Master P is hoping to capitalize on his popularity from his recent Dancing
With the Stars stint, by looking for and finding America’s Next Hip-Hop
Stars. While American Idol provides the much-needed outlet for
farm-fresh talent, the recent uprising of the reality-television beasts is
focused on finding more and more talent. American Idol, Nashville
Star, Rockstar: INXS, SuperGroup, America’s Got Talent all are focused on
finding the next great singing talent, but none have offered any sort of
outreach into the hip-hop realm.
The New Orleans artist, Percy Miller a.k.a. Master P, announced
that his show, America’s Next Hip-Hop Stars, will offer the next big
rapper or group a $50,000 recording contract. For the show, 12 solo
artists and 6 groups will perform hip-hop classics and be judged by a panel of
hip-hop stars such as Master P’s son, Romeo, others such as Snoop
Dogg, Paul Wall and Free of106 & Parkfame.
Miller said, “When you look at what’s going on the big shows out
there, hip-hop is influencing a lot of this stuff. I was one of the
highest rated entertainers on that (Dancing With the Stars) show and it was a
cross-over show. Hip-hop is influencing the game. I want to do it to
show the people that we [are] growing in hip-hop. There’s only so many
talented people, we don’t have to wait around for them to expose us.”
The “them” versus “us” stance seems to take of multiple
meanings, whether it was the judges from his last show, the exploitation of his
last show or the entire TV industry in general. Miller will serve as
host and the show will have a celebrity house DJ weekly, along with a notable
performance as well. While no network has picked it up yet, there are a slew of
networks whodo not have full schedules and if not, the show could always serve
as a mid-season replacement. Without Chapelle’s Show, there might
not be all that much good television to watch this fall. Miller
has also begun negotiating to launch the show on Pay-Per-View or cable.
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For the launch of the show, Miller is planning a “Set It Off”
benefit concert for his Team Rescue One non-profit to raise AIDS awareness as
well as offering assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. “This
is a way that America can see the untapped talent out there and vote for
it. Right now, with the way hip-hop is going, a lot of people are giving
up. Everybody can’t afford a video.. to get exposure and this show will
help find that talent. I think this is something for our culture that
everyone can respect and appreciate and we will make a lot of people’s
careers”, Miller said of his show
