don’t have a category for best original song, which would have boosted Barbie’s total.
Poor Things was runner-up to Oppenheimer for most nods (11), followed by Killers of the Flower Moon and The Zone of Interest, with nine each; Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers and Maestro, with seven each; and All of Us Strangers with six. Barbie tied with Saltburn, with five nods.
Nominees for best original score are the late Robbie Robertson for Killers of the Flower Moon, Ludwig Göransson for Oppenheimer, Jerskin Fendrix for Poor Things, Anthony Willis for Saltburn and Daniel Pemberton for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. All five of these scores are on the Oscar shortlist for best original score, announced on Dec. 21. Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 23.
Last year, four of the five BAFTA-nominated scores were also nominated for Oscars.
Killers of the Flower Moon was the 12th and last Martin Scorsese film that Robertson worked on. Robertson died in June at age 80.
While Killers of the Flower Moon did well in the nominations, the film’s director, Scorsese, and lead actress, Lily Gladstone, were passed over for nods.
Two music docs are nominated for documentary – American Symphony, about Jon Batiste, and Wham!, about the 1980s chart-topping pop duo.
Bradley Cooper was nominated for lead actor, director and original screenplay for his second film as a director, Maestro. He was also a triple nominee for his first film as a director, A Star Is Born (though his writing nod on that film was for best adapted screenplay).
Fantasia Barrino is nominated for best actress for her role in The Color Purple.
Sandra Hüller was nominated for both lead actress (Anatomy of a Fall) and supporting actress (The Zone of Interest).
With both Gerwig and Emerald Fennell (Saltburn) were passed over for director nods; the only woman director in the running is Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall.
The BAFTA Film Awards ceremony takes place Feb. 18 from London’s Royal Festival Hall, with David Tennant, star of Doctor Who, hosting.
Here’s the full list of nominations for the 2024 BAFTA Film Awards:
Best film
Anatomy of a Fall — Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
The Holdovers — Mark Johnson
Killers of the Flower Moon — Dan Friedkin, Daniel Lupi, Martin Scorsese, Bradley Thomas
Oppenheimer — Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas
Poor Things — Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone
Leading actress
Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Vivian Oparah, Rye Lane
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Emma Stone, Poor Things
Leading actor
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Barry Keoghan, Saltburn
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Teo Yoo, Past Lives
Supporting actress
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Claire Foy, All of Us Strangers
Sandra Hüller, The Zone of Interest
Rosamund Pike, Saltburn
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Supporting actor
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Jacob Elordi, Saltburn
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Paul Mescal, All of Us Strangers
Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers
Director
All of Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh
Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet
The Holdovers, Alexander Payne
Maestro, Bradley Cooper
Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan
The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer
Original screenplay
Anatomy of a Fall — Justine Triet, Arthur Harari
Barbie — Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
The Holdovers — David Hemingson
Maestro — Bradley Cooper, Josh Singer
Past Lives — Celine Song
Adapted screenplay
All of Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh
American Fiction, Cord Jefferson
Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan
Poor Things, Tony McNamara
The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer
Original score
Killers of the Flower Moon, Robbie Robertson
Oppenheimer, Ludwig Göransson
Poor Things, Jerskin Fendrix
Saltburn, Anthony Willis
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Daniel Pemberton
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
Blue Bag Life — Lisa Selby (Director), Rebecca Lloyd-Evans (Director, Producer), Alex Fry (Producer)
Bobi Wine: The People’s President — Christopher Sharp (Director) [also directed Moses Bwayo]
Earth Mama — Savanah Leaf (Writer, Director, Producer), Shirley O’Connor (Producer), Medb Riordan (Producer)
How to Have Sex — Molly Manning Walker (Writer, Director)
Is There Anybody Out There? — Ella Glendining (Director)
Film not in the English language
20 Days in Mariupol — Mstyslav Chernov, Raney Aronson Rath
Anatomy of a Fall — Justine Triet, Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
Past Lives — Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
Society of the Snow — J.A. Bayona, Belen Atienza
The Zone of Interest — Jonathan Glazer
Animated film
The Boy and the Heron — Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget — Sam Fell, Leyla Hobart, Steve Pegram
Elemental — Peter Sohn, Denise Ream
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Avi Arad, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal, Christina Steinberg
Outstanding British film
All of Us Strangers — Andrew Haigh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey
How to Have Sex — Molly Manning Walker, Emily Leo, Ivana MacKinnon, Konstantinos Kontovrakis
Napoleon — Ridley Scott, Mark Huffam, Kevin J. Walsh, David Scarpa
The Old Oak — Ken Loach, Rebecca O’Brien, Paul Laverty
Poor Things — Yorgos Lanthimos, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone, Tony McNamara
Rye Lane — Raine Allen-Miller, Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo, Damian Jones, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia
Saltburn — Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara, Margot Robbie
Scrapper — Charlotte Regan, Theo Barrowclough
Wonka — Paul King, Alexandra Derbyshire, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby
The Zone of Interest — Jonathan Glazer, James Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska
Documentary
20 Days in Mariupol — Mstyslav Chernov, Raney Aronson Rath
American Symphony — Matthew Heineman, Lauren Domino, Joedan Okun
Beyond Utopia — Madeleine Gavin, Rachel Cohen, Jana Edelbaum
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie — Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan King, Annetta Marion
Wham! — Chris Smith
Casting
All of Us Strangers — Kahleen Crawford
Anatomy of a Fall — Cynthia Arra
The Holdovers — Susan Shopmaker
How to Have Sex — Isabella Odoffin
Killers of the Flower Moon — Ellen Lewis, Rene Haynes
Cinematography
Killers of the Flower Moon, Rodrigo Prieto
Maestro, Matthew Libatique
Oppenheimer, Hoyte van Hoytema
Poor Things, Robbie Ryan
The Zone of Interest, Łukasz Żal
Editing
Anatomy of a Fall, Laurent Sénéchal
Killers of the Flower Moon, Thelma Schoonmaker
Oppenheimer, Jennifer Lame
Poor Things, Yorgos Mavropsaridis
The Zone of Interest, Paul Watts
Costume design
Barbie, Jacqueline Durran
Killers of the Flower Moon, Jacqueline West
Napoleon, Dave Crossman, Janty Yates
Oppenheimer, Ellen Mirojnick
Poor Things, Holly Waddington
Makeup & hair
Killers of the Flower Moon — Kay Georgiou, Thomas Nellen
Maestro — Sian Grigg, Kay Georgiou, Kazu Hiro, Lori McCoy-Bell
Napoleon — Jana Carboni, Francesco Pegoretti, Satinder Chumber, Julia Vernon
Oppenheimer — Luisa Abel, Jaime Leigh McIntosh, Jason Hamer, Ahou Mofid
Poor Things — Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier, Josh Weston
Production design
Barbie — Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
Killers of the Flower Moon — Jack Fisk, Adam Willis
Oppenheimer — Ruth De Jong, Claire Kaufman
Poor Things — Shona Heath, James Price, Zsuzsa Mihalek
The Zone of Interest — Chris Oddy, Joanna Maria Kuś, Katarzyna Sikora
Sound
Ferrari — Angelo Bonanni, Tony Lamberti, Andy Nelson, Lee Orloff, Bernard Weiser
Maestro — Richard King, Steve Morrow, Tom Ozanich, Jason Ruder, Dean Zupancic
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One — Chris Burdon, James H. Mather, Chris Munro, Mark Taylor
Oppenheimer — Willie Burton, Richard King, Kevin O’Connell, Gary A. Rizzo
The Zone of Interest — Johnnie Burn, Tarn Willers
Special visual effects
The Creator — Jonathan Bullock, Charmaine Chan, Ian Comley, Jay Cooper
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — Theo Bialek, Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One — Neil Corbould, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland, Alex Wuttke
Napoleon — Henry Badgett, Neil Corbould, Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet
Poor Things — Simon Hughes
British short animation
Crab Day — Ross Stringer, Bartosz Stanislawek, Aleksandra Sykulak
Visible Mending — Samantha Moore, Tilley Bancroft
Wild Summon — Karni Arieli, Saul Freed, Jay Woolley
British short film
Festival of Slaps — Abdou Cissé, Cheri Darbon, George Telfer
Gorka — Joe Weiland, Alex Jefferson
Jellyfish and Lobster — Yasmin Afifi, Elizabeth Rufai
Such a Lovely Day — Simon Woods, Polly Stokes, Emma Norton, Kate Phibbs
Yellow — Elham Ehsas, Dina Mousawi, Azeem Bhati, Yiannis Manolopoulos
EE rising star award (public-voted)
Phoebe Dynevor
Ayo Edebiri
Jacob Elordi
Mia McKenna-Bruce
Sophie Wilde
Walk this way for the kings from Queens! The trailer for Peacock’s three-part docuseries Kings From Queens: The Run DMC Story about the influential hip-hop trio of Joseph Simmons (aka Rev Run), Darryl McDaniels (DMC) and Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay) has arrived, and Billboard has the first look.
In the teaser for the documentary — which reflects on Run DMC beginnings in the ’80s in New York City’s Queens, the group’s successes, struggles and more — hip-hop heavyweights discuss the impact the iconic act has had on the musical landscape.
“They’re the reason that hip-hop is as big as it is right now,” Ice Cube explains in the trailer of Run DMC, who was the first rap group on MTV.
“They changed the sound of music, the audience for rap music,” Mike D of the Beastie Boy asserts.
And as Run DMC’s Billboard Hot 100 hit “It’s Tricky” — which peaked at No. 57 in April 1987 — plays, rapper-actor Ice-T notes, “That was the moment I knew hip-hop was going to be huge — they brought more people to the genre.”
Other exclusive interviews featured in the Peacock docuseries include LL Cool J, Chuck D, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Questlove, Jermaine Dupri and more. Kings From Queens, Billboard can also exclusively report, will premiere Thursday, Feb. 1, exclusively on Peacock. The series is also executive produced by Rev. Run and DMC. (Jam Master Jay was fatally shot at his Queens, NYC, studio in October 2002.)
“I am very happy that the world is going to see our great story,” Rev. Run said in a statement. “So thankful for all that participated in helping us over the years. I started out as a young DJ Run and ended up impacting the world with my group RUN DMC. I am blessed to have been on this amazing journey.”
DMC also shared his thoughts on the purpose of the project. “This documentary series will reach, teach and educate people on the RUN DMC dynamic,” he said in a statement. “I know people will see themselves in our journey and I am hopefully that the next 50 years of hip-hop will be a movement of positive improvement and creativity, in the same way we changed music and the world.”
Over the course of the group’s career, Run DMC had three albums that reached the Billboard 200‘s top 10: Raising Hell (No. 3, 1986; the album also earned a Grammy nod for best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocal), Tougher Than Leather (No. 9, 1988) and Down With the King (No. 7, 1993). Over on the Hot 100, the trio placed five songs, including the hit cross-genre cover/collab of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” (No. 4) and “You Be Illin’” (No. 29).
Watch Billboard‘s premiere of the Kings From Queens: The Run DMC Story trailer below:
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