Powerful Conversation
Last week Starz Television Network gave The Source Magazine a sneak peek of their new show ‘Power’, starring Omari Hardwik and executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. In addition to watching the first episode we sat down for an Interview with Jackson & Cournney Kemp Agboh, who is the shows creator, writer, and show runner. Read below the interview, which becomes more of a conversation as the two discuss the process of creating the show, the music created specifically for the show as well as the upcoming Animal Ambition album, and a lot of genuine insight that only Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson can provide (have you seen this guy on social media lately..?) warning some potential spoilers
Before I could even begin with questions I was beat to the punch by Agaboh and Jackson who asked me what I thought about the first episode. I explained that as someone who had been a fan of 50 Cent since first buying the mixtape 50 Cent Is The Future over 10 years ago , and as a fan of crime drama and shows like The Sopranos & The Wire, that this show is totally up my alley. Jackson begins by mentioning how the actual character he plays will first appear in a later episode.
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson: When it gets better, and I think by the time they make it to the first time they see me , there already going to be into the show so much that , I get a chance to just be like
Courtney: He has his own entrance
The Source: I like when a show, im into it already and then at the end of the first episode you find out what the real interesting part of the story , and you find out about angela and that dynamic and she’s going to be investigating him Ghost
Curtis 50 Cent Jackson: but its real people, you find women the conscience of business to the point that they become , so important to them that they’ve made such an investment in themselves being tied to what they actually do that they wont sacrifice their personal interaction, because in the actual work space if you felt someone else was attractive that does similar work to you, its fine but she cant be as stern as she was in the past, because if she does its like “I wonder if shes with him”
Courtney: Laughs
CJ: you understand what im saying, its that double edged, it’s a double edged… I’t wont hurt the male as much as it it’ll hurt the female in that actual concept, so she’s a lot more conscious of it, being that it makes her even more professional, completely conscious of being professional of what they actually do. And the actual Angela character she has that, she wont actually share or she wont actually lose, like even Greg. Her relationship with Greg, that’s just a relationship built to sustain her physical needs period, its not that ..
Courtney: it ain’t a love thing
CJ: its like if someone finds out,shed be devastated
Courtney: Just the look on her face, when he leaves, and she just starts shaking the juice, your like oo ok its this thing.
Courtney you’ve been vocal about your background, and the research you did for the show, and how you kind of learned from 50 to some degree, I read where you talk about the process where he would kind of work on music and talk to you about it. Could you tell me about it, I know its your show [Courtney], but its based a lot on your experiences [Curtis Jackson]?
CJ: Before you , look she gives me a lot of credit that is hers, and she did this, this show is , even our communications creatively bled out of just being about the show Power, into releases like “major distribution” that’s where the concept or the idea was developed for me snoop and jeezy to make that song happen, in a different time period, the releases happened then because we were having convos about this actual show at that current time
Courtney: And I will say this, the show is part his background and part my father , and so its in terms of you know the specifics and the details and how it smells and tastes to grow up in Jamaica [queens] at that time period and to actually be in the hustle, no I’m from Conneticut, theres no way I would do that . But in terms of having to be, having to lead a double life in terms of having to lie to the people you care about in terms of having to hide an addiction or cover one up, in terms of having to compromise your own character in order to get ahead that’s all me, LAUGHS, you know what I mean. In terms of being on the hustle, being on the make, in terms of being a story teller within that that’s something that we have in common, so it’s absolutely a collaboration. But I had to sit there in front of the blank screen and make a script, you know and that doesn’t come down to anyone but me. In terms of our early collaboration, in order for it to feel authentic and real and for you to not watch it and say “well this is a tv version of what this feels like”, you know?
I think that’s a lot of people wonder going into it, what’s that going to be like, knowing that its 50 cents show, but its written by the woman who wrote the goodwife.
CJ – When you see how actually sophisticated the actual characters are, and the things that’s actually driving the behaviors, then you go “I get it” , because t has their world or that thing, the references , even in music, theirs an audience for it that doesn’t actually experience, that doesn’t come from it, everyone who bought the cd that actually listens to it, is usually someone that
10 million people [that bought your albums] aren’t from the hood
CJ & Courntey: Exactly
Courntey: but I would also say theres something really important in what yiu just said, in that its not 50 cents show, its Curtis Jackson show, Curtis Jackson and I sat down and created something, 50 cent is a person, but that’s not, its not all that he is
CJ: And its before new information so it makes you limited, look at Get Rich or Die Trying, that cd had all the disfunctional behaviors in there, “P.I.M.P”, “high all the time”, every area that you can actually see different things that are happening and then, those elements are in the actual show, but its been put into a group of actual people that were created and have other facets and other driving forces connected to it.
Courtney: I mean I would say to build off that, if this is a fortune 500 business man, in that sense if warren buffet created a show with someone, in a weird way people always forget that aspect of it. Ghost as we meet him hes a successful business man, that also 50 cent , there both things
Right because you don’t meet Ghost in the beginning [of his career] you’re meeting him now
Courtney: exactly , its not Get rich or Die trying, its not the hustler
CJ: How rutheless is the ceo in corporate America?
Probably less caring
CJ: WAYYY less caring, the contract you signed it (at this point, to better illustrate his point Curtis jokingly grabbed my paper that had my interview questions on and starred at it as if he was the CEO he’s referring to ) “ You signed it? Ok that’s what you signed, you fucking signed it, that’s what It says, idiot, I don’t care if you gave me your first born in the contract, I want the kid!”
Courtney: By the way who is a bigger hustler, Curtis Jackson 1.0, or Bernie Madoff, seriously?
CJ: How many people had no one to turn to, at that point when they realized that Bernie Madoff is what it is and there’s no one to compensate for money taken, and your life savings is connected because you put it in, because no one could show you the returns like he was showing.
Courtney: Right because “hes a hustler baby”
I know “Big Rich Town” is the theme song for the show, I think in the first I heard a song that isn’t on Animal Ambition, how much music did you create specifically for the show, any features any one you worked with you could tell us about.
CJ: There’s 11 songs, like that song you heard in the beginning
Separate from Animal Amibiton, separate from Street King Immortal right?
CJ: Yea in the very beginning of us communicating, I went and I wrote songs that I felt were a representation of the charecters that we were developing, one of em spoke to Tasha, one of em spoke to.. Like “big rich town” is Ghost, the parallels between Ghost and the perception of me is not that far, its why people don’t feel like I’m writing about someone else, but I’m saying in the actual song the lyrics say
“ my cocaine endeveours give me corporate ties, I’m supposed to lose, watch me win against the odds, you know all I got is my word balls and my instincits, im trying to make it, we already made it my friends think, we already on top, I got a bigger plan ,no more controlled substances or hand to hand”
And that’s exactly where ghost is , where he’s made it to the top of the actual drug business, and hes like “I don’t, I don’t know no old drug dealers, I don’t know guys that are old..”
Right , there’s no pension plan for a drug dealer
Courtney: that’s actually good by the way “theres no pension plan for a drug dealer” , whispers “we might wanna take that”
Please, i’d be honored. You worked with Joe on Big rich town, were there any other collaborations?
CJ: I worked with Governor on a few of them, he did voclas for me, I actually wrote everything and then had him re vocal the track. Because I knew exactly what I needed it to feel like, I had a specific sound I was trying to capture with it, and because New York became such a serious like character within the actual film (obviously he meant show, but its cool to think that is how he views it, as a film) being able to physically be able to be in New York. Look what happens next season, when he actually starts showing up to places where people are actually at.
Courtney: Laughs, if there is a next season, were holdin out hope
Come on, WHEN there’s a next season, you have to will it into existence
Court: Exactly
CJ: Yea like when we actually started running up to places were you would be randomly hanging out, where you see those characters in the scene there, it starts to feel like yoooo, he at Starlets, he at Perfections
I have a trillion questions, but one thing I wanted to ask on a somewhat personal level. To me you’re my favorite interview period, next to maybe 2pac, because I feel like you are super self aware. Have you ever felt like being so self aware is almost a gift and a curse, have you ever wished you weren’t like that. Because I feel like that sometimes.
CJ: I always said to myself that I knew that there would be an artist that came after me and some that were there before me that would be better than me at different portions of what it takes to actually be a star, I think theres 4 qualities , quality material, performance, appearance, and personality. And its not until you become comfortable with yourself to the point where you can actually be as good as you actually are because that nervous energy doesn’t allow you to actually be that , and I looked at (pauses) so many of the actual artists that are creating SOMETHING, that thing, they’re creating a persona for themselves that theyre not, I don’t think its as effective, it creates limitations to what you can do as far as presentation. For me, people don’t perceive me as funny at points, but then I have those moments that they cant not laugh at it
Yea, you’re real funny on social media, they know that
CJ: They’ll look and go hes crazy, this dude, NO Filter, and he’s not gonna stop, he’s just gonna go, and they go, I get to say things that they cant say. I’m like I don’t care, what are you gonna do?
Courtney: haha, if you are self aware, as a writer, then use that
CJ: That’s the only thing that creates separation, because, when you actually utilize.. Think about this, painful moments have stood out and is the best content from creative people artists, like even the loss of Courtneys dad is what makes this project happen, of actually wanting to do this. Kanye’s car crash is that for him, me being shot, it’s a different energy connected to it, or passion that pours on to the actual screen in Courtneys case, and in my case to the actual audio of things that I’ve created in my career. Its what provided the opportunity for us to get to this point and move forward in a different fashion. The coolest thing about, as you actually figure out yourself, and what is your driving force and your motivation for some of the shit your actually doing. Like I have to take a step back at certain points and say “ Well how the fuck am I doing, but wait, I’ma fuck him up, ima fuck him up” but why? O because they told us we were supposed to fuck him each other up before I even got here
Courtney: that’s why I don’t fight with women, because they tell us were supposed to, they put us against each other
CJ: like with Jadakiss, the situations like “wait ,what was we upset about?” , laughs, ok I was upset with him, and I was upset with him and you were standing next to him, so ok you got some of his shit, well we could see if we can fix it.
Well I’m glad you did, we love the new song [“irregular heartbeat”]
Courtney: o yea the new song is hot, I was watching a video this morning, I love that location, where did you find that ?
CJ: o it was a strip club
*Room bursts into laughter*
Courtney: why did I even ask haha, why did I walk right into that.
Curtis: “WHERE DID YOU FIND THAT PLACE” laughs
Stay tuned for our interview with Power’s leading men Omari Hardwick & Joseph Sikora in the coming days\
