Thug Life Army

Rapper / actor Ice Cube and his Cube Vision Prods. are teaming with Futurama co-creator David X. Cohen on Grandmaster Freak & the Furious 15, a pilot presentation ordered up by Fox. The animated comedy series is a throwback to the origins of rap music and early 1980s hip-hop. Cohen created, will write and will executive produce the series, with Ice Cube and his Cube Vision partner Matt Alvarez also executive producing.

Set in Englewood, NJ, the series centers on the misadventures of an old school hip-hop crew under the leadership of Grandmaster Freak, a 17-year-old high school student whose parents would rather have him hitting the books in order to go to college rather than following his musical talents. Englewood was one of the birth places of rap and hip-hop as it was the home city of Sugar Hill Records.

Producers hope to cast voice talent that can also rap, in the hopes having at least one musical sequence during each episode. It's likely that Ice Cube will provide a voice, although not that of Grandmaster Freak. No studio is yet attached to the project.

The Grandmaster project is Cube Vision's first major television deal and marks the company's first pilot presentation. They had been working on a drama series for Fox last development season, but that project never made it to air. The company is also working with State Street on a television version of Barbershop for Showtime. Cube Vision, which recently signed a deal with Revolution Studios, has credits that include the Barbershop films, the Friday films and All About the Benjamins.

Cohen is an Emmy winner for his work on both Futurama and The Simpsons.

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