Rotimi may be widely known for his acting now because of a starring role on 50 Cent‘s Power, but it turns out he got his acting inspiration directly from a different Hip Hop legend — JAY-Z.
TMZ recently hosted Rotimi on their TMZ Verifiedpodcast, and he recalled how as a teenager, he used to be a music group with JAY’s nephews.
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“We performed in his living room…and he’d critique it,” the singer and actor recalled.
It was in those living room performances that he received the initial spark that would turn him into a real thespian.
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“People would be like, ‘When did you start acting?’ And I give Hov all the glory now, because I [didn’t] speak about it until recently,” he continued. “The first time I really started acting was when I was 16, 17, and [JAY] would be like, ‘Act as if you are the artist and the person you want to be ten years from now, and perform that way.’ And I would transform into what I thought. That was the first time I really thought, oh, I’m an actor.”
Check the video below.
Another part of Rotimi’s past is a record deal with G-Unit. He explained to HipHopDX last year what happened to it.
“With G-Unit, 50 Cent gave me my deal in 2014,” Rotimi said. “We had a conversation like, ‘Yo, I have an idea that I want to just do my thing and grow.’ And as a businessman, he knew that he saw himself in me and said, ‘I’m not going to stop you from doing what you need to do.’”
He added: “That man is a different kind of beast. So I thanked him for that because I was able to learn on my own and still have his support.”
Rotimi, who appeared as Andre “Dre” Coleman in 50 Cent’s popular Power series, added that he and the Queens, New York native remain on good terms and is always open to future collaborations.
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“Even after we left, he found his own way to market me and it worked,” he said. “So again, any time he calls me and needs me it’s all love and it’s always been that way. I signed for like three years and then I got out my deal.”
