Interview with Kurtis Blow on the Hip Hop Nutcracker

A fusion of classical and hip-hop, Tchaikovsky’s 129-year-old ballet is reimagined as a holiday dance spectacular in The Hip Hop Nutcracker, hitting the road for a seventh season, with a stop at Portland’s Keller Auditorium. 

The production features hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow, the first rapper to be signed by a major label in 1979. We had Kurtis on the show to talk about 42 years of rap, his heart transplant, and performing as the MC of The Hip Hop Nutcracker.

Reporting by Aurora Biggers