Hip-Hop Monologues: Not Your Average Play
This story was written by CBSNews.com's Melissa Castellanos
When it comes to the music business, building a brand and tapping into different demographics, hip-hop mogul Damon Dash is your man.
The business savvy Dash, a former CEO and co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records (with Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Kareem "Biggs" Burke) and Rocawear clothing line, is at it again, but this time it involves theater.
Recently Dash teamed up with rapper Jim Jones and classically-trained actor/director J. Kyle Manzay, who starred in "American Gangster" with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, to put on a play called "Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life and Mind of Jim Jones."
The "Hip-Hop Monologues" isn't your average play however; it's based on Jones' latest album "Pray IV Reign," which will be released in January.
Infused with a live band, rap and rhymes highlighting Jones' tumultuous upbringing and his rise to fame, the "Hip-Hop Monologues" puts a new spin and breaks the monotony of a typical album listening session.
"The band gives you that live instrumentation feel -- more like a real Broadway type of feel as opposed to just seeing a hip-hop track. So, you'll get to hear both the real music from off of the album and then the band comes in and it takes over and it gives you that really funky feeling," Jones said.
Jones, a Harlem native, who has worked alongside Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and 50 Cent in "Righteous Kill," said it would be a dream come true to be on Broadway someday.
He has also been inspired by actor/comedian John Leguizamo, who grew up in Queens and has appeared on Broadway and has put on successful one-man shows.
"I grew up in Harlem, so to be on Broadway would be like playing for the Knicks," Jones said.
Like Jones and Dash, Manzay hopes that he can help to reach out to different demographics rather then just the hip-hop community.
"There are challenges in different ways. I think it can because there are all kinds of stories that deserve to be told. I just think that you have to present it in an artistic way. If you don't present a hard core story in the right way, then people can't digest it," Manzay said. "You have to make it sort of universal enough to be able to cross over cultural and artistic boundaries, so that people can sort of understand what the root of this -- what we're trying to do -- is."
Being in the industry for 15 years, Dash realizes the importance of tapping into various demographics.
The concept of the play sparked an interest with Dash's famous friends, such as Liev Schreiber, Brooke Shields, Elle McPherson and Countess LuAnn de Lesseps of Bravo's "Real Housewives of New York" (McPherson and Lesseps attended on opening night).
"It evokes a different kind of respect because there is a work ethic with it. To be that credible in that circle, if they can respect what you are doing, you have another fan, another fanbase, a whole new tier of press and community that will support you. It also opens the door to doing so many things," Dash said.
According to Dash, who's known Jones since he was 7 years old, not every artist can execute something like the "Hip-Hop Monologues."
"I felt that this would be a perfect opportunity for me to get back into the music business that wouldn't compromise what I have built. Meaning when you do something like Roc-A-Fella, you sign people like Kanye West and Jay-Z and you want to do something as good or better. You want to make history and I saw that opportunity with Jim," Dash said.
Jones is reinventing the way an artist is promoted with his play. He also has a movie, a documentary and a book out, which Dash considers to be "a series of brand builders."
"At a time when the economy is wavering, people want to buy a little piece of relief and fun and this is what we can give to people at an affordable price point," Dash said.
Jones hopes to take "Hip-Hop Monologues," which was staged Nov. 12-13 at New York's 37 Arts Theater, on the road and tour around the country if there is enough interest.
"I have done a lot of different projects, but this is one of the most interesting projects really that I have ever done because it infuses a lot of my love, which is hip-hop, art, live theater, multi-media, TV and it kind of encompasses everything. I was really excited to do it and to do it in a way that is so unexpected," Manzay said.