By Douglas Century
for Billboardbiz
Russell
Simmons is climbing off the yoga mat.
The hip-hop
impresario-turned-lifestyle guru, author of the New York Times best-seller Success
Through Stillness, moved from the East Coast to Los Angeles early in 2014. Now,
he is launching a
flurry of new entertainment projects -- and has begun blasting the way
Hollywood works.
Simmons, 56,
has already shot a number of TV pilots under the first-look deal he has with
HBO, he says in a
phone interview from his new home in the Hollywood Hills. The most high-profile project he
has in development: "12 Years a Slave" director Steve McQueen's first
foray into TV drama, about
a young African-American man's journey into high society in New York. Simmons says
that his "true passion project" is a rap opera called "Cain and
Abel," written by Omar Epps
and former Onyx rapper Sticky Fingaz. Simmons also
has plans to bring hip-hop to Broadway, working with his business partner Jake Stein.
"What 'Rock of Ages' did with rock, we're planning on doing with
hip-hop," says Stein, President of
Def Pictures. The goal: a musical that tours the country, premiering at various "iconic
hip-hop venues" in major U.S. cities. Stein imagines the musical following
the path of Run-D.M.C.'s
Raising Hell tour of 1986.
Simmons
wants to give hip-hop artists a higher profile. But his goal is grander than
that. He's focused on
"reintegrating" the entertainment business, which in his view has
drifted back into a segregated
state. And
Hollywood is a prime offender. He believes black and white actors share top
billing in hit movies far
less often than they once did - think Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte in 48 Hrs.,
say, or Mel Gibson
and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon. "Right
now if you see a poster for a black movie, it looks like a Hallmark card
strictly for black people,"
says Simmons with a wry laugh. "If you're white, you just will not go in a
theater and see About
Last Night."
And the
co-founder of Def Jam Records says he's just the man to fix the problem.
"I'm the 'Walk This
Way' guy, I'm the Beastie Boys guy, I'm the Def Comedy Jam guy -- I put black comedians in
your face on HBO, at the time a lily-white channel," says Simmons. "I'm
doing my own projects, making my own films, shooting my own pilots, with my own money,"
adds Simmons. "I want to make movies that can star guys like a Channing
Tatum alongside
Rick Ross......It's time to reintegrate the movie business. And my new mantra
is, 'Hollywood
can kiss my ass.'"
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