Executive producers 50 Cent and Courtney Kemp joined a rowdy crowd of fans in New York City’s Upper East Side last week to talk about the origins of Starz’ hit series, Power. 50 Cent and Kemp’s creation pulls in an average of seven million viewers an episode. How did they get it done? The first step was the Starz pitch, which they clearly nailed since the network took another series off the docket to replace it with Power.
“My goal was to create a series that had the ability to have the music speak for characters. I recorded 11 songs that were a representation of the characters,” said 50 Cent. “When we pitched the show, I spoke and he played a track. I spoke, he played a track, and so on,” Kemp added.
50 Cent was bound to appear in the series at some point, but it wasn’t until Kemp wrote an entirely new character that she knew she had the perfect role.
“We created someone who was the biggest, the baddest,” Kemp said with a grin. “We created Kanan after the fact,” she said, explaining that she originally had Greg Serano’s role as FBI Agent Juan Julio Medina in mind.
Being from Jamaica, Queens, and considering the show is based in New York City, Kemp used 50 Cent as the mold for multiple characters.
“I’ll talk to 50, listen to how he conjugation verbs, listen to where he takes a pause. If you're from South Jamaica, Queens, this is how you talk,” Kemp explained. “When she goes, wait say that again?’ That means you said something that she’s going to use potentially use you have no control over it,” 50 Cent added.
As a perfectionist with a keen eye for detail, Kemp used her journalism experience to develop intricacies within each character.
“My boss at GQ taught me how to report; One of the most amazing things that’s ever happened to me. I listen very carefully to voices, accents, and experiences. I always ask people about themselves and listen to how people talk. I listen to actual dialogue. Not the dialogue you're making up where everyone sounds exactly the same because they’re all you. But the dialogue that's actually happening in the world.”
It was critical to both 50 Cent and Kemp that Power represented the array of cultures and ethnicities that makes up New York City. Kemp said she really wanted to do something that was never done before: incorporate Nuyorican sounds. So much so that she had a demand for Starz from the get go:
“The Latino characters will not be a monolith on the show. Each will be from their own specific country, their own specific culture, each their own food and have their own gangs,” Kemp reiterated. “You would never cast an Irish actor and have him play an Australian and not change his accent, but people do that all the time with spanish which makes no sense. A Colombian actor doesn't sound like he’s Puerto Rican just because he speaks Spanish.”
Kemp built the Power cast from the ground up, drawing from people in her own life as a blueprint. Angela, for example, is based on herself.
“She’s a mixture between me -- perfectionism, straight-A student -- and the kids of immigrants I know whose parents have put so much pressure on them. One of the things we played with with Angelia is her voice and how she changes it at work.”
As for Ghost, he’s a mix between Kemp’s dad, 50 Cent, and a couple of dry drunks. “My dad was in advertising. He was really into image. That closet you see in the pilot. That was my dad's closet full of his clothes and how he changed his image all the time.”
50 Cent and Kemp had to hash out Tasha’s character together. What kind of a person wants to marry a drug dealer? “For whom is that an OK idea? We talked about what kind of women have their man as their job.”
Tommy, on the other hand, is based on Kemp’s experience growing up in a predominantly white community. “We talked about what it was like to be a white person in the hood and how they were more vicious because they had to prove something,” Kemp explained. “He’s also a bit of my best friend. She drove a Mustang for a long time and she has a bit of a swagger I thought would be interesting to put into a male character.”
50 Cent and Kemp were on the same page about Tommy’s impact on the show, however, 50 Cent said the only mistake made in the series so far is related to Tommy: “I wanted Joe Sikora in the key art. They [Starz] asked why. See Eminem’s story, 8 Mile , is a black film with a white lead because the difference between the trailer parks and projects ain't much.”
Kemp says Tommy’s character in particular has a very special place in her heart, and she thinks fans should give Holly, Tommy’s girlfriend, a break (even though she is undeniably wild).
“Tommy is so honest and damaged and she connects to that. She really loves Tommy. Nobody gives her any credit for not snitching on him in 205,” Kemp squeezed in before the crowd erupted with boos. “The reaction y’all had to her is so interesting because she’s down for him.”
50 Cent believes Power is so well received because the character nuances are relatable. For example, Ghost’s double-life identity crisis between James ‘Ghost’ St. Patrick. “ Things that work are archetypes that resonate with us because we see ourselves,” Kemp said. “It’s called Power because it’s about powerlessness; how we are not always in control over some of the things we think and come to us. But if you push the rock down of evil, it will roll down right over you.”
Power returns to Starz on July 17.
