Rev Run Says The Hip Hop Nutcracker Honors the Original Story, but Everyone Is 'Popping, Locking, Breaking'
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Tchaikovsky's beloved The Nutcracker ballet is getting a modern spin this holiday season with the help of a hip-hop legend.
Joseph "Rev Run" Simmons stars alongside Allison Holker Boss and Stephen "tWitch" Boss in the Disney+ special The Hip-Hop Nutcracker, which brings the classic tale to the streets of New York and replaces the original moves with updated choreography.
"It honors the story, but they're not doing ballerina stuff," the Run-DMC rapper explains in a new episode of the PEOPLE Every Day podcast. "They are popping, locking, breaking... flipping, so it's totally different."
Ser Baffo/Disney
The musical event lands on the streaming platform Nov. 25 and is based on the hit stage show of the same name. Rev Run admits he wasn't familiar with the live show when he got a call from Disney to take part, but that it didn't take long for him to jump on board.
"I know what a Nutcracker is, but what's a Hip-Hop Nutcracker?" he recalls thinking. "I'd never been exposed to it because I never went to any of the plays, but they gave me the script and I was like, 'I'm down.'"
The minister admits his "head was spinning" when he was told about the project and felt it sounded "like some Emmy-nominated stuff before it even gets started." And while Rev Run doesn't do much of the intricate dancing himself, he had the tough role of reinterpreting the famed tale for a new generation as the special's narrator.
"I'm rapping out the whole story and I had to pull all this together in a few days," he reveals. "They gave me the script, which was like lyrics, and I had to put them into my own flavor and rap it."
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"I didn't have a lot of time, but I pulled it together and it came out amazing," he adds.
Work isn't the only amazing thing in Rev Run's life right now. The father of five explains that his family has given a ton to be grateful for this holiday season.
"Everybody's healthy, everybody's happy, everybody's fine," he says about his wife Justine and their two sons Daniel (Diggy) and Russell II (Russy). Rev Run also has three older children, Vanessa, Angela and Joseph Jr., from a previous relationship.
Johnny Nunez/WireImage JoJo, Diggy, Justine, Rev Run, Vanessa and Angela Simmons
"Everybody's going to be around for Thanksgiving and Christmas," he continues. "Diggy just flew into town because he lives in LA... Angela's in Atlanta, Biggie's in LA, Vanessa's in LA, but everybody's flying in. So we're gonna have this great dinner."
The Hip-Hop Nutcracker premieres on Disney+ Nov. 25.
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