As households throughout the nation sit down to present thanks this Thanksgiving, one merchandise might be on the prime of hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow’s checklist: his new coronary heart.
A yr in the past in December, Blow, coping with coronary heart failure that left him so drained he might barely stroll up stairs, underwent a coronary heart transplant. Now absolutely healed and again on the street, the New York rapper stated he is so grateful to be again performing once more as a part of “The Hip Hop Nutcracker,” a brand new take on the vacation basic. It arrives Dec. 5 on the Detroit Opera Home.
“I’m simply so joyful to be out on tour,” stated Blow, 62, talking by cellphone earlier this month throughout a cease in Eugene, Oregon. “Final yr, I used to be serious about funeral preparations. And now I’m again out on tour. And it is such a tremendous feeling.”
Blow will really be performing in Detroit on virtually the precise one-year anniversary of his transplant, which was Dec. 6 final yr. After struggling a coronary heart assault a number of years in the past after which going into coronary heart failure, it wasn’t simply the steps that have been laborious for Blow pre-surgery.
“I bear in mind it was laborious for me to do something,” he stated. “So I made the choice to do the guts transplant. It was one of the best choice I made.”
And now he is again doing what he loves. Because the MC of “The Hip Hop Nutcracker,” he describes it as a “vacation extravaganza” that is a brand new twist on the Tchaikovsky ballet.
Blow stated the present is ready on New 12 months’s Eve within the Eighties and options hip hop dancers, a DJ and a violinist who fuses classical musical with hip hop. Because the host and MC, Blow performs a few of his hit songs and will get the group amped up. The present is directed and choreographed by Jennifer Weber.
For “Nutracker” followers, there are some similarities to the basic, stated Blow, together with the character Maria-Clara and a Mouse queen. However within the “Hip Hop” model, it options grafitti and is ready in New York Metropolis.
Ballet legend Upon Mikhail Baryshnikov stated “The Hip Hop Nutcracker” combines athleticism and artistry in a manner he is by no means seen earlier than.
“It is deeply shifting, ingeniously fashionable and pure magic,” stated Baryshnikov in a press launch.
The present, which is able to journey to 34 cities this vacation season and is now in its seventh yr, has already gained an Emmy for finest stay efficiency.
“It’s unbelievable and wonderful to be part of this staff,” stated Blow.
In 1979, Blow was the primary rapper to be signed to a significant document label, Mercury. His single, “Christmas Rappin,” which offered 400,000 copies, is taken into account one of many first commercially profitable hip hop singles.
Blow has fond reminiscences of Detroit, calling it “his house away from house” and giving a shoutout to Eminem throughout an interview (“That is my buddy,” he says). He remembers opening for iconic punk rockers The Conflict within the metropolis within the early Eighties. Ready to go on stage with the band to carry out “The Magnificent Seven,” he listened from the wings whereas they sang their hit, “Rock the Casbah.”
“It was so highly effective,” remembers Blow. “I really created a band after that as a result of of the facility I felt. It was such a tremendous feeling.”
Now, as part of “The Hip Hop Nutcracker,” Blow says he is honored and grateful to be a part of a present that is about being grateful and spreading the spirit of pleasure this vacation season.
“It is our time to be grateful and seize maintain of our family members and bear in mind all of our misplaced family members — and to thank God for all our of blessings,” he stated.
mfeighan@detroitnews.com
‘The Hip Hop Nutcracker’
6:30 p.m. Dec. 5 on the Detroit Opera Home
that includes Kurtis ‘The Breaks’ Blow
Tickets begin at $29; go to ticketmaster.com.
